It's here...it's officially the holiday season.
Not only will I be forced to hear Christmas music in every store I visit from now until mid January...but I'll have to compete with parents and their strollers the size of SUVs in the malls....
there's nothing worse than navigating the aisles of your favorite store only to be stuck behind crowds of slow moving people...all the while your ears are being ransacked with reminders to "have a holly, jolly Christmas."
The snow will begin to fall and actually stick to the ground...managing to stay beautiful for a matter of minutes before buses, trucks, cars, and pedestrians with their dogs distort the lovely white color with shades of black, gray, and sometimes yellow!
The temperature will drop to freezing and patches of black ice will attack your vehicle landing you in a ditch on the side of the road...that is if your car hasn't been blocked in by the snow and salt trucks that bogart their way down the streets.
Yes, it's the beginning of the winter holiday season in Chicago and all I can do is think about the last 5 years I spent in Arizona.
There's something refreshing about waking up on Christmas morning to beautiful temps in the 60s, sunshine, palm trees and endless mountain ranges!
As I stare out of the window at gray skies and snow flurries, I find myself very nostalgic about the days I spent in Arizona. It's a gorgeous place and though living there isn't for everyone, I suggest you go and visit...
I've been forced to sit thru Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" numerous times (compliments of my environmental biology class, sociology, etc.) I understand that global warming is technically real and believe me, seeing the commercials with the mother polar bear and her cub looking for a piece of ice to seek refuge on, only to have to keep on swimming is heartbreaking! BUT living in
Chicago where this year's summer seemed super short and the winter arrived sooner (along with snow, sleet, freezing rain, and a deadly wind chill) it's hard to really believe that the Earth is warming up. This morning the temperature wasn't so cold (about 30 degrees with a wind chill of 19) but the snow that was falling down was monstrous! 
I mean, this snow was well fed, super fat flakes that seemed to fill the sky. While waiting for my bus to come I eyed peopled struggling to warm up their cars, scrape off ice and fight out the frustration of being "trapped" in by the city salt trucks. The joys of a Chicago winter...
Elsewhere in the country, I found it interesting that during these times of global warming there was actually SNOW in Las Vegas. Yes, snow on the strip. There's no odder sight than palm trees and snow flakes.
