Now THIS is Winter!

Alright folks, I am about to admit an absolutely unbelievable happening. It never even enters my mind to be a potential problem. I can honestly say, I don’t remember the last time it even presented itself; yet here it is, in all it’s glory, bringing me to my knees.

My knees, that I am double-layering with knee socks under my pants! I, Michelle Mims, of sound, mind and body, have been LAYERING my clothing! And, I have worn a winter coat at least five times in the last two months!

When this freeze-out first started, I wasn’t even sure I had a winter coat! I hadn’t even come close to wearing one since my youngest son played high school football. As a matter of fact, that’s honestly the last time I can remember being so bone-chillingly cold; sitting on those aluminum bleachers, which felt like absolute ice under my legs, and ducking wind from whichever direction it came, and many times, draped in a blanket that we had brought from home!

And if you all have been following me each week, you will also remember me mentioning that whole “key fob – automatic start the vehicle” nightmare, which was all because I was actually warming-up my vehicle before I dared to climb into it. And don’t tell my husband, but it was not really to warm that dang engine-up, so the oil would warm-up and circulate, blah, blah, blah, like he asked me to, as much as it was to have that heater running on high-blast when I got in it!

In recent days, I have in fact, raised the heating temperature level in our house to a whole 72 degrees, BECAUSE I WAS COLD. Now you talk about making heads snap around on their shoulders – let me rise-up from my chair to head to the thermostat in our hallway, and watch the eyeballs bulge when I answer them that “no, I’m not turning it down smarty pants, I am actually turning it up!”

I will also add, I have been asked several times if I have a fever as well. Well, no I don’t Mr. Wise Crack, but a house can only stay so warm inside when it’s 21 degrees outside! And yes, contrary to popular belief in my home, I am human, not an Eskimo-Zombie who can withstand any degree of weather, icicles hanging from their noses and never flinch.

I’m just gonna say, hot-natured people like me take a lot of flak. We gripe so much about the heat, people almost dare us to fuss about the cold as well. And I really do say very often, ‘if this heat ever passes, I will never say a word about the cold’, but this winter season is trying me. It’s really trying me.

Earlier last week, very possibly the coldest day yet, I was outside for about five solid early-morning hours. I could not feel my legs when it was over. I seriously considered whether or not medical attention would be necessary. But I wasn’t going to whine about it like a little girl; no sir. Not even if my legs had fallen off.