Winter is Here!

What better way to welcome the winter than being outside at midnight, bundled against the cold just to look at the moon?  Count me in.

Normally I shy from the cold, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to watch the first total lunar eclipse on the winter solstice since 1638!  Let me tell you, it was fantastic.

Here is a photo of the eclipse as taken in Peru:




I was slightly concerned that we wouldn’t be able to see anything due to cloud cover, but by the time we went out at 11:45 the sky was clear and we had such a good view.  After we got the telescope set up I woke up my son, bundled him up and brought him out to look.  He was so sleepy that I had to put his sweatshirt and coat on him and help him get his boots on… he looked in the telescope, said “what the?” and then asked if he could go back inside because he was cold.  I walked him inside the house and he walked down the hall to his room, stripped his coat and boots in the doorway and crawled back into bed.  I should have gotten a picture of that!  This morning when he woke me up I asked him if he remembered looking at the moon and he said “it was red” like he couldn’t believe that it was real, then he paused to take in the fact that the moon was red and said "but I was too cold."

I was slightly disappointed at not being able to capture my own photo, but I don’t know where my tripod is and my shutter stays open far too long at night to try to hold it steady on my own (I guess if I had thought about it I could have set the timer and set it on the ground).  So… I’ll just enjoy the photos everyone else is going to post and remember that I was there, I saw it.

Here’s a little more information about how rare this occurrence was:

Coincidences (UPDATED): This lunar eclipse falls on the date of the northern winter solstice. How rare is that? Total lunar eclipses in northern winter are fairly common. There have been three of them in the past ten years alone. A lunar eclipse smack-dab on the date of the solstice, however, is unusual. Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years. "Since Year 1, I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is 1638 DEC 21," says Chester. "Fortunately we won't have to wait 372 years for the next one...that will be on 2094 DEC 21."   (see the full article from the NASA website here)

Here is another great article about the eclipse with links to a photo gallery and video.  Here’s another great photo gallery.

And another photo (my favorite)

The eclipsed moon glows in the predawn sky Tuesday morning December 21, 2010 in this view from Stedman, NC. This picture is a 10 second time exposure made through an amateur astronomer's 12 1/2 inch Telescope. (AP Photo- The Fayetteville Observer- Johnny Horne) -MAGS OUT NO SALES-

I almost forgot...

I'm thinking about getting a dog.   A big dog.  Sometime in January/February, but I haven't decided yet.  I talked to my hubby and he's okay with it as long as he's not responsible for taking care of the dog.  Haha, he likes dogs, he just doesn't like to have any more responsibility than absolutely necessary.  Now I just have to figure out if I really want to go through with it.

Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!

My son made me and my husband a Christmas card at school.  It says: 


"Dear Family,
thace you for maciing me.  I like playing lego Batman with you.  I love you.
merry christmas.

Luv
(name)"


maciing = making.  "Thank you for making me."  How sweet is that?  I told him that his daddy and I are very glad we "made" him too.

This is the first letter he's written and I am going to try my best to keep it forever.

My son is SO excited for Christmas.  He really really wants a black Nintendo DS, but that is definitely going to have to wait.  I did get him a pillow pal, he's been asking for one for the last month.  It's something I know he'll use.  I also got him some building plates for his legos and I am going to glue them all together to a piece of plywood so that he has a sturdy building surface.  We also want to get him a soccer ball and pads set, and I keep forgetting to get that!

I must admit that I am excited for Christmas as well.  It's the first time in at least 12 years that I've been excited for Christmas.  It helps that my hubby is coming home for the holiday.  How exciting is that?  After three weeks, it'll be good to be together, even if it is only for a little bit.  I think that is what my son is most excited about as well.  He keeps asking "how many days until Christmas?"  because I haven't told him exactly what day his dad is coming home.

Today was his last day of school before the winter break... we'll be hanging out for the next couple of weeks.  I am excited, and he is SO excited because it finally snowed today!  I am definitely going to send him out to play in the snow tomorrow.  Maybe I'll join him... he wants to make a snowman, but I just don't think that's possible with this snow.  We'll see.  If nothing else I'm sure we'll have a snowball fight.

And so, in the words of Dr Seuss, "Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."

Almost

I'm trying to stay positive.  Tonight is difficult.  It's almost 10:30 and my son is still awake.  He was crying a bit ago and told me he didn't want to perform in his school concert tomorrow night.  I told him he didn't have to go.  I'll ask him again tomorrow to see if he changes his mind.  He said he didn't want to sing because he didn't get to take a break to breathe.  I think he's just over emotional and tired so I'll ask him after school.  Maybe we'll at least go so he can watch his friends sing.

I think he's anxious about his dad coming home.  Not surprising, I know I am.

Maybe, just maybe he's asleep?

When you're feeling down, remember life is full of surprises.

I just recently discovered "StumbleUpon" (thanks Lindsey!) and I came across a video tonight that is too amazing for words... it left me in tears.  Maybe it's because I'm a mom, but watch for yourself.  This is a video showing the activation of a cochlear implant on an 8 month old baby, who was born deaf.  How sweet to see his reaction to him hearing his mother's voice for the first time.



If that doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will.

I Try

I love this song... I love that the melody is upbeat which actually plays off the lyrics:
"I play it off, but I'm dreaming of you / And I'll try to keep my cool, but I'm feelin'", "Though I try to hide it, it's clear / My world crumbles when you are not here", and "And I may seem all right and smile when you leave / But my smiles are just a front"



Games, changes and fears
When will they go from here
When will they stop
I believe that fate has brought us here
And we should be together babe
But we're not
I play it off, but I'm dreaming of you
And I'll try to keep my cool, but I'm feelin'

I try to say goodbye and I choke
Try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not here
Goodbye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not here

I may appear to be free
But I'm just a prisoner of your love
And I may seem all right and smile when you leave
But my smiles are just a front
Just a front, hey
I play it off, but I'm dreaming of you
And I'll try to keep my cool, but I'm feelin'

I try to say goodbye and I choke
Try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not here
Goodbye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not here

Here is my confession
May I be your possession
Boy, I need your touch
Your love, kisses and such
With all my might I try
But this I can't deny
Deny

I play it off, but I'm dreaming of you
(but I'm dreaming of you babe)
And I'll keep my cool, but I'm feelin'

I try to say goodbye and I choke (yeah)
Try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not near
(when you are not near aahh)
Goodbye and I choke (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I try to walk away and I stumble (hey, hey, hey)
Though I try to hide it, it's clear (say it Lord)
My world crumbles when you are not here

Goodbye and I choke (I'm choking)
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not near
(when you are not near, yeah, yeah yeah)
Yeah, yeah..