I fondly remember sipping ice tea outside on a warm summer night. Grabbing a book or magazine and relaxing in the warmth of the sun, water at the ready for a quick cool down all the way into early evening. There is no better sight than my kids enjoying their friends, swimming in a clean and cool lake.
And fall was absolutely wonderful in Minnesota. The first apples peaking in early September, different varieties ready for weeks in repetition. Even as Halloween approached, we still had sunny days and light jacket weather.
Those are what I will remember as now am faced with this drive and this weather for the next three to four months, knowing all this will come again. If you live in warm climates, send me your warm thoughts. At least the temperature this morning was in not negative digits. We've warmed up to 5 F. It's going to be a long winter.
DS picked up something travelling from California back home to Minnesota on December 20th. We packed him up and sent him back with a head full of decongestant and packets of tissues. On Tuesday when I next talked to him, he was feeling more himself, but still stuffy. Nearly 10 days of it. On December 30, each of us left in frigid Minnesota seemed to have grabbed the bug. I was useless by Sunday, but pulled myself together for work on Monday. It is now day eight of what I'm told has been a 10 day cold, inconveniently passed between family members, office workers, and school students.
Part of me wishes I would just succumb to all out sickness because the lagging cough, chest pressure, and endless snot and sneezing is quite unproductive, but not justifiable to stay in bed with chicken soup. No fever, no muscle aches, no sinus infection. Just a cold. A whopper of a cold. I will wash my hands even more regularly than I already do, for I was a former preschool teacher and you can't break those habits. I'll keep a supply of tissues at the ready, seemingly like a bottomless box to replace each one as they empty. I'll swallow another round of decongestants, drink my tea, and hope by Friday, the 10 day mark, I will be cold free. That is, until the next round reaches me and my family again. Stay healthy out there.
As this is typed, the thermometer says -5 F for the temperature, with wind chill of -25 F. For you not on the United States temperature charts, that is -21 Celsius. That's me on the map right where the swooshing purple arrow line is saying VERY COLD. We in Minneapolis are 7 degrees colder than Anchorage, Alaska, but in fairness to claims of being the ice box of the world, still 20 degrees warmer than the North Pole. This is not a post to bemoan the weather, or get sympathy comments. We choose where we live, and there must be something that keeps a person rooted to a place, despite the freezing temperatures or the blistering heat. (We get that in the summer as well!) Weather and how people adapt is a state of mind and perception. If it was 40 degrees and sunny, I can guarantee my fellow Minnesotans would be running around with light jackets at most, and some possibly in shorts. Two years ago on our day wait for a Caribbean cruise in Florida, a gray cloudy day, but with temperatures still in the mid 60's, had the Floridians in double and triple layers, gloves, and ear bands, while we lounged pool side.
Today though, it is cold no matter what you are used to. Yet, we still get up and go to work and school, run errands, and take care of our families and pets. Vanity and looking nice go out the window, and there are tricks and treats used for these frigid days.
- Flannel lined socks and tights are a blessing under neath pants, and for those that insist on skirts, make that doable.
- Warm and water resistant boots. Mine are Totes and they go all the way up to my knee.
- Long underwear. This is not your grampa's stuff, but cute little thin undergarments, barely noticeable, that add that nice little barrier between cold drafts and your skin. The brand I have even has a cute name-Cuddle Duds.
- EOS lip balm, with a hint of color keeps lips moist and resistant to the drying air, but doesn't have that waxiness some lip balms do.
- Thick hand cream to prevent the side effects from skin badly dehydrated from the cold and wind. I find you can't have too thick a cream or apply too often to prevent the little painful dry skin cuts.
- The coffee pot, tea kettle, and good supply of either brews or hot chocolate, and a nice big mug. Keeping the inside warm does wonders for the outside, and there is simple pleasure in holding that mug with both hands as you sip. The pleasure increases proportionally to the thermometer dropping.
These are a few of my cold coping strategies. To end, I love this meme from Funnyand.com. It sums up life here on these most brutal of days so well, and asks the important question that is really hard to answer with rationale sometimes.
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It was a confusing sort of day. I woke up, checked e-mails, intending that I was just going to delete overnight SPAM that escaped the filter, and learned there was a change in what I thought was DD#2's practice schedule. Apparently wrong dates were sent out, but the text did say Monday and Wednesdays'. I am a date kind of person-dates trump days to me, so I put December 3rd and 5th on the calendar, not Monday and Wednesday. Even with the wrong date, it was more my error, as the context was clear. This caused me to open my calendar, and seeing that my afternoon was flexible, solved the problem by intending to leave work early, and finish up my day once home. I did this, without care, until I got a "bing" e-mail alert on the drive home, checking once I arrived home to an alert that the 4:00 meeting was in the Harry Potter Room (a makeshift meeting room located under a staircase-clever hah?). I had completely zoned out a conversation held before my extended Thanksgiving holiday abut joining in on a conference call. The party who set up the meeting had not set up an actual meeting in Outlook, so nothing was on my calendar. Apparently I didn't miss anything much, and it will be an easy catch-up, but I am bothered by this. I hate not being on my game at work.
On the plus side, we are back home, cozy in the house by 6:30, and Friday night I have one less thing to juggle and can better enjoy the weekend. DH works late on Monday so it is just the girls tonight. I was intending to actually cook a meal, but something got overly stuck on the cook top last night, and I don't want to use the stove top until we can keep working the char out of the glass. You can't scrub with anything but soft cloth and cook top cleaner, for risk of ruining the glass. I take good care of it and it looks and works like it did brand new 12 years ago. Frozen pizza became the dish du jour. It was a whopping high of 8 degrees today-I won't complain about little internal warmth and comfort from the pizza. I have a twinge of guilt for not having a few batch made meals ready to be pulled out for just such a night. We do probably eat more frozen pizza than we should.
For Advent in Reverse, I gave away the last of my loose change, the change kept for girls poker night. I usually put whatever change I have or a dollar bill or two whenever I see a red kettle, but intentionally bringing the poker money meant I was actually giving away something from me. I've read many posts of others doing the same thing to lead up to Christmas, and others choosing not to do this, because they regularly donate throughout the year. I say anyway a person gives to others in need is a great idea. I donate throughout the year, but like the concept of a reverse Advent specifically to celebrate the Christmas season.
How has your first day of December gone? For those in the US who may have had extended time off, did you find getting back into the norm a little tough this morning as I did? Other than soup, what is your winter weeknight no fuss ,comfort, go to food? As for that cook top, does anyone have any tried and true suggestions other than good old elbow grease and patience?
