The Struggle is Real: A post about the misery of extended cold temps. And how to entertain yourself despite them.

This was what I woke up to yesterday. At least the sun was out? Ugh. It was so cold, my truck stalled in the middle of the highway. So scary! Thankfully I was able to guide it to the shoulder before it shut off completely. The cause? Diesel fuel will congeal in the extreme cold. Seriously, spring where ARE you?!
Other things that happen when it's cold? Rodents will chew their way into your home. I'm not even kidding. I live in a very old house (256 years this year!) so I've come to terms that the occasional mouse family moving in. A few years back I had a terrible flying squirrel infestation. I'm talking like 60 of them living in my walls, and eventually just hanging around the house. It was the most disgusting thing I've lived through. They're nocturnal, and they enjoy making a lot of noise at night. Well, the most recent invader is, I think, a gray squirrel. I had one once before (during the flying squirrel debacle actually) so I'm somewhat learned in what to look for. This was my first piece of evidence:

I did no bite that apple. Ugh. Thankfully, I know a guy who specializes in trapping these guys. He also finds where they are getting in and fixes it. But if I had a choice, I wish it wouldn't happen at all! Critters do not belong in my house! (Unless the critter is a pug. Those are all welcome.)
Another side effect of extended cold temps? This one is very closely related to the truck incident. My farm equipment won't run. My Gator runs on diesel fuel, just like the truck. Obviously, it's not running at all. It also somehow has a flat tire. So off it went to the Gator Hospital on Monday night.

I'm attempting (not very well) to not be a complete Debbie Downer despite my disdain for the arctic life I now lead. So I've been trying to keep busy.

 Sunday was a little bipolar, and despite it snowing until late morning, the afternoon warmed up to 35 degrees. (It's a sad day when 35 feels amazing.) I decided to have some fun with the ponies and build them a snow jockey.

When it gets too cold to stay outside, I've been getting some beading projects completed too.

Shoveling snow and all the extra lifting of things that goes along with it, is a great way to stay in shape in the winter. But it doesn't really offset all the eating my feelings I do...

I accidentally went to Five Guys on Sunday evening for dinner. This one just opened not too far from where I live. It's the only Five Guys that serves milk shakes! (I'm assuming it's a test market, and I also think it's because they opened up about 1000 feet from Jake's Way Back Burger who serves amazing shakes.) So, I've been making good use of that treadmill I got!

Admittedly, I'm STRUGGLING with getting my fitness back. STRUGGLING! But I know it takes time. In an effort to ease my frustration I've been running with intervals. Run 3 minutes, walk 1 minute. I think I may find that frustrating outside having to watch my time constantly, but on the treadmill it's actually great. Obviously my times are slower, but I feel much stronger and it's a lot more bearable. I plan to lengthen the run time on the intervals over the next few weeks and work my way back up to running longer distances without walking. I have that half marathon coming up in May, so I have to get to work!

So that's about it from here. The rest of my time I spend thinking and talking about how much I hate winter. What have you been up to? Do the cold temps have you down? Have you been enjoying any hobbies lately? Tell me what's up in the comments!