January This and That

We, here in the northeast, have just come through a cold snap. It's been a while since we have had wind chills to -30. I was out most every day...in the car. Haven't had much in the way of walking exercise. Hopefully that will change as the weather gets warmer.

I've been getting a lot of pleasure watching the birds at the feeders. The feeding frenzy has been unbelievable! Even though it's costly in terms of dollars spent, the returns are worth it.

I had to call the folks who installed my central air about the functioning of the humidifier. As it turns out I had greater expectations than the reality of the situation. I thought having the humidifier on the system would keep the humidity at a steady level. Not so. Moisture is pumped out only when heat is being pumped out. But...at the rate the heat was being pumped out I expected more moisture. Now that it has been explained to me, I have revised my expectations.

We've had snow...just not a lot of it. I would rather have 2 ft. of snow than the 0° weather. Especially since I live in a condo where all the plowing and shoveling is done by others. Well, not all the shoveling The workers do not shovel out my car. So when it's time to move my car so they can plow, I do the shoveling. First I clean off the car, which puts more snow where I need to shovel in order to get into the car. Are you feeling sorry for me yet? No? I don't blame you. When I lived in a house (before the condo) I had my own snow blower. The biggest, baddest, bestest. I really enjoyed getting out there and clearing the driveway, the mailbox, and a path around the house to the bird feeders. I would have cleared the whole lawn, I enjoyed it so much. But, I thought maybe the neighbors would have some negative thoughts about my mental stability. You know...

Thank goodness for family and friends. Visiting and going out for lunch or breakfast keeps me sane in times like these. Winter is not my favorite time of year. I prefer Spring and Fall. I don't like extremes.

There have been a couple of minor health issues and now I'm seeing a naturopath. For the next two weeks I will be avoiding wheat, sugar, and peanut butter. These are staples in my diet! I went to the health food store and got store-made almond butter. Avoiding sugar isn't that bad if you don't count I won't be having cookies, brownies, carrot cake... I'm holding up pretty well. I just happened to have a package of gluten free spaghetti in my pantry so that's for lunch, with home-made pasta sauce. I guess I'll survive after all.

So, until next time...