Wednesday Winter Weirdness

Before I start all my whining about Winter let me tell you who won the Brunos!

tam !!!  gmail your info to evilauntieanita and I’ll get them out to you.

JanetinCalifornia!!!  get your info to me – you won the last go-round of stuff!

Michelle!!  from way back in the wayback – I’m still waiting to get your info for Amanda Feeley’s Smoke!!!

Okay – that is it for ‘good news’  Now!  On to the bitchin’.

So…..I’m in serious ennui right now.  The entire world, outside my window, is white.  Walking is an exercise, indeed.  Thanks to Yoga for Healthy Aging (and the fabulous Nina Zolotow) I am no longer terrified to set foot outside the house – but the walk to the shop is in Winter is fraught with peril.  We’re on a slight rise here (it doesn’t seem like much until it’s covered in slicked-down snow and ice) so getting down that rise is kinda spooky.   But I did it, nevermind that I did my level best to sabotage myself (running shoes, Anita?  Really?) – but a lot of the balance and breathing work I’ve been doing, via YfHA, has taken away most of the panic.  And with that came some confidence (well that and thinking like a penguin).   Then, as I am congratulating myself on my short walk, I see a young man bicycling on the icy streets………sigh…….

But…it’s One Foot in Front of the Other right now – that’s about all I can manage.  It’s like this every year (and you long-time Posseites can attest to that)  – midwinter is bleak as hell for this gal.  Which begs the question:  WHY AM I STILL IN THE MIDWEST?  As I have been asking myself this question for 40 years the only answer I can come up with is I am an indolent moron.  Or else it’s like childbirth – once Spring rolls around I forget how horrible Winter can be.

But enough of that.  I’m accepting that there are just a few days/weeks where nothing I do will fully dilute the SAD/ennui.  The happy light?  meh.  Exercise?  yeah – but ….meh.  Mostly I just make a list of to-do’s, get through that list (which makes me feel way less like a loser) and then collapse around 7p.  Except when I am looking at House Porn on Pinterest.  I was going to ask ‘what on earth did I do before Pinterest?’, then it hit me.  I subscribed to – and kept – every US shelter magazine ever published.  Silverfish LOVED me!  Now I just troll the pages of Pinterest and thrill to the fact that there are other psychopaths like me!  Check out this kitchen!  kitchen porn

I’m seriously into Renovation now.   I’ve cut El O a deal: if he gets the roof guy over here to give us a quote (so I can pretend I have some control over this – budgeting is one of those ‘to do’ things that assuages my Crazy)  Do you all get like this?  I sure hope at least some of you do – I don’t want to be Winter Crazy all by myself!  I keep picking and pecking and peeling away at that poor man (whose only real sin is that he could fix this house with ease, if only he would turn off the TV – you see where this is going?  It ain’t pretty).. March can’t get here fast enough!

What do you guys do to keep from losing it, come Winter?    Do you raid your cousin’s vanity (as I did) and steal her vintage Chanel No 5thatshehadnotwornfor20+years (that makes it all okay….right?  right? RIGHT?)…….do you plant dozens of amaryllis and hyacinths and rejoice in their blooming?amaryllis

Do you ……..what the hell do you do?  You probably do not fantasize about walking around with an automatic shotgun..do you?  How do you get through February?  TELL A GIRL!!!!  WI peeps, Michigan, Boston…O, Canada!  I want to hear from all of you!  CA & FL?  Y’all should just make stuff up!  Lemme know how you keep from choking folks in February!  I’ll pull a commenter on random …

and I’ll give one of you a leetle bag full of goodies.  I promise.

 

But first…..is anybody else freaked completely out by this …but also secretly wants one?

photo stolen hidemyage.com

photo stolen hidemyage.com

I feel like grabbing my cape.  Or channeling Rod Serling.

