Cincinnati Insanity

It seems as if my best attempts to get in the holiday spirit have been thwarted, and by the fickle Jack Frost no less. On Friday, I caught the Cincinnati Ballet's Nutcracker with my mother. Going to the Nutcracker performance is fast becoming a holiday tradition with me, and I was glad to finally be able to share it with my mom, who had never been to ballet. The seats were a little closer than I like, but the performance was good. My only disappointment was the some of my favorite principle dancers were not a part of the performance. I beginning to take it as a sign that I am going to frequently to the ballet if I managed to develop favorites.

But anyway.... I digress. The weather was warmer than usual for that time of year, but I wasn't complaining as we walked back to my car that night. The next day I had to head out into the insanity to finish my Christmas shopping. It was 62 degrees outside. For any readers not familiar with U.S. geography, Cincinnati is considered Midwest (though I think that description is a bit of a stretch). We're not south. Okay, so I actually live in Northern Kentucky, but still it's not far south enough to really benefit from a temperature perspective. I mean, the average temperature for this time of year is mid- to upper 30s. It was sixty-freaking-two degrees. How am I supposed to get in the holiday spirit when my mind is expecting a couple inches of snow and we get a heat wave?

So what did I do? I put on a light jacket and put the top down on my convertible as I completed my Christmas shopping. So Kim Harrison, if you're reading this, the weather in Cincinnati is truly insane. Yes, Rachel can do her Winter Solstice shopping in six inches of snow or in a t-shirt and jeans while wiping the sweat from her brow.

And for the curious, I think we hit a high of 39 degrees today.