Wednesday, January 12, 2011

It's only January

I like the winter.  I know, most people don't have good feelings about cold weather but I do - to an extent.  See - there is my smiling face last year in snow number 42. 



Winter means warm belly filling meals, making cookies, snuggling up near the fireplace, playing with the dog in the snow, warming my husband's side of the bed since I am nice like that and warm cozy clothes.  I know that it also means my car is barely warm when I get to my office, my leg hairs growing at a rapid pace when I get goosebumps, my nose is runny 3/4 of the time from November to March, my legs are ashy and lotion only helps for five minutes and my car is constantly salty looking.  I might get a bit of the SAD but only if there isn't snow on the ground.  Today, there is snow on the ground and by the looks of things the snow is going to stay for a while.

Living in Pennsylvania means that you get four full seasons, which I love but that also means that in the winter you better be finding yourself something to occupy your time indoors or you are going to be a sad puppy.  So what I need to know is what you all do in the winter that is either free or super cheap.  Here is what we do already.

- Go to Barnes and Noble, read their magazines or browse their books. It is free unless we actually buy something which is rare.
- Window shop at home improvement stores. We just did this on Sunday.  There was a need to get out of the house and these stores always have something to look at.  We are planning a big messy house project this year and it is fun to pretend like we are going to be able to afford the $8/sq ft flooring.  HA!
- Play cards.  Hooooboy.  We play a lot of cards; uno, rummy, poker and a variety of other card games. 
- House projects. This is neither cheap or free.  But it is fun to an extent. Every winter we seem to do some project that burns us out until Spring when we start digging in the flower beds. Last year it was the bathroom project we started on New Years Eve.  I know, we live wild on the drinking holidays. We tore out a bathroom and put it back together.  The bathroom was mine to decorate so I got to chose the vanity, beadboard, paint and decor.  I love it a year later, so I guess I pleased myself.
- Plan the spring flower/garden extravaganza. We seem to get all of these ideas together in the winter months and then try execute a decent number of them.  Nursery magazines just started coming in the mail, so this will start in full shortly. It is free until we start planting and aching from all the digging.
- Redbox and Blockbuster Express.  Cheap movies that we pick up on Friday and return on Saturday.  Awesome excuse to snuggle up and be bums on Friday nite.
- Walk the dog. Again, I know it is cold but the dog needs walking so every nite we bundle up as soon as we get home from work and take him out for a walk.  Some nites it is the short loop and other nites it is longer depending on our wussiness.
-Have friends over.  We have people over a lot, we play games, we watch big basketball games, we eat a lot.  Pretty much we just hang out with other people as our entertainment.

Maybe there is more that we do in the winter that I am forgetting like watching lots of college basketball and other mindless television. I imagine there is a lot more we could be doing.

1 comment:

  1. We usually spend winter cooped up while the kids are sick week after week. That's the only thing I truly hate about winter. The kids are sick constantly. Our outings are to InstaCare and the pediatrician's office - those are NOT cheap dates, either!

    ReplyDelete