 

  • Sapphire says:

    We don’t have too bad a winter here in Arkansas (not this year, at least) and I could never really complain about the Texas winters, either. The short days do get to me a little. I guess I compensate by turning on every light in the immediate vicinity and drinking a lot of tea and coffee. Warm vanilla, incense or amber frags tend to be my go-to in winter (and sometimes in summer). Have been trying to read a lot of mysteries, too. I try to remind myself that even though it usually gets colder after Christmas, the shortest day of the year is behind me. I try to get out whenever the weather is good. Staying cooped up makes me feel like I haven’t accomplished a thing.

  • Nemo says:

    I feel exactly like that-wanting to choke people for now reason all the time (in the nicest, non-violent way of course!). I don’t know how to get through it but I love that you have lovely flowers blooming in your house even with all the snow outside. I guess the one thing I have tried this year is making myself go outside, ESPECIALLY on the really gnarly days. That way the rest of the time, I can think back to that one day with the horrific winds and snow and sleet and tell myself, “Well, it could be worse!!”. It doesn’t actually work that well 🙁

  • beth says:

    Well I’m not going to be the popular one here, but I love winter. Summer not so much. I love coming home and getting in my comfy clothes. I love cooking and baking in the winter months. I should live in the Midwest. I’d be as happy as good be 🙂 Don’t be too mad at me lol

  • Eloquaint says:

    I looked at that picture at the end and my mind automatically read it as a welder’s mask. And I thought, well, welding is fun. Maybe that will cheer her up.

    In the winter, and I live in the upper Midwest, I go to greenhouses and plant nurseries and walk around inside and remember what growing plants smell like. But then, I love the snow and the cold. I could do with a little more light. My body doesn’t quite understand when to be sleepy and when to be awake.

  • HemlockSillage says:

    I’m gonna duck my head here, because I wish Texas had more winter. I could NOT handle the cold you guys (y’all) handle routinely, but this is silly. I wore my coat maybe 5 times this winter. Sweater today. I would take some extra ice and snow and let you guys have the muggy summer. I think our winter has been particularly wimpy in part because I nabbed some LOVELY coats in Chicago when I went to meet Musette, Portia and other ‘fumies. Classic.

    I don’t have any brilliant advice, but I am a huge fan of books and tea, and those can carry me through many days before I need anything else. Oh, and grilled cheese with tomato soup. I can live on those things. Stay warm, dry and sane. Spring is coming. The migratory birds are winging their way through here now, and they are a good marker for winter’s end. Soon. Cuddle doon ;D

  • tfk31 says:

    I have come to a real revelation (for me anyways):

    Feb is cold and nasty and snowy.
    I have experienced several dramatic personal losses in the past 4 months.
    Nothing is going to change these facts, so I have decided to deliberately be nice to me.

    I revel in warm baths and gobs of beautiful scented body cream (Dia)
    I light candles and sip wine, cocoa
    Drink a metric crap ton of water and get loads of sleep.
    Puppy cuddles and beautiful perfumes. Only my favourites – no testing – nothing I do not love
    In short, I do whatever makes me feel good.

    I also focus each night on one positive thing that I have in my life.

    I know, this all sounds terribly Pollyannish and simplistic, but it does keep me from making headlines in the local paper
    ( Canadian Accountant goes postal !! ) so I’ll take it

  • Winterlude says:

    Well, I grew up in Wyoming, and I can tell you what people do there during the winter. Drink. Lots. There is also ice fishing, skiing, and snowmobiling, but the main activity is drinking.
    I live in New England now and I buy fresh flowers, take long scented baths, light candles, read, read, read, watch murder mysteries on Netflix, and drink. Mostly hot tea, but I love to sit next to the fire with a glass of wine and a cat. The cat doesn’t enjoy it as much as I do, unfortunately.
    Oh, and for the past 3 or 4 years I’ve dyed my hair red for the winter! I don’t know why, but it seems to help.

