Winter lessons...

It's amazing to me how the longer I live here, the more acute my perception is about the difference a degree makes (think: weather). I find myself becoming more and more dependent on The Weather Channel and weather.com when I wake up in the morning... not only to determine just what the heck I'm going to wear on a given day, but also to know how much I should thank my lucky stars for not having to go out in crummy weather. Take today for instance... alarm goes off, roll over, grab TV remote and immediately turn to The Weather Channel. Only today, the "School Bus Forecast" tells me it is 4 degrees outside. Holy cow. Seriously?

So, after thinking to myself... "This is what I get for not having to leave the house that Friday a few weeks ago", I proceed to get myself ready to head outdoors. This means today I will be wearing Cuddle Duds (BEST thing ever!), jeans, two pairs of socks, t-shirt, sweater, and my boots. Hot diggity! That's A LOT of clothes! The crazy thing is that despite all these layers keeping my body warm, I still had to deal with the "Frozen Boogers" syndrome that you can't avoid when you live up here in the NE. Ewww, gross! After five long winters... you learn to wriggle your nose a little harder and just deal with it. Trust me.

The funny thing is that while I was walking into my office from the parking garage I started to think about how sensitive I am to temperature now. Here's what I mean:

1. I consider anything above 40 degrees to be a heat wave.
2. I can tell the difference between 10 and 15 degrees.
3. I get nervous around melting snow when I know the temperature will drop below 32 on a given evening.
4. I check for black ice like none other.
5. I have perfected the art of grabbing the sidewalk with my toes through my shoes.

The other funny thing about today was that I was really missing "Big Blue" today. Big Blue was the first winter coat my parents got me when I moved here-- and the reason I called it Big Blue was because I looked like a GIANT BLUEBERRY walking down the sidewalk whenever I wore it. Big Blue is the reason I now own Little Blue (aka my North Face jacket). As bulky and goofy as Big Blue was, that darn thing came in VERY handy on days like today. It was super cushy and long (probably just because I was short), so it was great for blocking wind. Granted, my face and head still froze-- but the rest of me was just toasty warm. :)

Ohhhhhh Big Blue. How I miss you! (But not really, because like I said... I looked like Veruca Salt rolling down the road.)

Although I pray to the Lord above every year that this Winter is the LAST Winter I'll have up in PA... I know I'm going to have a completely different perception when I do move. I mean, I'll actually be able to tell my kids (if I have them), "You can't complain! I remember when I used to walk to class and it was 4 degrees outside! It was so cold your boogers froze!" Hee hee hee... reminds me of how my dad told me he walked 20 miles to get to school after hoeing cotton in the morning. Yeah right, dad... you took the bus. Grandma told me.

In any case, where ever you are... appreciate the winter you have, or don't have for that matter. Because all I know is that I am counting down the days to Spring! April showers, anyone?