Brrrrrr

Man, it's cold outside! Yesterday afternoon I watched the temperature plummet on the thermometer and my body felt it, too. I've noticed a dramatic change in my body temperature since retirement. Even with a new furnace, better insulation and new windows the house still doesn't seem to be warm enough. I'm sure part of it is because I'm just sitting and the level of my activity has diminished considerably. I used to be on my feet most of the working day and short-sleeved shirts were a staple of mine. Now I still wear the shirt but have a sweatshirt on over top but my legs are still cold. Now I understand why the secretaries at work usually had that extra sweater on the back of their chair and a small space heater under their desk. I feel bad for them now that the new study came out saying if people are sedentary most of the day, it doesn't even matter if they exercise. What do they want people to do then? Even sitting on an exercise ball wouldn't solve the problem! This sort of study just makes people feel frustrated and without any power at all. What good are they? Let's put money where it will be more beneficial and not a wasted study.

Driving in the Snow

I'm amazed at how our attitudes can change when we get used to things. I'm talking about when I was working and we got our first big snowfall of the year. I paced the floor in the morning as I watched the cancellations, hoping EUP would be on it. The worry accelerated as I made the decision to go or not to go, all depending on how much time I had to play with. If I decided to make the trek, it was usually white knuckle all the way, but I was proud of myself when I arrived. After that it wasn't nearly as bad because I had gotten used to the journey. By Feb. it was pretty much old hat - just leave a little earlier, go slow and bundle up. As retirees, most of the time I don't have to be anywhere so the decision is a little easier. But will I ever get to that point where it doesn't bother me anymore? Who knows. Today I have my WW meeting at 10 am and I'm fairly certain my friend will not want to venture out in this weather. I refuse to resort to making my husband drive me there as this defeats the purpose of having this "me" time. Our alternative is to go to the 5:30 meeting at the same place, unless I see it in the list of cancellations. Sounds like a good compromise!
P.S. to Anonymous - Spoken like a loyal Giant fan if I ever heard one!

Erie Weather

Just another typical winter day in Erie County. We made it back on Sunday, just in time! We debated whether to head back then or wait as we heard things were happening in the Erie area that were not good for traveling. My husband checked the internet on his phone (we've managed to access the internet for a few things) for the weather and found more snow was headed for the region so Sunday seemed to be our window of opportunity. As expected, once we hit Edinboro the world changed. Since then we've continued to get dumped on with snow and schools in the district have been closed for 2 days. That in itself is surprising since we've been used to snow and after the initial shock, things usually move according to plan. Just to let everyone know this was the right choice to head back when we did - the weather forecast for the cabin was more snow this week. One thing we noticed and were kind of tickled about was that we finally went someplace that had a better weather forecast than at home. At least at the cabin it might be bad right there but once you head out into the real world, it dramatically improves. At least we don't need to go anywhere special - just stay put until it warms up a bit.