  • einsof says:

    This is my ‘if you’re going to be sick ALL YEAR- do it NOW’ stage. somewhere between february and march, i get a cold. hardly anything to complain about, once a year… although if i were clever, or could breathe, i would blame my sickness on Tom’s wooden spoons, which i claimed were harmless… but i was mistaken.

    massage therapy. i am more likely to make the investment in winter… it makes you feel good, it pumps up all those good for you chems in the body….

    the midwest is sort of a bermuda triangle… you may get in, but getting out is much harder.

    not only do i want the light mask for it’s intended purposes but to hide in, like an ostrich in sand.

  • Aaron B. says:

    Today it is raining here and quite cold for the south. I have been making enough coffee and tea lately to open my own coffee shop. I have been using a ton of coconut and tropical scented bath products in the hopes that it will warm up and become enjoyable again. I have also been trying to squeeze in as much sleep as possible, but with the amount of work to do that has become nearly impossible. Sigh, so for now I must relish in my tropical scented self and get back to work! I hope you find some warmth yourself and when all else fails there is always wine and macarons! All the best to you.

  • tammy says:

    Oh, I’m no help either; I adore winter. It’s summer I have to grind through. I don’t get SAD, I get MAD (Muggy Afflictive Disorder.)

    (Okay, I’ll stop)

    I’m a natural hibernator anyway, and there’s nothing I love more than being snowed in and hunkering down. I love hiking our property without having to worry about snakes, scorpions, ticks, chiggers and bears. My taste in just about everything runs towards winter…I wear heavy perfumes, I love gloves and hats and boots, I prefer a longer sleeve, and I love sweaters!

    Admittedly, I don’t work and have a husband and multiple male relatives to do the shoveling and such, so there’s no real downside for me.

    I hope you ladies who hate it can find some things to make it less miserable this year.

    • Musette says:

      LOL! where the hell do you live? Wait – you live in some scary mountainous area, iirc. We’ve discussed your topography before and I find it mystifying. Then again,, I find a cornfield mystifying. Madison Avenue I do NOT find mystifying. Fresh Air! Times Square! and all that.

      xoxoxoA

  • Sarah I says:

    Hi Mussette, I’m up in Canada and I have so many ideas for this question! If you are worried about slipping on ice/snow one word: Yaktracker! They are these awesome things you put over your shoes that I guarantee will literally allow you to walk/run on solid ice and laugh in the face of nature! (i have done it in many an ice storm 🙂 The panty hose idea looks pretty neat too, I’ll have to try that one! I actually love winter because I feel like you really know you’re alive when you’re outside, it’s invigorating and it keeps you on your toes. That said, I realize it can be really hard for some people, so counter intuitive as it seems, I think one of the secrets to enjoying winter is getting outside (especially if it’s sunny for that vit D!) Fun things to do are Icewine parties with friends (outside or inside) & cross country skiing (you will actually get really warm doing it I promise) skating parties and hot chocolate and tobogganing for all ages 🙂 Or go catch a night of music, like a jazz set in a great club or try some salsa dancing! On rough days I go for a hot bath with epson salts scented with real essential oils for sore muscles, and of course yummy perfumes! rich oriental ambers, tropical white flowers and bright juicy citrus seem to do the trick. If you’re feeling rundown or sick those steam rooms in spas/gyms with Eucalyptus are pretty awesome too. Also, it couldn’t hurt to get your iron levels checked, many people are feeling horrible because they are simple low in iron and don’t even realize it! I definitely know of some friends with SAD who find that the artificial light machines really do help them, and if all else fails, get yourself a cheap deal on a quick vacation 🙂

    • Musette says:

      wow! You really embrace the hell out of winter, don’t you! Good for you! But I do agree – counterintuitive as it does seem, getting outside does help. That’s why I take those quickie trips to shovel and sweep out the girls’ coop yard. It’s as much for that brief respite from ‘inside’ and that blast of Life, even if it’s freezing-cold Life!

