Whine, bitch, moan, complain.... Repeat.

Well, as the title of this post suggests, I have been in a somewhat negative mood of late. Mostly, I think, it's a bad case of the winter doldrums. Though we thankfully haven't had a lot of snow lately, it has been bitterly cold and windy for the last week or so. The low minus 20s C and minus mid-teens C for the most part. Ugh. I've had enough already. And we still have the rest of February and all of March to get in. I really, really, really want to go South somewhere, but as I said before, I think, it's not financially feasible this winter. Next winter, come what may, I am going someplace warm for at least a week in February.

I think it was Jim (over at gorgim - link in the sidebar) who once posted about his dislike of wearing a winter coat. Sorry Jim, but the coat is the least of my dislikes surrounding winter :) For me, it's the winter boots (big, heavy winter boots that one has to wear when one has two dogs that need walking in all kinds of weather), and the long johns that have to be worn almost daily. Not to mention the hats and the gloves. Then there are the slippery sidewalks (or the sandy sidewalks after the city sidewalk plows go over and spread sand, which makes it a lot of fun cleaning off the dogs' paws in the porch after their walks), the slippery streets - caked with snow and ice. The barren, leafless trees. The short days, which thankfully are getting a smidgon longer now. Ugh again!

On top of the cold outside, I've had a bad cold inside. After just nicely getting over the cold I had over the holidays, I picked up a new one that has been hanging around for at least 2 weeks now it seems. Mostly in my sinuses and nose, but I've been coughing a bit as well and just generally feeling miserable and sorry for myself. I think - I hope - I am on the tail end of it. I blame that gall darn H1N1 vaccine I got back in November! It's been years almost since I've had a bad cold, and now this year already I've had two. Oh woe is me! I know. I'll stop bitching now! :)

In other news, Brad and his dad left this morning for a 4-day skiing trip to northern Maine (Saddleback Mountain). They should have a good time and good snow conditions. I'm minding the fort and the dogs. I'm taking Monday off just to give myself a bit of a treat. I'm running down to mom's tomorrow to have a visit and get her stocked up. She's been doing quite well lately, though she too is complaining of the cold. She's on blood thinners, which makes her mind the cold even more, I think.

Our friends George and Barb are currently in Washington, D.C. Ha! They are getting a blizzard there this weekend. They are supposed to be flying back tomorrow, but it remains to be seen if they'll be able to get out as planned. Barb sent me an e-mail this morning saying that the whole city had basically shut down and that they were hunkered down at their hotel with a team of college basketball players. Hmmm... One could imagine worse fates!

So, gentle readers... Please think warm thoughts and send some positive energy my way! Hasta pronto!