New Beginnings and A Few Life Lessons

Hello and welcome!

I have decided to kick things up a notch and enter the wonderful world of blogging, like, officially. While it seems like the natural progression of things, I have to admit that it is a little scary taking it to the next level, making it public and all that stuff. It is also exciting as well. It will be a work in progress as I upload older posts into the archives, so check back often for updates!

So we are definitely in the throes of winter weather here in WV. Having grown up in the South, I have to admit that I am somewhat clueless about extreme cold weather. Let me share with you some newly learned life lessons about living in a northern climate:

1.  Dress in layers, layers, layers. Base layers/long underwear-check. Wool socks-check. Snow boots-check. Thick warm coat-check. Hat/Gloves-check,check.Very important when out and about in the cold. If you are dressed properly, it makes all the difference between being warm and comfortable and cold and miserable.

2.  That ice scraper that your spouse bought you WILL come in handy. Yeah, you pretty much have zero visibility without diligently scraping every bit of ice off the windshield. Oh, and whatever you do, DON'T forget to remove the snow drifts off your hood and rear of your vehicle. Because if you don't, you will have a mini-blizzard effect when you are cruising at 60 mph down the interstate...all these beautiful ice crystals will be blown up and dance across your windshield and stick, creating an icy smear, and thus, zero visibility. Not a good thing when driving! As they say, experience is the best teacher!

3.  Yes, it really is necessary to go start your car and let it warm up a few minutes before driving.

4.  Avoid those dark, slick spots on the streets! That means ice. Ice is slippery. Ice is not your friend.

5.  You can NEVER have enough firewood. When it is cold outside, a nice, cozy fire helps heat the house. Plus it is soothing and pretty to look at. There is nothing quite so gratifying as building a big 'ol crackling fire and then sitting back to enjoy the fruits of your labors. Yes indeed, hours of enjoyment and entertainment.

6.  When there are mass quantities of snow, you will be so excited that you will want to bundle up and go outside to play in the snow with your kids. Time to build a snowman! Let me just tell you that when we  I built a snowman recently, the novelty quickly wore off when I realized how labor intensive the making of a man made of snow can be. I mean, all that bending over to scoop up handful after handful of snow is indeed a workout-who knew? It takes A LOT of snow to create the large/medium/small balls which are the key ingredient in building a snowman of tall stature.  And I have to give credit where credit is due and tell you that I build that snowman ALL BY MYSELF. I tried to recruit the boys but I was met with blank stares and then they promptly took off down the driveway to start a snowball fight.

So there you have it.

Little pearls of winter wisdom.