      Thanks for the iron reminder! I was found to be low in iron (and Vit A & D) a few years back. Wow! The difference once I got those levels back up!

      xoxoxoA

  • AllGirlMafia says:

    Wine, chocolate and the first season of Borgen : )

    • Musette says:

      what’s Borgen? xoxoA

      • AllGirlMafia says:

        A Danish series… “Prime minister Birgitte Nyborg wins a shocking victory and ushers in a wave of political struggles” is the quick and dirty of it. For me it is the most addictive series since Greys Anatomy.

  • Brenda says:

    I spent 20+ years living through Midwest winters, with a trip to Florida to see my mom in law as my survival carrot. I put a big bay of full spectum lights in my studio, drank lots of hot tea, and counted the days till spring. Then, I took a trip to Albuquerque, came home with a house as a souvenir, and moved. It would be unfair to tell you about winters here, so I’ll just wish you a perfumed, warmer than usual season. All the best.

  • bevfred says:

    Fragrance, in any form. Perfume, scented shower gels, body cream, perfume, aromatherapy, candles and incense. It really helps me. Go out when it’s sunny and don’t wear sunglasses… vitamin D. Enjoy crawling into the nest with a good book to relax and be warm. Flowers are a must and the spring ones are starting to appear at the market. Dream of planning your garden. Oh yes, and drink wine!

    • Musette says:

      ooh, yes! ‘speshully on the Vitamin D and the flowers! On sunny days, around 1-2p, I stand at the kitchen sink, with my eyes closed. Feels like Puerto Vallarta. Except for the fleece.

      xoxoA

  • silvrolive says:

    Read and read some more. I have three books going right now. Also, I keep sending my friends in CA pictures of all the snow here in Boston. Looking for sympathy. If I can get out, I go dancing. That helps a lot!

  • Connie says:

    I’m a split between Boston and New Haven, CT girl. And don’t worry, I have lots of advice. Read. Listen to music. Spend a lot of time inside but punctuate with walks in the bitter cold. Hot showers. Watch good movies. I’ve also been depending a lot on ASMR videos, which are made to give you that tingly feeling you get when someone plays with your hair. Some are read alouds, others are massage tutorials, hair or makeup role-plays or tutorials, story tellings0 a lot of people speaking softly. It’s very soothing and great to watch before bed. Also, my new study position is ‘sitting on the radiator’. 😛

  • Mrs. Honey says:

    In Florida, winter is the time to deal with the winter visitors from Michigan, Ohio and Canada mainly, though we get our fair share of New Englanders as well. As I kid, I remember when every other license plate was blue and every third plate said “Je me souviens” Winter is the time to make reservations and restaurants and plan to wait and to avoid the major traffic areas.

    The snowbirds tend to come after Christmas and leave after Easter. They miss the worst of the snow and ice but enjoy the changing fall colors the spring buds and all the better parts of living up North.

    • Musette says:

      I used to do something similar in Mex, though not to that extent – usually the last two weeks in February, figuring that by March it simply HAD to play itself out. At least mostly. Right?

      I think I should start planning for that again!!!

      xoxoxoA

  • Ann says:

    Hey, sweetie! I know, I know, winter is a bear (until summer and 95+ degrees hits and then it doesn’t sound nearly so bad 🙂 ) . I survive by drinking lots of different kinds of tea (no surprise there, I guess), reading the perfume blogs, and looking forward to the weekend when I can sleep in a little. Somehow an extra hour or two under the covers makes me feel better. Hang in there, spring’s a-comin’!!

  • rosarita says:

    What’s the thing in the picture??

