Cabin Fever

This winter has been so bi-polar and dysfunctional with one week being dangerously below zero, then one day of sunny warm weather saying "Just joking!" then the birds escape and you know they know so you know that you have to run for more groceries before the cold grip of winter darkly  re-wraps it's icy tentacles around your house and freezes the ground and the groundhogs once more.

Icy storm is looming.

The first days of the dangerous cold the weather was well below zero and I about lost my mind trying to save a dog. Long story short, he got saved. Then I hunkered down. We all started eating twice as much and some of us eating cheese like steak! Cheese is a food group in below freezing weather! Bentley sat by the furnace for two weeks and didn't budge. El Gordo demanded more food and I fed him as his fussing seemed genuine and less greedy than normal. My little hog.

Oink.

As the cold days didn't stop I started to wonder what do adults do on insanely cold days or stretches of days? There are oodles of articles on what to do with your children but what do you do as adults? Assuming that TV doesn't satisfy you (and shouldn't as we need to exercise our human faculties). I came up with some ideas for adults:

1. Make a list of places to go to in the following categories (the librarian in me needs categories):

The sun will return

• Long distance trips with best seasons to go
• Local hiking trails that I've not met yet
• Day trips (Museums, small towns that require ferry rides, horse trails, pizza spots etc. Yes, good pizza can take a whole day.)
• Beaches, canoeing and tubing spots
• 3-day weekend ideas

I can't wait to wear shorts again!

2. Sew something. Currently I am working on linings for my cabinets. My cabinets and I have a strained relationship: they want freedom and space to be crazy and I want them to be tidy and in perfect charming order. They are free spirits with bobby pins flying and I am the Mary Poppins to their game. 

3. Read but don't take it too seriously. 

I find that committing to a book is so hard when there are so many good books. I'm currently reading through five books and having a committed fling with the National Geographic where I have read and re-read their article on the happiest countries on earth.

"To nap or not to nap, that is the question."

4. Go through your summer clothes and shop now for any t-shirts that are on sale from last year. Right now is the perfect time to score deals up to 75% off good cotton dresses and outfits from Jcrew.  Did you know that they make tall sizes for women? Being a tall lady makes it annoying and hard to find the right length tops and dresses so JCrew is my new best friend. And almost everything Jcrew makes is adorable. 

5. Start drinking more water for your skin. Yes, it's an indoor activity because it requires frequent potty breaks, makes you move and makes your intestines happy.

6. Sleep like a bear when you need to. 

"Or like a cat!"

If you hit that moment where its so cold and you just need to stay in bed. Do it. You only live once and sleeping through a 17 degree day is worth it. Your immune system will thank you. 

7. Put on perfume, get dressed like you matter to someone, do your face with decent make up and then call or email friends to set dates to see each other. It will so give you something to look forward to! Even check out the menu online. Crab cake! Here I come in 400 months (it feels like)!

8. Fix something in the house. I don't mean installing a new bathroom or anything that requires ventilation. I mean put a nail where it needs it. I fixed a cabinet and it felt so good to touch wood, use the electric drill and do something useful. I might build a cat tree next. Watch out!

9. Cook some fun different things that you are craving!

10. Do some house exercises. I am not big on exercise. I feel like housecleaning and going for walks pretty much keeps me fabulous. However, on cabin fever days I do have that extra restlessness that makes me want to scream. So while I do allow myself a good silent scream from time to time I also found that I love carefully stretching, doing some squats 'What's that?!" my legs demand, and doing some crunches. I then decide its not for me, but my body feels better. 

11. Listen to music. I like YouTube's "Rainy Day Jazz" but if you have the winter blues and it makes you cry then try any tropical music, and if that makes you cry too then maybe you should indulge in a good howl(with no one around, not even your cats) followed by a trip to 7-Eleven to get some junk food. It is sometimes better than anything else, just not more frequently than once a winter. Then its something else. But start with music first. 

12. Spend time with your pets and make something with them around. Bentely and I made a tea cozy together. Fatty this morning was with me while I was working and one of my favorite colleagues suggested that he needed a resume! I agree, and talked to Fatty about it who said he is ready for a change in lifestyle so he dictated and I wrote his resume.

Write my resume please, Lunch Lady.

Don't forget to include that I am fluffy.

And that stepping on me feels like mashed potatoes to you but like death to me!

 Here it is:

Fatty's Resume

Objective: To claw my way to the top. Excellent communication meows in different frequencies to express urgency or nuisance. Enjoy's helping people to help people and people too. Fifteen years of expertise of mostly successful cat-food tasting and liter pawing. Boosts office moral by merely existing, which is better than most humans. 

Education: (I think he lied a little here....)

Yale

Harvard

Georgetown

Princeton

Oxford

Soft Skills: Knows when to hold, knows when to fold, when to walk away and when to run. Belly is quite soft and fluffy, tail too. 

Technical Skills: Cat like reflexes, types the letter "M" very long and well. Can nap and type simultaneously though it doesn't make sense but at the end of it day: does it matter what we emailed and how many emails are actually read?

Weaknesses: Annoyed by ringing phones, open books, or large feet that don't know I'm there.

References: 

Lunch Lady

Bentley