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!
Yesterday my sister told me she couldn’t wait for school to start (today) because she was bored and sick of summer.
My sister is popular and in a sorority. I think she is looking forward to seeing all of her friends (and all of that exciting school work, of course!).
But wow. I never looked forward to the start of school and I never got sick of summer. Summer was my freedom. I had a somewhat reliable schedule that I could plan around. I knew when I would get to see Steven (we were in a long-distance relationship for four years). I knew I would get enough sleep. I knew I would feel sane.
College was the opposite*. My schedule meant nothing. Everything was up in the air. I had no stability. Teachers would slam us with ridiculous assignments. I felt like I had no control over my schedule. I felt like I had no free-time, until my (first) senior year.
I felt extremely anxious ALL THE TIME.
So now, when it’s “back to school” time, I think about how lucky I am to work somewhere where I get paid salary and don’t have to work overtime, and have all of my weekends off. My schedule is respected. I am in control – even if me being in control means I still overbook myself.
But that doesn’t mean I am not excited for everyone who is going back! I am. I wish I wouldn’t have let anxiety be such a huge part of my life then.
*I feel it is necessary to mention that I was in the architecture program, which practically requires marrying your projects if you want to be successful. Most students end up spending most of their free time in the studio, getting by on 3 hours of sleep or less for days and days on end. I had to cancel weekend plans a lot because I had so much to do.
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.
If you could “fast forward” through something in life, would you? What would it be?
Have you seen that Adam Sandler movie, Click*? Adam Sandler buys this universal remote and finds out he can use it to fast forward through all of the un-pleasantries in his life. He uses it joyfully, to skip the hard work required for his promotion, but discovers an awful side effect – he misses out on what is going on with his family during that time. He becomes distant and removed and ends up losing them.
I used to want to fast forward through all the time and hard work it takes to lose weight and just get to the “after” picture. I felt like I was stuck in “before” land.
But then I realized two things – that once I got down to my “goal size”** I would have to work hard to maintain it anyway. and that arriving at that “goal size” didn’t guarantee my happiness.
So I got over that. But I still fantasize about “fast forwarding” through things. That’s me, always looking to the future, struggling to live in the moment.
I have scheduled pay increases that would be great to fast forward to – not because I am struggling, but because I am greedy. It would be great to fast forward to the summer and some frickin’ warm weather. It would be great to even fast forward to our half marathon day, because I am so excited about it!
But I think I would rather live through the struggles… even though I continue to fantasize about skipping forward.
*One of the few Adam Sandler movies I can actually stand to watch.
**Not even sure what that is anymore, or how it could possibly exist.
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.
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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