Subzero

So far, February has been ... cold. Not "we live in Minnesota and it's winter" cold. More like "I talked Mike into going on a walk and now he's questioning his choice of life partner" cold. It has been two straight weeks of pretty much subzero temps. This also means that it has been two straight weeks of being stuck inside. We.are.over.it. Thankfully, it should start warming up to normal February temps on Wednesday and the extended forecast looks downright lovely. We could use some more snow - preferably in the form of a snowstorm. Snow or not, we are thankful for the warm up to highs above zero!

While we hang inside, we've done a lot of singing and dancing ...

We've layered on a lot of clothes to brave the cold, get out of the house, and breathe in fresh air. One of us complained a lot about his face being cold. One of us was so excited to be outside that she didn't care. Two of us cursed a couple of times when we had to fight our way through -20 degree winds ... and someone may have refused to join his wife on a walk for a couple days after that.

On Monday, February 8, we dropped three people off at the bus stop for the first time since before Thanksgiving. It was a very happy day! They are all back in school, going five days a week. Since Mike and I are both still mostly home, the kids have been taking the bus home instead of going to the after school program. I suspect we'll have to head into our respective offices more frequently in the coming weeks, so we are playing the after school arrangements by ear. It is eerily quiet here without them. And oh so noisy when they get home. The best part ... not making lunch for everyone every.blasted.day. I mean, also that they are getting a better education. But no lie, we were OVER lunch!

I did manage to go for a handful of runs despite the freezing cold weather. It only required wearing long socks (yuck!) to not expose my ankles, layering a light fleece coat under my winter coat, putting a hat over my headband, and putting mittens over my gloves. Oh, and a scarf! I mean, what's an extra 10 lbs of clothing ... [For the record, on my last run, I had the winter coat tied around my waist and was holding the mittens and hat by the end. You start out cold. You get hot!]

Bugs is so tired of the monotony that she asked me to braid her hair. She's generally a "keep your hands away from my hair" kind of girl. So being asked to style it was pretty exciting. She even left the braid in for 30 minutes or so before she took it out! 

We just finished up a long weekend that was spent mostly at home ... inside (no school Friday or today for Presidents' Day). Quite honestly, I think we survived the deep freeze because at least the kids were going TO school. They are all excited about the return to outside recess later this week when it is warmer. And we are excited to get out on the backyard rink. I guess that's the thing about subzero - the promise of life above zero is oddly invigorating!