    Ms A, last winter during the Polar Vortex you described torpor, which perfectly matched my feelings. I’ve always loved winter but between last year and this I am so tired of just dealing with it. One thing that helps me is making a conscious effort to be kind to other people who probably feel the same way – the harried cashier at the grocery store who’s dealing with people buying out the store pre Superbowl and blizzard, the guys at car wash dealing with an endless line of filthy vehicles while they’re soaking wet, old people with cabin fever who can’t get to the mailbox to get their beloved newspapers because of ice (my parents read a local, the Wall Street Journal and the NY Times every day which is a LOT of reading.) I call or text friends I don’t see often and let them talk. I borrow my neighbor’s kid and we bake, which I love to do, unfortunately I also love to devour the results, so I can send most of it home with her. When all else fails I have a highball and paint my nails pretty colors. Oh, I almost forgot! Music. I have an old Motown station on Pandora that always lifts my spirit. Of course these things don’t change the endless boredom of February – nothing wrong with just going to bed in the evening. Spring is coming eventually, right?

    • Musette says:

      You are something, Miss A!!! I am humbled by your turning your torpor outward. I try – and sometimes succeed – but mostly just want to take an axe to everything!

      Isn’t it weird….but I simply CANNOT bake right now. You’d think I would have that oven going 24/7. Instead I just sit, with eyes half-closed, eating clementines.

      Spring will soon be here. I jes’ know it!!!

      xoxoxoA

      • Musette says:

        Crap! I forgot (and you’re the 3rd? person to ask about that mask). It’s a Light Therapy mask – supposedly for acne, I think – it’s just so …bizarre, innit?

    • Andrea NM says:

      Ok, guys, the thing in the picture: well, I can’t remember the name, but it has 2 layers of plastic shield, plus safety glasses attached inside. The inside layer has lights (LED?) and comes in 2 versions, one for anti-aging, one for acne (that’d be moi). You wear it daily for treatment via the glasses. Has a cord attached, running to a box for batteries. THE KICKER: 30 uses and you toss it. Me: “You throwing it AWAY?” Young S.A.: “Well, they’re only $30….” ME: “I’m thinking about all that plastic in a landfill.” S.A.: “Oh….” (looks puzzled).

      As for your incline to the office, design yourself some stairs or terraces (with gardens, of course), woman. Like Brenda I am in NM, though further north. Best of both world’s here: snow, but shorter winter & less severe. (Providence is also nicely moderate in winter.) Shop when the weather’s nice, cook when it ain’t!

  • poodle says:

    To get through winter I do a lot of cooking, and crafting. I also try to do some purging of the clutter that accumulates in the the basement and other places here and there. I also try to think of what my next big project will be in the yard. That gives me something to plan and play with. This year I’m getting ready for the dreaded kitchen remodel. Dreaded because I’m not looking forward to the disruption, mess, and strange people in my house. Not to mention writing the checks.
    I’m sick of winter and I’m sick of shoveling. We got 3 feet of snow last week and on Monday we got another foot and a half. That’s a whole season’s worth in 10 days. It’s nasty cold too. Just miserable. It’s so cold that I can barely even smell my perfumes when I’m outside so I’m not getting comfort from them when I’m out there and need it most. My fantasy weekend days that I dream about are the ones where I don’t leave the house and stay in my pajamas and drink tea instead of having to go out and do things. It’s too cold and I’m too tired. Time to hibernate.

    • Musette says:

      oh, Poo-delll! that’s an absurd amount of snow. I’ve been in vintage Chanel No5 for the past few days because it’s the only thing that can cut through the cold. I have 5 or 6 iterations of it so it’s been fun to try them out as I dig out the chicken coop yard for the 3rd time….

      I am having such a good time remodeling our house. this is such a little shotgun shack and it’s making me crazy. Since El O and I will be doing the bulk of the reno it won’t cost as much. Writing those checks is brutal, innit?

      xoxoxoA

  • Julie L says:

    Well, I drink a lot.

