I’m sick today, and feeling rather downtrodden with a headache and sniffles and a cough that leaves me feeling exhausted. Piper and I are lying on the couch with Mark’s laptop, keeping warm.
I hate being cold. And the older I get the more I hate being cold. I’ve slowly been (a) finding and investing in warm winter wear and (b) stopped caring about hat head. And I tell ya, both things have made me a much happier person during the winter months. (Which is a long time here in Ottawa.)
What also helps keep me warm:
– slippers. I have a pair of sock slippers I bought in Syracuse last year; pink knitted things that are mid-calf with a soft leather sole. I love the slippers. When my feet are warm, the rest of me is warm too.
– hot water bottles. The girls are crazy about hot water bottles. They happily fill them up and trot off to bed with them. In fact, I am seriously considering putting some new ones under the tree this year.
– tea. Right now it’s plain Red Rose with a couple slices of lemon and a dollop of honey for my throat.
– hot snakes a.k.a the kind of heating pads you heat up in the microwave and apply to necks/shoulders/other sore body parts. (We call these things hot snakes here at Casa Fishbowl.)
– coats and sweaters and hats. I don’t care about hat head any longer. I’d rather be warm. I bought a beauty of a hat (black knitted trapper-style hat with faux fur) at Old Navy the other day. My coat was a big investment. It’s a big down-filled 3/4 length coat. It’s like walking around town with a duvet thrown over your shoulders. Expensive, but worth every single penny.
– electric blankets – Is it eco-friendly if you turn your household heat down and preheat a blanket a little bit? I feel guilty, but I love it and use it sparingly. Sunbeam sent us one to try last year and every once in awhile (like now) I’ll turn it on now and snuggle under it. I turn it off after awhile, but man, for those of us with perpetually cold feet is is pretty sweet. I used mine the most back in October before we turned the heat on here at home.
– adding more warmth to our closets i.e. pjs, long underwear, sports socks and hard core gloves. The kind folks at Mark’s (remember them from here?) sent me a package of warm things awhile back which contained a sample of each of the aforementioned. I love the pj bottoms, they fit me better than the top does (pictured here – and on sale!), the long underwear has been a godsend and the gloves will probably get their first workout in the snow later. ETA: there’s a big sale on tomorrow (Dec 15)!
I’m watching the snow pour from the sky today, grateful to be under a cozy blanket with a mug of tea and a puppy by my side. How are you keeping warm today?
