I had to put away the fall jacket and pull out the big guns today--the down winter coat. It's time.

Ease my dread, buddies. What are your favorite wintertime activities? What are you looking forward to about this season?

I was looking forward to the cold. The awesome thing about Minnesota is that in the winter it's cold, but our houses have this wonderful invention called "insulation" which helps keep the inside of the house at whatever temp you want it at. In Tulsa they don't have this marvelous invention, so when it gets cold, you can't escape it.

Unfortunately the heating system in my apartment was designed by the same person who designed the clock on VCRs. Thus our heat works sometimes. Pretty rarely. Sunday the apartment hung out around 40 degrees until we were finally able to coax the thermostat in to turning on the heater at about midnight. It was awesome.

So I can't look forward to the cold, since escape from the cold will be rare this year. I guess I'll look forward to snow. I miss my snow. Other than that, I hope we're doing the ice castle thing. I'd like to see that.

Cooking and baking
Driving around to look at the Xmas light displays
My boyfriend's Christmas bday
Thanksgiving extravaganza at my folks' house with lots of friends
The Dayton's Christmas display thing
Having a date night with my friend Debbie, making blue cheese mac n' cheese, drinking a bottle of Il Cuore, and eating chocolate
Decorating my place for festivities
The annual NYE bash in my new abode
Rita and Danny visiting
Regular trips to the gym to sweat and sweat and sweat
The sauna
The steam room
My friend's hot tub
A possible mid-January vacation?
Whiskey
Sleeping
Leg Warmers

Watching Belinda Jensen warn about approaching blizzard and polar temp conditions
Snuggling under a down comforter while the night winds howl
Being blinded by winter sunshine
Walking in new-fallen snow
Fireplaces - anywhere
Hot chocolate (with whipped cream)
Soup and chili- making it from scratch, and ordering it, anywhere
Candles
Reading garden catalogs
Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
Those mornings when ice crystals cover every tree branch
Watching the birds flock to the feeder in our yard, no matter how cold it is
Best of all - naps!