Though these pictures were taken at last week’s Packer v. Giants game at Lambeau Field when it was 18 degrees out, I figure they’ll serve as a respectable enough rough draft of what we looked like at Lambeau for the Packers v. Bears game today. With wind chill it was a bone-chilling 3 degrees out. Yes, three. You may collect the remainder of your jaw from the floor now. I guess it beats the air-snatching -11 degrees last night when we ran out to get some Culver’s milkshakes – what, like you don’t like a side of ice cream with your frostbite?
For today’s game I wore a grand total of 18 layers of clothing: 4 on my feet, 4 on my legs, 5 on top, 2 on my hands, 2 on my head, 1 over my whole body, plus 3 sets of hand and toe warmers, cardboard to sit on, and foam to put under our feet! As Ted often reminds me (and rightfully so), in this climate it’s about functionality, not looking stylish. Though I’ll have to argue that my awesome snow boots and adorable peacoat definitely qualify for both – and that proves that it is, in fact, possible to be both cute and warm (my husband is rolling his eyes and saying “Oh, God.” right now). But I actually stayed warm enough to enjoy the game and the Packers won the big divisional rivalry against the Bears and secured the final seat in the playoffs!
Tomorrow evening we hop a plane and return to Cincy where copious amounts of laundry, grocery shopping, house de-decorating, backlogged mail, work, job hunting, and general smack-in-the-head “real world” obligations that eagerly and impatiently await our arrival.
The mere thought of all this sends me into a fit of immediate and quite serious Red Box, Wii Party and Wii Family Game Night 3 withdrawals. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. Quite the contrary, I’m actually really looking forward to seeing the familiar sights of our pretty city, cooking a delicious, well-balanced meal, enjoying a sip from our Door County wine collection, snuggling into our own big, cozy bed, and getting back to the daily responsibilities that make our life together so rewarding. We also have a few fun projects in store for January – like receiving our new kitchen furniture, designing our wedding albums, installing shelving in the basement, and deciding how, when and where to use our 2011 vacation days (yessss!) – and none of this can be soundly in the works until we’re firmly re-rooted back home in Cincy. But after nearly two weeks of glorious past-midnight bedtimes, loafing on the couch watching movies, playing board and Wii games, going to museums and football games, and visiting with so many family and friends we love spending time with, the readjustment to our quiet little life of serene normality (snicker snicker) will be a challenge. I may also be dreading it because I know that when we get back I need to find a job ASAP, like in the next week, and I’m sacred I’ll fail at a time when we can’t afford for me to fail. But that’s enough groaning for now. And in the spirit of fresh starts I’ve decided to dedicate this blog to positivity and creativity rather than ceaseless complaining or a litany of worries. So, on that note I’ll leave you with an upbeat thought:
