Winter Storm Juno - my first real "blizzard"

I'm from down South where snowfall is cause for utter panic. Growing up in northern Georgia, we once had 6" of snow and it shut school down for 3 days! We had fun though. Now I live in New England, and we just caught the brunt of Winter Storm Juno. I have never stood in the middle of a blizzard, unless you count the time we had a sorta-blizzard back in 2011 when I lived in coastal CT. We currently have about 18-20" of snow, with more falling. Winds were whipping around about 20-30mph. The snow should taper off tonight. I actually took some footage with my trusty Canon PowerShot D10. You can see the video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/zmhp-Pb5oZ4

While shoveling snow, I also had my cell phone with me. I took a few pics of our car and the piles of snow, then put the thing in my outside coat pocket and promptly forgot about it. My husband and I spent about an hour or so outside helping to shovel snow (thank goodness our neighbor had a snow blower!). When I came inside, my poor phone was C-O-L-D and I received an error message: "Let your phone cool down before use". Cool down!? What!? I guess it has a generic one-size-fits-all error when it comes to temperature extremes. I left it alone, and it did finally come around and start working again. Lesson learned...if you take sensitive electronics outside, keep them in a pocket close to your body so they stay warm. 

Otherwise, we have weathered the storm well. We still have our power and we can get our car out of the driveway if we want to go somewhere. They've even plowed the street enough times that we can see the pavement again! My relatives called to check on me (from AL and MS) since they'd seen all the hype in the news. They were quick to point out that it seemed the Boston area didn't have much hype, but received most of the storm while other places made a huge deal out of it and only had a glancing blow. It would seem there is an inverse relationship between the hype of the storm and the impact of the storm. Folks here know what to do and how to handle snow. It ain't no big deal.

If you are somewhere impacted by Storm Juno, I hope you are safe. I am back inside now where it is warm and dry. My cats think I am totally foolish for going outside in the terrible elements. They are lucky...they can't shovel snow so they are exempt from such drudgery.  We are supposed to get a little more snow on Friday, and possibly more next week. I swear, that's the last time I'll ever ask, "so, when do we really get some snow around here?" Oops, guess I have my answer!

The view out my front window. Can't tell sidewalk from yard from street!

Just How Cold is an Arctic Blast?

I live in a region that gets cold in winter; really cold. But not one of those places that goes into the negative on a regular basis. When I woke up this morning, it was -3 outside. Yes negative 3 degrees:

This is our weather station...the HIGH was 3 and low was -3 over previous 12 hours

So, being the curious person I am, I wondered what -3 felt like. (I did a similar thing a couple of summers ago...I wondered what 102 degrees felt like. It felt like an oven. Maybe even a blast furnace. I lasted about 2 minutes outside before I was worried my innards would roast.) 

This morning, I merrily went out to my front stoop and experienced this blinding cold in my t-shirt and sweat pants. The result? Yep, it was cold....nay...FRIGID. My skin started to tingle (not in a good way) and my eyes hurt. The air being drawn into my nostrils was burning and chilling at the same time. After about 30 seconds I figured I'd better get my hiney back inside before I got instant frostbite or caught a cold. Oddly enough, it wasn't all that much different from, say, 10 or 15 degrees. Once you get below about 20 degrees, it is COLD. Mercifully, we were spared from the high winds the meteorologists predicted. Although I was mildly disappointed I couldn't experience a windchill of -20. It would probably feel awesomely frigid too, but with more bite.

As I walked around the house I noticed our windows were sweating and some even had ice on the INSIDE:

Nothing like some ice to keep your window from feeling lonely

This made me curious about other areas of the house; how cold was it around the windows and doors? Our thermostat was set for 67, but our bedroom and living room were only 65; the poor heater was doing its best. Here are some of the readings I took around the house:

This is what the window temp registered in the bedroom 

This is the closet in our living room; it has no insulation and overhangs an indoor stairwell

This was the stairwell leading down to our front door. Brrrr!

This was a reading I took at the bottom of the front door. We need some weather stripping!

All in all, I can say that -3 is a doozie to deal with. You have to let your car warm up more (or in our case, you have to wait for the coil to heat up before trying to turn the diesel engine over), and you certainly don't want to be outside without adequate protection. Bundle up and stay cozy folks! Winter is just getting started.

Happy 2015

The new year has arrived, even if you didn't stay up to usher it in. I stayed up until about an hour before and decided to go to sleep. I figured the new year could figure out how to arrive without my help and revelry. Thankfully no one in my neighborhood shot off fireworks all night long; it was a welcome change of peace and quiet. 

In addition to the stress of remembering to write "2015" on our checks (does anyone even write checks anymore?), we are bombarded with newsies talking about resolutions, tons of "get fit" advertising, and friends/family asking us "what are your New Year's resolutions?" It reminds us of all the things we didn't get done in the previous year. It can be a bit overwhelming.

I have an easy answer for this annual question: none. I have no resolutions. I find the concept a tired, silly idea that doesn't do anyone much good (except all those fitness clubs that get people to sign up and never come back). Let's face it, if you are waiting for an excuse or a reason or a specific holiday to get in shape or quit smoking or eat healthy food, you are kidding yourself. If you haven't done these things already, you aren't likely to stick to the new habits just because the new year has arrived and you made a resolution. To be fair, some people *do* stick to their resolutions and change their lives. Most of us, however, go right back to the lifestyle we've been living.

Why is this? Maybe it's because the human brain is wired for "routine". We like things to be normal, regular, and predictable. When they aren't, our brain has to work harder to sort things out. Or maybe we've become lazy in this day of instant information and smart phone "dumbing-down". If it takes more than 10 minutes to lose weight, we give up on it. I'm guilty of this frustration myself. I've been trying to get into better shape for a few years. I have tried different methods (couch to 5k, elliptical, treadmill, swimming, yoga, horseback riding, and walking), but I always let something knock me off my "game". I say let something knock me off because that is what happens. I'm in control of my life (with a few exceptions like health emergencies), so if I get out of the habit of exercising, it is my issue. I have no one else to blame.

So what is one to do? What do I do? Take small steps; don't try to do a sweeping overhaul of your life. Enlist the support of any friends or family members that want to help you make changes. Want more exercise without hitting the gym? Use the stairs instead of elevators. Park farther from your destination and walk just a few minutes more every day. Do some simple stretching exercises at your desk. Get up and take a coffee or tea break a few more times. Walk over to a co-worker's desk instead of IM'ing or emailing. Eat just a little bit less each meal, and snack on fruit instead of a bag of chips. Treat yourself every so often to keep cravings at bay. For me, I'm a lot less likely to scarf down a bag of potato chips if I've allowed myself to eat a small portion of tortilla chips and some salsa as an afternoon snack. For breakfast, I usually have a bowl of oatmeal with honey, raisins, and dried cranberries. Some mornings I'll mix it up and make a smoothie (frozen fruit, honey Greek yogurt, a banana, and a dash of fruit juice). Variety helps keep "bad food" cravings at bay too. 

This isn't a glamorous method, and it won't get me on the morning news shows, but it has worked for me. I've been able to maintain a consistent weight for the past two years. I'm brainstorming for an exercise (or exercises) I can stick with for more than a week. I'm thinking of doing elliptical in the morning and yoga in the evening. And I always look for that parking spot waaaaay in the back of the lot. Unless it is 16 degrees and snowing. Then I might look for a mid-parking lot space instead. I'm not resolving to do anything exciting. I'm not resolving to "remake" my life. I'm resolving to keep living the life I love and be happy with that. And if friends or family ask about your New Year's resolutions, tell them "resolutions are soooo 2014." Have a Great New Year.