Hibernating

It's been a long week and it's about to get worse. We've been experiencing some extremely cold temps lately and starting tomorrow we're going to get a blizzard and wind chills in the negative 50 degree range that will last most of this week. We haven't seen temps this low here since February 1996 - that was the month/year that I moved to Wausau... 23 years ago.

It's pure craziness. And that's exactly what our cooped-up lives have been like this week - crazy.

The dogs are going crazy and so am I. Stir crazy, that is.

We're running out of indoor games to play and I'm getting tired of limiting their outdoor time to go potty so I don't end up having to carry them in when their paws freeze and they refuse to move. (Yes, this has happened twice in the past week).

Honestly, I'm not looking forward to this week. It's going to be even harder than last week. 

Despite the cold outside, I made the best of it inside today. The sun was shining so bright I felt like I needed sunglasses in the house! I spent most of the day baking dog treats in my kitchen so I could enjoy the south-facing windows and absorb as much sunlight as possible. I even wore shorts because my kitchen was getting so warm from the combination of the sun streaming in, the oven on for over an hour and the dehydrator running all day. It felt like summer inside, but outside was another story.

I play games with the dogs, but as soon as I stop, they give me this look like "that's all you got?" Every time I turn around I'm confronted with sad puppy eyes and defeated postures. Either that, or they're barking at me to play but quickly get tired of whatever I play with them... they just want to be outside and stretch their legs on a long walk or hike.

I completely understand. I want that too. My body is feeling sore from sitting around too much. I long to take a hike and get some exercise too. This winter has not turned out the way I wanted it to.

But I guess that's Mother Nature for you. These kind of days make you appreciate the good ones. Looks like we're in for another week of hibernation.