As much as I’d love to have a miniature Roberto to keep in my pocket for snow emergencies, I fully understand that he was a onetime deal. Since my car skidded on the snow a couple of weeks ago causing me to crash (minorly) into the curb, I’ve had a range of anxiety attacks about driving in the snow. This panic is compounded each time I have to park or leave my current parking spot. 

If you haven’t had the divine pleasure of seeing the jerks that save parking spots in Chicago, then check out this site. Except now that I’m parking street-side this winter, I really, really want to be one of those jerks. When trying to leave my spot tonight, I couldn’t get out. My tires simply spun in place. I got out my now broken shovel (thank you pile of snow shit yesterday!) and attempted to remove any big piles. Then a car pulled up, the inhabitants watching me. Nothing happened. I got back in my car and turned off the engine. Guess that means no salsa class tonight!

Yesterday, I patrolled the streets looking for an easy place to park. My heart started thumping in my chest, my palms got damp even before I pulled into my neighborhood. Parking in the snow is giving me a high dose of anxiety. Thoughts of snowy drifts pervaded my dreams last night. For what seemed like hours I pictured crashing into the curb, hitting hunks of snow, and driving for miles looking for easy enough parking. My heart is even beating faster as I write this. 

I need my car for many things, so how do I get over my fear? Do I dig myself out tomorrow and become *that asshole* with folding chairs and baby gates? Do I practice hopping snow drifts until I no longer fear them? For now, I’m going to lay on the couch, day dreaming of kicking winter’s ass and being a pro at parking over snow humps. 

Today I met my guardian snow angel. His name is Roberto.

For days on end it snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed in Chicago. Then the Polar Vortex pummeled the city. While the snow plows took to the streets, I took to my couch. I hadn’t moved my car in a week until the inevitable meeting in the suburbs tumbled upon me today.

Thirty minutes before my car needs to head south, I traipse outside. My car is a mountain of snow from street to curb, a pile of snow shit. The only way I can tell it’s mine is when I press the unlock button and a hazy orange blinks at me through a layer of powder. Thank goodness my parents are smarter than me and bought me a shovel for Christmas.

A minute in, the tears start to freeze to my face (and, no, they weren’t tears of happiness or from the cold) when a green car pulls up and out walks my guardian snow angel – except I didn’t know that at the time. With outstretched arms, he grunts, “Here,” proceeding to take my shovel away from me.

For a full thirty seconds I stare at him while he begins to dig my car out. Once my brain unfreezes, I yelp, “Thank you so much!” and take my snow brush out of the backseat. A solid fifteen minutes goes by and spots of red are starting to come through. I can finally see my tires and the iced-over windshields. The snow angel sets down the shovel, floats to his car, then comes back with an ice scraper. Again, I stare. Why is this random stranger cleaning off my car in the freezing cold?

“What’s your name?” I finally ask.

“Roberto.”

Once more I reach in the backseat, this time pulling out a box of tissues. “Again, thank you so much! I don’t have much to offer you, but do you want a tissue?” He grabs one and then explains that he’s paying it forward; he’d just run out of gas and was stranded on the street when two strangers stopped and gave him a gallon of gas. We continue to work for ten more minutes in silence. My car is spotless. I would’ve given up at barely seeing through the windshield, but Roberto ensures every speck of ice is eliminated.

Without saying anything, my snow angel walks back to his car. I yell out, “Thank you again! Have a wonderful day!”

“You too,” he says, “and thanks for the tissue.”

My New Year’s resolution isn’t going to be a shocker – I want to be healthier – but I won’t be one of those wavering resolutionists, because I will stick to my guns (I know, everyone says that, but seriously, I will). I’ve scheduled a wellness visit with the doctor and will check again next year to see how I’ve compared. Here’s the plan:

1. Eat healthier – While I’m not an unhealthy eater now, I do want to work on cutting out unnecessary snacking and the “need” for dessert and pop. When I went to yoga training last August, I went cold turkey with caffeine for a whole month. Now, I can proudly say that I have no real cravings for soda. I do drink it occasionally, but I’d like to drink even less (that includes non-caffeinated pop). I’d also like to eat fewer sweets and more veggies/fruits. For my birthday, I got a Magic Bullet so I can make fruit smoothies; I’m also a huge fan of yogurt with berries. Hummus is one of my fave foods, so I’m going to incorporate that into my snack regime.
2. Drink less – I’m no alcoholic, but my social life made my drinking a bit excessive this past year. Though I clearly had a bunch of fun, I might have had too much fun with the alcohol. To help curb the alchie enthusiasm, I’m planning to cut down on my liquor consumption – a maximum of a drink or two, one night a week. Friends, please note that this does not mean I can’t still go out and have fun!!
3. Do more yoga – When I was in Hong Kong, I went to yoga at least 3 times a week because my schedule allowed for it. Now that I work banker’s hours, I can’t get to yoga until 5:30 or 6, then it’s at least 7:30 by the time I get home. Can you say starving?!?! Now that my I’m cutting alcohol out of my daily routine, maybe I can fit in more yoga??
4. Take my vitamins every day – I’m lazy, what can I say? I need to remind myself to take my vitamins and do my PT stretches with notes in my bedroom.
5. Happiness journal – I re-watched an Oprah episode with Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love and as many of my loyal followers know, I love this book! I’ve written plenty of blog posts about it and my adventure in Hong Kong was loosely based on the premise of “finding yourself” in a new place. In this Oprah episode, Liz (yes, we’re on a first name basis here) brought up this idea of a happiness journal where each day you write down 1 thing that you “really, really, really want” and your happiest moment of the day. Only a couple minutes and you’re set with a book full of happy times!

