Baby, It's Cold Inside

What's that you say? Christmas is over, enough with the songs? Well, tell that to the people who still have their lights and Christmas trees up. Besides, that song isn't even about Christmas, just cold weather and fires. So really it's a January carol, one we should all be singing regularly. If only the other seasons and holidays had carols of their own! That's the one thing keeping Halloween from the top spot.

Well, it's January now. I was trying to explain to Sean how I feel about this and nothing was coming out right.

JEN: Ok, so it's January. Let's embrace this. Let's print out some Bentley snowflakes and put them up all over the wall.

SEAN: Wow, really? I'm surprised. I would think you'd want a big poster of a tropical scene.

JEN: No, no. Sean, I don't hate winter, i just.. i mean, ok, yes I do hate winter. But that doesn't mean I hate it. I mean, not yet. Now it's fine. It's appropriate. I mean, what, do I wish we'd just skip it and move onto spring? Well... maybe.  But no, it's fine! I like all the seasons. So let's do winter. Let's do winter??? Let's DO. WINTER.

I don't actually want to skip to spring. How could I ever enjoy it without the horribleness of winter? I'd be like, oh hey spring, back so soon? that's cool.  It's just that the winter is 1.5-2 months too long. But it's fine for January. What else is in January? Nothing. If anything, I have a serious problem with March, when you're like, winter will NEVER. END. On this, I wrote what I thought was a not bad blog post no one cared to comment on but that's fine, whatever.

SO. January.  Let's have it. 


I keep getting emails from NY telling me when alternate side parking is canceled. I like getting these emails because of the intense surge of joy they bring, even though they are no longer applicable to my life. I never want to forget. But I got one today canceling parking rules for Monday AND Tuesday in anticipation of a doozy of a storm. Though, as last year taught me, only a fool will park on the right side of the road as that is where the snow plows plow the snow mountains and you'll never see your car again until spring.

Here, it's actually been a really warm and pleasant winter which is just the most delightful thing ever. But when I first started this draft it was soon after Christmas when temps were in the 0's and it snowed a lot. This made for a very cozy and frigid existence in this tiny woodsy cottage of ours. Except it's ill-equipped for such temperatures. We had the heaters on at fullspeed and it was fuh-REEZING.  Our heaters just couldn't hack it. One night we piled every blanket we had and it was still insufficient. I have never been so cold indoors. I just laughed as I tucked myself in, trying to trap in the heat. It made things get real, real fast, which I kind of enjoy. I enjoy going into survival mode. And i learned something.

Priorities change when you're so cold. You can't be bothered by trivial things such as cleaning, homework, or "getting things done."

Your job now is simple:  GET WARM.  Priority #1.  We mostly stayed curled up on the couch under heaps of blankets and emerged only to heat up the rice sock or make some more hot chocolate. Layers and slippered feet were a must.  And let me tell you something, living in freezing temps makes you feel so productive because you're staying alive, and what's more productive than that?? I'm a survivor, man!

That lasted a couple of days and then we stayed at my mom's for the rest of the break because, despite all the fun, I didn't really want to freeze to my death and also i like to pretend I'm still on vacation when I'm at my mom's house. Turns out it was a blast because we are FUN. 

So, January, I give you an offering of our winter pics, thus far:

We got some crazy frozen death spikes on our roof. I mean really, when's the last time I saw for real icicles like this? So cool, but also, aaah?

And in the bushes as well:

We even went sledding down the "driveway"/ dirt hill. This is me willing my sled to keep going.

And went for a walk to the nearby creek. It is so weird to live here. So weird. 

Sean found this crazy ice sheet. They broke it off the top of the creek and underneath were all these crystals standing up on it. Frozen water is weird!

I made myself a snow chair. That's something I do love about playing in the snow. It creates as whole new world for you. It's so malleable, shapeable.  I made myself a chair! A chair in weeds I never would have cared to sit in, otherwise. You can't see it, but it's there!

Pretty creek