Fun for Friday - Winter for a Southerner

Wow, this week sure felt like it was going to last forever. Funny how some weeks seem to drag on while others don't. How does that happen?

It's been an exciting weather week for us in the South. I swear someone picked up Arkansas and plopped it down in the north. We've had temps in the teens, freezing rain and sleet, highs in the 20's, and even a dusting of snow. And amazingly enough, I've gotten my butt out there in this weather and run. I think the cold is getting to my head.

Ice from Tuesday

This is vastly different from last year's winter. To put it in persepective, our average February temps are lows of 34.8°F and highs of 55.6°F. Our high yesterday was in the low 20's, today I think it's supposed to hit 30. We're not even hitting the average lows. What?

And of course everyone tends to complain about some part of each season no matter where you're from. We complain about 100+ degrees in the summer, rain and wind in the spring. Fall might be our only truly ideal season to be honest. But winters here are supposed to be fairly mild. We're not accustomed to extremes of the winter like we are for summers.

Winter for a Southerner:

The mention of ice storm sends everyone into a panic. Schools close long before the precipitation enters the state. You automatically assume you're going to lose power, you know bridges and over passes will be slick, but yahoos in their trucks assume they're invincible.

Snow flurries will send everyone to their windows to sit and stare at the wonderment even if the flurries are so teeny tiny you even question if they're really snow flakes.

We break out our "big" coats around 50 degrees. So the fact that we're below freezing right now speaks volumes as to how cold we are!

The mere mention of wintery weather means everyone suddenly needs bread and milk. I mean, we might be stuck inside for several hours right?

We secretly hope the weather people are correct and we will have some significant snow, but deep down we really don't believe them. And then we're all confused and feel blindsided if there really is actual snow. And by actual snow, I mean flurries.

We complain profusely as to how cold it is outside when it hits 40 degrees. 40 degrees to us is 10 degrees in the north (southern temperature conversions). So this week with it being single-digits with windchill? Yep, Alaska weather!

We don't understand why everyone in the north complains about the snow. We want to see some snow for a change. Of course, if it sticks around longer than two days, well ... that's just wrong.

You don't put away your warm-weather running gear because it'll be 50 degrees within a few days of any winter storm.

How do you handle winter in your part of the world? Do you still complain even when it's what you're used to each year? Do you ever get used to all that cold?

Let's Have Coffee

If you're a regular blog reader, I'm sure you've seen similar posts, scenarios if you will, about what we might chat about or what I might say if we sat down and had coffee together. I think these can be fun. Maybe fun isn't the right word choice exactly. But maybe it is? They're transparent, showing who the blogger really is ... if they're being honest of course. It's not often you truly get to sit down with the person behind the blog. Banana Nut Biscotti with Banana Glaze If we were to have coffee together ... I would first let you know that I'm not a super fan of coffee. I drink mine with hot cocoa and it's mostly out of habit rather than the need for caffeine. I could forgo it on the weekends entirely. Since we're talking coffee, I would also let you know that I've never ordered coffee from Starbucks and only once from a true coffee shop. I've only been into 2 Starbucks shops - the original in Seattle and one in town wher...

KIND Bar Review + Apple Raisin Wheat Berry Salad

Weights & Step As much as I wanted to run today, I knew there was no getting up early enough to do so. Monday's are hard enough without getting up at 5 am to run. Yawn ... So, today I did my weights at lunch then cardio after work. Weights were pull muscles (biceps and back). I did 3 sets of 8 reps of the following: Biceps : Alternating curls Cross-body curls Zottoman curls Back: Single-arm horizontal row Underhand DB rows Double arm rows It was a pretty good workout. I felt pretty strong today for some reason. Love it when that happens. My legs were pretty sore from yesterday's workout, so I opted for a lower intensity cardio: Cathe's Low Impact Circuit - Cardio Only Premix plus abs. It was a great workout and helped to loosen up my legs. KIND Review I have been very remiss with my review of the KIND bars that I won from Jill @ My So Called Health LIfe . I won the Nut Delight. I don't know why, but I expected it to be a tad softer...

Jewelry and Overcoming the Fear of Failure

I guess I can blame this little hobby on Pinterest - jewelry making. More specifically, metal-stamped jewelry. Wasting time, skimming through Pinterest or seeing people posting pics of metal-stamped bracelets or necklaces, I thought, "hey, surely I can do that." So I started pinning ideas, looking up how-to videos, ordering the tools. Boxes of tools, gadgets and goods started arriving on the daily. I know my husband was really excited. Yep, I was going to do this! I felt like the child set free in a toy store. I didn't even know where to begin exactly. But I had some ideas. Lots and lots of ideas. I'm an idea girl as you'll soon learn. I set out my tools of the trade, all neat and tidy on my kitchen table ready to begin. Luckily, my husband who sits back and watches stepped in with some ideas on ways I could practice the stamping without using the more expensive washers and bars I'd so eagerly purchased. Smart man. What I didn't take into considerati...

Where's the Beach?

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