    Just kidding! Gotcha! I also sorta like winter in Indiana. Sorry! Like Dinazad, I just cook a lot and hunker down in my nest most of the time. I put food in the freezer like nobodies business, trying to stay ready in case we get iced/ snowed in, troll the Internet, read, and waste time flagellating myself over all of the things on my “fairytale wintertime to do list ” that I make EVERY year but NEVER do” because it’s easier to lay under the blanket by the fire watching tv 🙂 And speaking of icy- this will get you- our driveway is a slight incline. Yep, not too noticeable until oh, about right now thus far into winter. Our cars have this really annoying habit of sliding backwards into the lane we live on in the middle of the night much to our neighbors chagrin….. That’s what they get anyway for having a life and coming home later than 7pm like normal boring people like us….resulting in late night knocks at our door to move the car. Ah, Good Times! It happened the other night as matter of fact, JUST when hubby was, of course, sitting on the potty. He was happy about that! Me? I was snoring away on my nest of course! Didn’t hear a thing! Ahh good times. Spring is coming and soon enough we’ll be sweating too much and griping that our beloved oriental perfumes just don’t wear as well, right!? Hang in there!

    • Musette says:

      oh, HELL no!!! on the driveway! Ours is on a slight incline, too but luckily NOT at the point-of-park. That would freak me out!

      I tend to clean like a maniac during Winter. And troll House Porn on Pinterest so I can drive poor El O even more insane than I already do.

      Indiana is persackly like Illinois so I know you’re getting hammered just like us. Stay warm and keep that car on LOCK!

      xoxoA

      • Julie L says:

        Yep, it’s a true story! I swear on the last remaining bottle of vintage Galanos! Or Opium, whichever one I can afford first 🙂

  • Neva says:

    What on Earth is it in the photo??? A suicide gadget that leaves no traces in your blood and when it suffocates you it disintegrates??? Horrible in every possible way, no matter what good it does!
    …and don’t make me start about Winter…I live in a continental climate which means: warm Summer (yes!yes!yes!…) and cold Winter (noooooo….). Cold to me is everything below 8 degrees C (46,4 degrees F – I had to look for a converter, of course).
    February is the longest and most boring month for me. Some people around here enjoy the carnivals, which is kind of a tradition and they celebrate during the weekend to escape the dreary routine, but I’m not the carnival type unfortunately.
    My comfort during the month of February is reading and more reading and then exercising to compensate for the sitting, and then inviting friends over and preparing something nice to eat, something that reminds me of the Summer, and then we chat for hours… I go out of the house as little as possible so thank God for the internet! I also buy scented candles like crazy and I also plant hyacinths so my whole place smells wonderfully…
    yet still I’m grumpy with no apparent reason…but I know it will go away with higher temperatures in a month or so.

    oh yes, the kitchen in the photo above is beautiful !!! and your flowers too 🙂

  • dinazad says:

    On how to get down an icy hill without falling on your glorious backside and dislocating your equally glorious knees: panty hose, honey. Or socks. Panty hose are better, though. Cut two nice pieces from the thunder thigh section of an old pair and slip them over your shoes when you have to negotiate ice. Works. Then slip them off, put them into that pretty little baggie (with several backup pieces) in your purse and off you go.

    For nasty weather I don’t have to negotiate, I light candles, make a big pot of tea or hot chocolate, watch Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries or something equally delicious, knit, sew or crochet or do anything which doesn’t require getting up from the sofa and relinquishing the hot chocolate. And I cook. I never eat better meals than in winter! And most of all: I bake. My mother used to bake whenever she got depressed, and it works for me as well. Also, cake goes well with the tea/chocolate/coffee….

    I also perfume my bed with Rumba. Because Rumba is all golden and over the top and makes me feel safe in my sleep.

    In short, I make myself a cuddly nest from which to watch the cold outside.

  • KimB says:

    I actually love winter in the midwest (ducking now!). I love the snow, I love the smell of the air when it snows, I love the sound of crunching snow, I love how crisply the stars twinkle when the air is below zero. When I was studying overseas in a warm climate, I couldn’t wait to come back home for winter break – I would just stand outside and breathe in the cool air and luxuriate in the sights and sounds of winter.

