Tales of EXTREME cold

Yep, negative twenty. That's the air temperature. That's my car thermometer. Yep, the car I was driving. Yep, I was out in that weather. Doesn't even include the wind, which, if you're keeping score, you'll remember we live in the windy city. Brr.

A few things you discover when you are faced with such circumstances:

1. It's a gamble as to whether the garage door will go up fully or down fully. And, it's not worth it to stand out in the cold trying to pull it down, so I set the house alarm and take my chances that a burglar is crazy enough to be "staking" us out on a day such as this.


2. There is a not so thin layer of ice covering all the windows. In fact, Addison (or Cate)'s blinds are currently stuck to the window. I'm now doubting the money I paid as an option for insulated windows.


3. Skin really can start to freeze, in a very painful way, in a matter of 30 seconds. You hear about it, but can't imagine it, until you experience it firsthand.


4. School really will be canceled, just simply due to temperature alone. It's a beautiful, sunny, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky kind of day, but the kids are off because of the temperatures. I've *heard* of this happening, but I assumed it only happened in places where I'd never be crazy enough to live, ie. frozen tundra of Alaska.

You know how people have a "fingers on a chalkboard" reaction to funny things? Like my cousin Krista can't handle people sliding their teeth on a fork when they're taking a bite. It makes her skin crawl. Or, Jeff can't handle the metal milkshake mixer scraping against the metal milkshake cup at an ice cream parlor. What's mine? Crunching icy snow under my feet. You know when snow gets really cold and then you walk on it and it "crunches"? Well, when it's 20 below, the snow under the tires even crunches. And then the sound reverberates through the whole car. So now, not only is it freezing outside, but I've got chills down my spine from all of the crunchy snow that is EVERYWHERE.

Yesterday, I figured I'd be a helpful friend to my husband, so when Delaney was at preschool, I decided to do the snow blowing myself. Addison (or Cate) was asleep, so I bundled up, put the monitor in my pocket, and headed out into the arctic cold (looking back - what a wimp - it was a comfy 8 degrees above freezing). As I blow the snow, often the wind (yes, again with the windy city thing) would blow it all back in my face. So not fun. But I persevered and got all the walks done so the neighborhood kiddos would have clear sidewalks to come home to (the bus stops at our corner). Once the little one was awake, I picked up at preschool, dropped off Delaney for a play date, ran some errands, picked Delaney up, and then came home. I walked in the bathroom, only then to notice I had mascara all over my face. Above my eyelid from opening my eyes. And, all over my cheeks. Apparently all those face-fulls of snow made my mascara run and I never noticed. Not all day. And yes, I have an iron bladder, so I hadn't gone into a bathroom until 4 pm.

Now, I know there's a rule among women that we should tell each other if there's a huge green something in our teeth. But, I'm assuming no one said anything to me about my makeup because they'd hate to offend me if I'd intended it to be that way. So, now I'm embarrassed that all the people I encountered yesterday (many of whom I will see again) were probably giggling at my pre-teen attempt at mascara application.

All because of this darn weather. Arizona, here I come. I have family and friends there - all of whom should not be too surprised if I show up within the next day or two.