Real Tips to Survive the Winter

I know I say this every year since moving back to a country where it snows during the winter, but this has been the longest, coldest, most terrible winter, ever.

No, fuck you, Game of Thrones guy.

But seeing as I’ve decided to make this frozen tundra my permanent home even after enjoying the balmy winters of Perth, I’ve decided I just have to suck it up, create a winter survival plan and get through this season that lasts 6 months longer than it should.

If you need help getting through these terrible winters, I’m sharing some of my best winter survival tips today. I hope they help you make it through to the other side of one of Mother Nature’s crueler jokes.

    • Denial: For as long as humanly possible, deny the fact that another winter has arrived. Wear those sandals and spring jackets long after the temperature has dipped below freezing. If you ignore it, maybe it isn’t really there.

    • Get a winter appropriate wardrobe: Once winter has settled in, you do know deep down in your heart that it’s here to stay for six to eleven months, so it’s best to prepare for it. Stocking up on layers of long johns, singlets, long sleeve t-shirts, sweaters, parkas and wearable blankets is the way to go. At least you can feel warm on the outside, because your cold, frozen heart won’t thaw til at least July.

      • Subscribe to Netflix: Sign up for one of those streaming TV services. There are a bunch cropping up in Canada, trying to compete with Netflix, each with a more ridiculous name than the last (Showmi? REALLY?). I’ve stuck with Netflix, but any service that allows you to binge watch works, because you won’t be going outside for at least half a year.


        Sleep

      • Hibernate: Bears have the right idea: just skip the whole winter experience by sleeping through it. It’ll be like it never, ever happened.


soup belly

    • Eat all the comfort food: Comfort food is different for everyone, but nothing helps you ignore the harsh, cold winters like baked mac and cheese or tomato basil soup.


    • Drink: Nothing makes me forget the sixty feet of snow, slick sidewalks and cold wind that chaps my face and lips than a drink. Hot chocolate, tea, or my favourite… whiskey. Nothing makes me feel warmer on the inside than whiskey.


    • Cry: When winter’s going into its fifth month and you just don’t think you can take another twelve feet of snow or another day of -40 before the windchill, do what I do: cry. Just be sure to do that in the warmth of your home so your tears don’t freeze to your face.


      nelly-hot-in-herre-1421775412

    • Think warm thoughts: Sunshine, beaches, summer, fire, David Tennant, Chloe Bennet, temperatures above zero. Eventually, those longer, warmer days will come back and soon we’ll be able to complain about how damn hot it is again.

Only nine days until the official start of spring! How have you survived this winter? Or are you one of those people who love winter (you weirdo)?

 

 

Sneaky Hate Spiral, do not want.

Okay, so… I was starting to worry that perhaps my funk may be a little more serious than a funk.  Granted, the stress has been higher than usual this year.  But I was doing things that were out of character.  I was having bad weeks instead of bad days.  I’ve been moody and brooding and quiet.   I started avoiding seeing my friends and visiting my family.  I was hating school.  I essentially quit band.

Guys, I quit band.

WTAF.

So, yeah.  I was getting to the point where I was starting to worry about the intensity of my funk.  But then a few things happened.

Two weeks ago, I went for an interview.  I need to complete a work placement for the program I’m taking and two Fridays ago, I went to meet with my potential supervisor.  I got to talk to her about something new and be exposed to an entirely different work environment.  I came away from there feeling energized and excited.  Feeling those things made me realise how long it’s been since I’ve felt them.

Then yesterday, even though work was insanely busy and stressful, I still had a good day.  I made it through 8 hours of ridiculousness and was still in a decent mood by the end of the work day.  I escaped the office and met someone for lunch.  The sun was shining and I got to feel it warm on my face.  It felt like spring.  And I was feeling energized and excited again.

These seemed like such mundane, ordinary things, but they had a huge impact; it shook me right out of this nearly four month funk.  The realisation left me feeling a little stupid.  It makes sense that this would be all it would take to get things in perspective and get me out of this funk, but when I was right in the middle of this particular sneaky hate spiral, I just could not for the life of me come up with a solution.

So, I’m tucking this away in hopes that next winter when I trip into this funk, I will remember that the best way to shake it off is to find something that energizes me and may be a little different from things I’ve done before.  Work is still going to be insane.  People will still cause drama and stress.  But that so doesn’t mean I have to let it put me in a bad mood.  Why can’t I remember this?  Seriously.

Oh, and guys, in case you were wondering… This Saturday, I’m going to go play with the band.

 

 

Bad romance

Do you know how they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder?  They’re so not lying.

As some of you may know, I lived in a long distance relationship for years…with snow.

In my mind, snow was this glorious, amazing thing.  It blanketed everything in sparkles.  It seemed to make everything just a bit quieter, just a bit cleaner, just a bit more magical.

Snow was fun.  It was playful.  Flirty. Romantic.

I’d missed it so much that when I came home for Christmas holidays to discover there wasn’t any snow on the ground… I was a little heartbroken.  Felt a bit stood up.

So I returned to Oz and continued to pine for snow.  By that time it had become pretty clear to me that I’d fallen truly, madly, deeply in love with snow.  At least I thought I’d fallen truly, madly, deeply in love with snow.

Then I moved back to Canada.  I was excited to experience the colour changes of fall, experience drastic changes of the seasons and finally, finally be reunited with snow.

When I caught the first glimpse of snow on Halloween that year, I was pretty damn excited.

But then the snow just kept coming.  It brought with it freezing weather, dry skin, wet boots, slippery sidewalks, treacherous driving conditions, and long, dark, dreary days.

Snow was kind of a disappointment.  Snow was a bit of a douche who didn’t know when it was time to go home and never cleaned up after himself.

It didn’t take long for me to realise I wasn’t at all in love with snow.  I was in love with the idea of snow.  Living with the reality of snow never, ever compared to the fantasy I’d built up about it in my head.  What a bummer.

My love for snow was all but gone by the end of that first winter home.  These days, I try to avoid it at all costs…

 

…That’s my long winded way of saying I’m kinda glad Snowmegeddon didn’t happen today.  And I’m not at all sorry for feeling that way.

 

 
photo credit: rachel_titiriga via photopin cc