And Winter Comes

The leaves have all fallen from the trees. A few hardy flowers still bloom, but the cold at night will soon cause them to dry up. There is a chill in the wind that blows right through the layers of clothing I put on. I'm avoiding pulling out my winter jacket even though it is more appropriate for the temperature today.

I dread the coming of winter each year. The bitter cold gets under my skin and for the next six or more months I will be unable to completely warm up. The hot tub in our building helps. Cups of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate help too. But nothing completely takes away the knowledge in my bones that the world has frozen over.

This year I am home with K for the winter. I am not sure how my experience of winter in Winnipeg will be this time around. It will be harder to force myself to get outside, get some fresh, yet cold, air. I will have the option of going outside during the daylight hours, but will I want to?

I am deeply thankful that the warmish fall weather has persisted this long. Usually the fall season is much too short to properly enjoy. Maybe this year I can attempt to enjoy winter as well.

Warm week again

After another week of wearing ski pants to work, I have again attempted to put them away. This week is gearing up to be fairly tolerable weather-wise. Hopefully it continues.

Hurray!

I went to work without ski pants on today! It was a little cool, but I managed. I have worn ski pants to work every day since before the Christmas break... possible since November even.

I can't wait for above 0 degree temperatures. Well, except for the mess of melting snow, mud, salt, gravel and so on, all over the pot holey roads. Other than that, yay spring!

Sun vs. Clouds

As some of you may know, E&I are working towards moving to BC sometime in the future. Part of the purpose of our house renovating is to be able to actually afford living in the lower mainland at a lifestyle level that is comfortable for us.

One of the major reasons for doing so is to escape the long, inhospitably cold winters as well as the short, mosquito ridden summers here in Winnipeg. (If I have to wear my skipants for another month just to avoid hypothermia, I'm going to go completely insane.)

Whenever we discuss our plans with fellow Manitobans, it raises a particular debate... Sun vs. Clouds. In Winnipeg, there is a good amount of sun throughout the winter. The arguement is that "sure it's cold, but it's a dry cold, and at least we have sunshine." In the lower mainland area of BC the weather is warmer, the winter is shorter, but it does rain a lot and they do get a lot of cloudy days.

Now we all have different weather related things that we can tolerate to different extents. I am not able to cope with -40 degrees no matter how many sunny days that temperature occupies. I am, however, able to cope with +5 degrees with rain and cloud cover for many more days in a row.

When it's really cold, I don't go outside anyways, so what difference does it make whether there's sun, cloud, or complete darkness?

I'm not saying that one type of weather is better than the other, I'm just saying that I would much prefer one over the other. So for everyone out there who would rather have a dry cold with sunshine, by all means, you are more than welcome to it! I am counting down to a future of short, wet, mild winters under a comforting blanket of clouds. If I find I need more sun, I'll buy a sun lamp.

Ultrasound

Last week I went for my ultrasound appointment. Did you know that you have to go with a full bladder? That part is agonizing... the rest of it is really cool.

E&I could see the baby's arms and legs, and face, and everything. We could see it moving around and moving its mouth. It was amazing.

We were hoping that the technician would tell us if it was a boy or a girl, but she wouldn't say for sure. However, from our view of the baby, we are guessing that it is going to be a boy. We can't be completely sure though, since we're not really experts at reading ultrasounds! So at this point we're just speculating.

No matter what the baby turns out to be, it was exciting to have our first look at him/her. There's a real human in there, it's not just a growing blob making my belly get bigger and bigger!

Is it wierd that I really like my baby belly? The only belly worry I have is whether or not my warm winter ski pants and winter jacket will continue to fit for the duration of our frigid Winnipeg winter... Here's hoping!

Minus 37 degrees

Last weekend, E & I went to MEC to buy long underwear in preparation for what is expected to be the coldest Winnipeg winter in years. But today, that long underwear was just not enough.

Today, I broke out the ski pants for the first time this winter. I know it won't be the last time, but I was hoping to hold out until after the Christmas break. So much for that.

As I stood outside at my bus stop, the one I transfer buses at, I thought about how much I hate winter. My bus stop has a heated shelter but I can't wait inside it. Why not? Because it stinks like urine and other unidentifiable but equally unpleasant smells.

So that leaves me ample time to stand outside in -37 degree weather thinking about how much Winnipeg winters make me go crazy. I'm counting down until the day we leave for a warmer climate. Somehow flooding, mudslides, and boiling your water doesn't seem as awful as 5 months of freezing!