    If it ever does get to me (or maybe in order to prevent it from getting to me) I love two things in January / February.
    1) read Ted Kooser’s poetry, especially Winter Morning Walks and The Blizzard Voices (he hails from Nebraska so knows about midwest winter)
    2) listen to Grieg and to Sibelius. Somehow, both those Scandinavian composers sound better in winter and somehow lighten winter. Can’t explain it, just is.

    • Gwenyth says:

      Oh…..just WOW!
      I was going to type a comment —- had it practically “written” in my mind —- and then I read your comment, KimB.
      You wrote pretty much exactly what I was going to write with the exception of Pablo Neruda’s poetry in place of Ted Kooser’s poetry.
      I live in the Rocky Mountains, so winter is simply the way it is…..and I like living here, with both the freezing cold winters and blazing hot summers (believe it or not)

      I am lucky in that I am not bothered a bit by grey, sunless days. In fact, I get so accustomed to the grey days I am sometimes shocked by the brilliant brightness of a sunny day. Sometimes it seems like there is just “too much light”. But, as is the way of things, Spring and Summer arrive and I love the sunny days, too.

      During the winter, when it is cold and grey, I hunker down in my house, light scented candles, spend time in front of the fireplace cuddled up with three dogs and a cat, spend time doing projects, and feel mostly comforted. That’s winter for me, and I realize I am blessed to feel this way…..

      • Musette says:

        that sounds like a great way to spend winter!!! We are argifyin’ about a fireplace – I say yes but am not sure about where to put it. First World Problems! LOL! xoxoA

        • Tena says:

          Go for the fireplace! Nothing like it in the world.

        • Julie L says:

          Oh my YES!! On that fireplace issue! When we built our house it was on my list, right up there with having a kitchen in importance, mind you, so we even put one in our bedroom too!! What stinks is dragging the firewood around and remembering to get the chimney cleaned (and paying for it $$) but sooo worth it during the winter!

  • Laurels says:

    Aaaugh! Bloglovin just ate my post. Probably too wordy anyway. Short version:

    Photo: the hell?

    SAD: not one of my many issues, even when I lived in the Midwest, but I always bought the lilacs they sold on the street in Chicago, so maybe FM En Passant, or Ineke After My Own Heart, or for more intractable cases, vitamin D and/or cognitive therapy.

    YfHA: thank you for the reminder, as I am a world-class procrastinator/Indolent moron.

    And you might use as a mantra the last few lines of Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind”: http://bartleby.com/106/275.html
    A young man read me that poem during my first winter in Chicago, and would totally have gotten me into bed, if I hadn’t known for a fact that he’d slept with my roommate the night before.

  • Caroline says:

    Ah, the perennial question of why we’re still in the midwest. I blame inertia and the beauty of summer & fall (we don’t seem to get a spring around here–am further north than you). Did the renovations in 2012, and expenses be damned, keep your husband out of it & hire the pros. Even if he is handy! Worked out quite nicely, till the polar vortex of 2013 caused an ice dam over the picture window, damaging part of the ceiling & wall. That repair is now on the docket, and fingers crossed that the gutter cables will prevent a recurrence.
    I cut myself off from my addiction to House & Home, but replaced it with an obsession for the “What You Get for $____” slide show & article on the NYT site’s Real Estate section. I believe it appears on Thursdays, and they show 3 homes on the market in 3 different areas of the country and it’s always fun to look at, and imagine how I’d redecorate the ones not to my taste!
    Plan to get through February with the usual distractions: yoga, perfume blogs, baking, reading and watching The Americans on F/X and Better Call Saul on AMC!

    • Musette says:

      Ah…but he IS a pro. That’s why the house not being done is so irritating. Being stuck in an unfinished house in Hooterville with a shrike….he’s hoppin’ to it with a quickness! LOL! The only thing he doesn’t want to do himself is the roof – and I’m fine with that. Roof guy is getting hollered at to get us on his schedule. People around here have a different sense of urgency.

      What do you think of The Americans? xoxo