I’m not hoping for luck this year on my resolutions, because they’re all things I know I can accomplish, just have to take the time and make the effort to achieve them.

With the spirit of Thanksgiving embracing November, every day this month I wrote down one thing for which I was grateful. This is a great tradition done by many of my Facebook friends and something I also completed in 2011.

Day 1: Got on a plane today to Boston to visit my friend, Steve. I’m thankful that the travel bug has bitten me.

Day 2: I am so lucky to have friends that live all over the world and the U.S. In the past year, it means that I’ve had free accommodation in California, London, and Boston. Next on the list: Texas and Nashville (if you’ll have me!)

Day 3: I am more than grateful for my time in Hong Kong for it made me adventurous, independent, and happy. It also brought me to Chicago!

Day 4: I adore travel, but I also love home. After a very fun four days in Boston, it feels great to sleep in my own bed, lie on the couch watching the DVR, and to eat a home-cooked meal.

Day 5: Happy 1 year anniversary to my job! Feeling very grateful today for this past year thanks to a job that I love.

Day 6: Got dinner tonight with friends from Hong Kong. It was fun to reminisce and I look forward to getting to know each other more.

Day 7: Yoga! I might not have fulfilled my yoga teaching prophesy yet, but I still love it.

Day 8: Chicago has an awesome cultural scene; I’ve been to shows in small theatres, festivals with awesome food, and to tons of museums. Today I saw a very sad, but mighty show at The Den called Shadow Town about sex trafficking in Chicago – scary stuff, man.

Day 9: Today, I’m thankful for friends new and old. I had dinner with my lovely friend Kira whom I’ve known for over 20 years. I’ve also made this wonderful little group of friends from my softball team who on a daily basis make me laugh in our group chats.

Day 10: Sunday, glorious Sunday. I love days when there’s nothing to do, but relaxation time.

Day 11: I’m grateful for my sense of humor which allows me to laugh at the ridiculous dates I’ve gone on. Otherwise, I’d probably cry…

Day 12: So thankful that normal guys do exist.

Day 13: I’m glad for the interesting work project that has lead me all over Northwest Indiana. Oh, and I’m certainly happy for my paid-off car.

Day 14: Betsy and I took our first salsa class, so I’m grateful for a bit of natural rhythm and fun dance class. And, of course, a friend to dance with!

Day 15: Spent my Friday night spreading my love of travel to the Girl Scouts.

Day 16: My family! Eight of my female family members came to the city to see A Christmas Carol with me. Such a fun day!

Day 17: As much as I randomly miss Hong Kong, I’m happy to be back home and close to my family so I can see them often.

Day 18: Locked myself out of the house today. Thankful that my roommate let me steal her keys and that the taxi ride was only $21 to pick them up instead of the $50 it would’ve cost to get the lock opened.

Day 19: I love my DVR. That is all.

Day 20: I adore days when I can sleep in! Don’t work ‘til 1:00 today, so I’m hanging out in bed all morning writing blog posts and chatting with friends.

Day 21: Today, I was all sorts of sick. Two doctors, three prescriptions. So thankful that I have insurance and that good healthcare exists in America.

Day 22: Got free tickets to the circus; glad my parents and roomie could join me!

Day 23: So glad to have made new friends since I moved to Chicago! Didn’t want to sit at home on a Saturday night, so texted a new friend and got drinks.

Day 24: I’m knee-deep in volunteer opps: Mikva Challenge and Big Brothers Big Sisters are my newest projects.

Day 25: Mmmm I love sleep. Is there a trend??

Day 26: My plans got cancelled today at the last minute. I love city life and that I’m so close to lots of things, specifically walking-distance to the Walgreens for a bottle of wine and a frozen pizza.

Day 27: Spent the day with my beautiful niece, Elise. Very, very grateful to be near this sweet girl.

Day 28: Happy Thanksgiving! Thankful to spend the day with my funny family today.

Day 29: Today was free laundry day at my parents’ house – woo hoo!

Day 30: I have a wonderful group of high school friends who got together today. It’s been 11 years since we parted ways, yet we always seem to find ourselves getting together around the holidays and for big occasions. Very blessed to still have them in my life.

Today I met my Little Sister from Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) for the first time! I was so so so excited to meet her and the anticipation of 5 months of waiting was all worth it because she’s amazing. (To protect her identity and her story, I’ll call R.) I think that if I was 9 again, R and I would be friends. She was me at her age. R is the sweetest kid I’ve met. She was all of my favorite students (and, yes, teachers have favorites) all rolled into one. I would have loved to have her in my classroom. Can you tell that I like her a lot?!?!

Let me start from the beginning. Earlier this year, I was feeling the itch to be around kids again. I miss my students so much and my job is planning for girls, but not being around them much, so I decided to investigate Big Brother Big Sisters. Little did I know that it would take 5 months of patience and waiting. In June, I applied to BBBS. The application included multiple questions including why I wanted to take part in the program, what I wanted out of it, information about my background, etc. A few weeks later I attended an orientation which shared more about the process and how it all worked. They told me 90 days max until I’d get matched.

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