Would you rather live somewhere where the you see significant changes in the seasons throughout the year, or where it pretty much stays the same? What is your ideal daily temperature?
I’m back and forth on this. And my answer definitely varies depending on during which season you ask me! I enjoy the snow, and don’t mind the colder temperatures, but four+ months of it gets to be a bit too much for me! Ideally, I think I would like some place where each day has a decent amount of daylight, the temperature is usually above 70° (although that’s not ideal for running) and it’s not humid. Maybe we’ll get there someday. It would be great to live somewhere where I could exercise outside everyday of the year.
Ah, snow.
This morning, while I was getting ready to leave, Steven sleepily asked if it snowed. I looked outside and sure enough, it had! Good thing he asked me – I would have been pressed for time if I hadn’t known about the snow. I asked him how he knew it was going to snow (he usually doesn’t keep track of the weather) and he said he could “sense evil.” Ha ha.
So I went outside and found this
which meant I had to wear these
and do this.
Yes, I could live without snow. And also, without the hidden layer of ice underneath the snow. Very tricky, mother nature.
My car has a “snow” switch (and AWD) which I think splits the power between the front and rear of the car (Steven, help)? I turned it on for shits and giggles this morning. I only slipped once on my way to the train station. Hooray! Snow!
When we got to the beach today we saw that someone had set up a huge slide at the top of the sand hill, with a pump to run water down it.
There was a huge ramp at the end of it.
My brother Nick got some major air going down it.
I went down a few times.
It was a lot of fun.
Until I landed on my wrist. I can’t move it too much right now.
As long as I can run I don’t care. I may have to see a doctor though.
It’s really hard to type with my left hand only.
Editor’s Note: Check out the awesome splint & sling that Steven and my Grandma made me! And here’s a video of my sister’s boyfriend going down the slide.
I was flipping through an old issue of SELF magazine (July ’08) at the gym last night and felt like the blurb “Prevent summer letdown” was speaking directly to me:
(In fact, that entire page – front and back – may have been speaking directly to me. The article next to it was titled “How I stopped cursing a blue streak” and the one on the back side of the page was “Be a good gossip.”)
I spend a lot of time during the winter and spring fantasizing about the summer. A LOT. Steven can back me up on this because he’s had to listen to me talk about it all winter long.
What am I fantasizing about? Weekends spent at the cabin in Guttenberg (Iowa), boating, swimming, eating, lounging… and also nice summer days, with long runs in the warm sun.
Steven and I have coordinated our schedules so we have a quite a few 3-day and 4-day weekends this summer. But, who’s to say that we will be able to stick to our plan of getting away to Guttenberg 100%? I know we won’t. We already have weekends filling up with plans that require us to stay home over the weekends, and who knows what the weather will be like anyway. Oh, and it would be good to get some chores done and not abandon Data completely.
The article recommends keeping an element of reality in your fantasy. And isn’t that good advice for any fantasy? I would say so. It seems our fantasies become more attainable (and turn into goals!) when we DO give them a sense of reality.
So I am going to follow some of the tips when I feel like I am “stuck at home” this summer. We have an amazing forest preserve system in the county I live in that I have really been wanting to explore. We have a grill, and neighbors we like to spend time with. And we do live “close” to that wonderful city of Chicago – there might be something to do there!
Maybe I should have saved this for a Friday Question (since I seem to have trouble coming up with them), but do you have summer fantasies? Do you usually see them out? Or do you need to prevent summer letdown as well?
I need to buy some new swimsuits this year. I haven’t been actively looking yet, but Steven keeps forwarding me emails from swimoutlet.com and I finally clicked on their link today.
What is your favorite “outdoorsy” “summer” activity? (For example, grilling, baseball games, laying in the sun, etc.)
When it starts to get really hot, I crave going to my parent’s cabin along the Mississippi River in Iowa, where we go out on boats and jet skis, and go to beaches to play in the water. And eat lots of food (of course).
That is definitely my favorite outdoorsy activity.
And wanting to go there’s been distracting me at work for over a month.
For the next week, I will be spending the majority of my time here –
– which doesn’t appear to have an outlet for my laptop! I will probably sign in from time to time, but I have handed the reign of ilaxSTUDIO.com over to my sister, Christina. She will be posting while I am gone!
I will miss you all, and be eager to tell you about my trip when I return!
(Extra credit to the first person who can tell me what “te aworo” means!)
Hi! I'm Kim, a 34-year-old living in Chicagoland with my husband, Steven, and our cats, Khali, Apollo, and Starbuck. I work in the design industry (architecture), follow a vegan lifestyle, am addicted to running, and am an ACE certified personal trainer (working at Essential Fitness, LLC ("Efit"))! I write about a variety of topics, and consider this a "life" blog - a place I can share anything that's on my mind. Please visit the "About" page to get a better idea of who I am! :-)
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