But baby it's cold outside...

I've been rereading all the Little House on the Prairie books and I just finished The Long Winter, which makes me appreciate all the modern conveniences of dealing with cold blustery weather. This week has been, for the most part, RAW. Rainy, cold, blowing winds and I've had to do my Aunt Judy's trick of getting into my pj's like lightning and then diving under the covers and counting to 60 and then I'm warm. Despite the fact that it's always about 15 degrees and drafty in my bedroom. I have 4 windows and sucky heat - meaning it goes on for about 45 minutes at 8am but during the night - NADA. Ooooh, how the cold breezes blow! I feel like Laura and Mary and the claim shanty isn't winterized so the snow falls on them in the night and Pa has to come and shovel their quilts. My teeth literally chatter as I get ready for bed. But at least I haven't run out of kerosene and the grocery store is just up the block so I don't have to subsist on potatoes and wheat grain until the trains can get here. But I can copy some of their methods for dealing with the chill - drinking ginger tea to warm up the insides, layer up with long johns and socks, and keeping a hearty bean soup a la Caroline Ingalls simmering on the stove all day. And so I shall, because tomorrow is supposed to be a snow storm so I think I'll just be cozy at home and do some New Year's Cleaning and Decluttering in a Feng Shui sort of way. And I'll think I'll take a walk through the park on Sunday because it will be all winterwonderlandery and happy and you know how much I love that.

And here's a pic or two of New Year's Eve - the theme was Chinese New Year while watching Mamma Mia and being silly. Oh yes, my mother is wearing gold stretch pants...and yes, I am wearing silver ones..aren't we...tacky?! And you aren't drunk, there are 2 of me in the photo...my mother said it's the ghost of my twin that I ate in the womb...