It's Freezing Out - Actually, It's Sub-Freezing Out - It's Damned COLD

We're cold today. The plows woke me up about 2:30 am, but since my alarm is usually set for 3:15 am, I decided I might as well stay up and just meditate an additional 15 minutes or so. It's nice to not feel as rushed on a swimming morning, and I'll deal with the cold by bundling up - layer upon layer. My phone says it's currently -4 F (-20 C) with a windchill making it feel like -18 F (-27.7 C). Yeah, cold. I have all the right clothing, but no escaping reality. I'll be very cold for the five minutes I'm standing outside waiting for the gym doors to be unlocked. 

This isn't too far off from my reality in Minnesota weather 
like today. I'll have my parka zipped up as far as it will 
go, my long scarf wrapped twice around my face and neck, 
my fake fur "Russian" hat on, and I might even snap the 
hood of my parka onto my coat and flip that up too. 

Sometimes Ed, our "Gate Gargoyle" is kind and will let us gather in the small antechamber of the gym entryway until official opening time. I suspect he might allow us to do that today because of the temps. Yesterday was a day of snow flurries all day until late afternoon. So, of course, my customer count was minimal until the snow stopped. Fortunately we had several good sales in the late afternoon that made up for the lack of numbers, so ended the day OK. Not great, but OK. Today should be better. It'll be cold, but it'll be clear. We know how to bundle up for the cold here in the Frozen Northlands. 

This photo is from Chicago, another Upper Midwestern 
city that gets extreme cold. They also get lake effect cold, 
since they're on Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes. 

Of course, today is my usual "day off", and I'm not getting it. I'll get my three-days at the end of the week for the New Year holiday, but I have to work today. That means I'll be running behind on things until Friday. I have just enough "Ogre Juice" pre-made to make it until Friday, and I have food in the pantry that I can eat for my dinner along with lettuce, but I won't be roasting chicken breasts tonight. I miss my chicken already. 

I miss my baked chicken breasts. It's my favorite 
meal of the week, and I'll have to put it off until 
Friday since I have to work today. Oh well, such 
are the sacrifices necessary for commerce - LOL. 

I'm still getting holiday cards in the mail from friends and family, so I'll wait until after the New Year begins before sharing them with all of you. I'm missing a mother/daughter who have always sent individual cards, and I'm concerned that I haven't heard from them. They're long-time friends for decades, but we fell apart after the death of the mother's husband who was the brother of our best man at our wedding. It's disappointing to have not heard from them, but the mother's been ill with MS for decades. I checked the obituaries and neither of them are listed, so that's at least a good thing. They might have moved back to Indiana, or they just might not be sending cards this year. I'll have to track that down a bit more. 

I'll have to take a bit of time and a closer look to see 
if my friend and her daughter are still in town or if 
they have moved back to her original home state of 
Indiana. She has a lot of relatives still there, but the 
health care up here is superior to what is available 
to her back home. 

So ... I've got to get bundled up and head out to the pool. I hope all of you have a fabulous day and I'll be back tomorrow morning. Peace!