P: Let It Snow!...and Sleet, and Rain...

So NY's weather kinda sucks. I narrowly escaped a snowstorm in Boston, which was scheduled for this past Friday. THe weather sucked so much, they half-canceled the 15k I was supposed to run Saturday morning. The cold wasn't the issue; it was the slush and ice. I was not going to risk falling down and injuring myself while running an UNTIMED race. Bah!

So, the past several days back in NY have been intense, if only because I've been out of doors for 6+ hours, carrying around a 10+ lb backpack. I was cramming in all of my last-minute shopping, and I was ill-dressed for the weather. I had on a pair of Converse-esque sneakers, which--needless to say--were soaked through, and it was freezing cold, and wet, and windy and miserable.

I spent Frida, Saturday and Sunday tracking down rainproof boots. First, I was going to get those fugly rubber ones that everyone and their mother is wearing:
But couldn't really find any, as everywhere was sold out. I hemmed and hawed re a pair I saw at Filene's for $25, but they weren't my "platonic ideal" of a boot, so I abandoned them, only to regret it later. Then I had a tortuous experience at not one, but TWO Shoemania's, which was just too intense for words. I then tried to buy the following silver Tretorn boots that were fur-lined and on sale for $35, but they were all sold out of my size and all they had was silver.
Then I spent all of Sat and Sun trying to track down the following waterproof Timberland boots: Which was once again a harrowing, harrowing experience that involved a trek on the G train to Queens Mall, along with all of that riff raff.

Anyway, I finally got them for $110--thirty bucks more than they were selling them for at Shoemania, but desperate times call for desperate measures (i.e., trekking to Queens Mall and back).

So it seems the theme of the past few days here have been, "Wow, Patty you've lost so much weight! You pretty now!" I saw five of my parents' friends since Thursday, and they've all said pretty much that, verbatim. This one man, Mr. Oh, told my parents that I got much better-looking now that I lost weight (which literally, in Korean, is "to be sunken in/dried out"). Meanwhile, I've lost all of, what, ten pounds?, which I think are hardly discernable, and five of those pounds were from my boobs =(. But Koreans--as we are a fairly homogenous-looking species of people--are quick to point out the minutest of physical flaws/improvements. My parents tell me Mr. Oh has schemes to marry me off to his scrawny, mean son Eugene, who interestingly enough used to call me fat in the sixth grade. No thank you. I see the way this man bosses around his long-suffering wife, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. My parents think Mr. Oh hits his wife, too. I repeat: the apple does not fall far from the tree.

Sat morning I went to the gym with my parents; they go to their weekly morning Aerobics class (my dad is one of two dudes in a class full of Queens/Long Island middle-aged moms). Since I wasn't doing the 15k, I had to make do with 6miles on the treadmill. People in Queens don't seem to know how to work out, because the (middle aged) folks on either side of me were wearing non-athletic shorts, orthopaedic shoes, and tall black socks, as they walked on the treadmill. Not even a brisk walk--I'm talking slow-ass walking.

Anyway, another one of my parents' friends saw me in the locker room, and she said to me in Korean, "You're unrecognizable! Are you the same person I met this past summer?" And then she puckered her mouth, puffed out her cheeks, and continued, "You know, when you were poo-dong, poo-dong." I don't know exactly how to translate "poo-dong, poo-dong," but it's an onomatopoeia--I guess it's the thunderous, ground-shaking sound a fat person makes as she walks by.

Okay, okay, maybe I should get over these issues--after all, I'm almost thirty, but I just have to say: What a wonderful homecoming.

I'm a little stressed about Christmas, seeing as my sister and I are not on talking terms. God, Patty, way to air all of your personal trials and tribulations in a public forum. Thankfully, I had a great time Saturday night when Jessi and Colin made their awesome annual turkey, and there were brussel sprouts and pies--PIES!--and Morgan made a great salad (I'm not just humoring you...okay, well, kind of). And Damien made this tater tot casserole, which I witnessed from start to finish: tub of sour cream, can of cream of mushroom soup, one pkg shredded cheese, tater tots, two cans frizzled onions, bacon optional. Heart attack, or cheesy fried deliciousness? The jury's still out.

Well, am at Tea Lounge on Union and 6th, trying to cram in some work before Dyker Heights, so signing off...toodles for now!