Cold Temperatures, Hot Drinks

It seems like we went from fifty degree weather to twenty degree weather in the matter of one day, but I think it was just so warm so late in the winter, that the change to real winter weather has been a bit of a shock. I haven't felt warm since.

I've worn lots of clothes I haven't worn since last year (and I can say that now that it really was last year). I filled up the long sleeve side of my closet and ran out of hangers. I still have more, but it doesn't seem like enough. I still run out of long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts and sweaters. I wrap myself in the fuzzy creamy blanket every night on the couch to keep warm and sometimes during the day too. I have to take hot baths to warm myself up when the blanket doesn't work. I sit in my coat for a few minutes after I come in from outside until I feel less popsicly. I would think that with this hefty fat layer, I'd be a lot warmer, but the fat isn't even good for that purpose. Stupid fat!

I'm drinking a lot of warm liquids too. I'm trying to steer clear of hot chocolate, but at least it has milk in it, and that's good for me. The milk is, not the chocolate though. I'm drinking coffee by the gallon, which probably isn't so good for me since I don't drink decaf. Plus I put cream in it. I have to go back to the fat free half and half for that. I don't like it as much. Who does? But if I want to make positive changes, and I want to drink hot drinks, I'm going to have to change some things or stay fat. It's the small, permanent changes that count.

I tried drinking tea, but I ran out of my favorite tea, and I can't find it anymore. I found a box of it hiding in the back of one of the kitchen cabinets when I was cleaning stuff out of there one day. I was so excited, but there were only two tea bags left in the box. I drank them both that day. I could easily replace my coffee with that tea (vanilla maple), but I can't find it anywhere anymore. It always seems like the ones I like disappear and discontinue. Last time it was a honey maple tea. Funny I like those maple ones so much. I usually don't like anything maple. I tried using a little maple syrup in regular tea, but I about choked. Too sweet. I couldn't get enough of the maple flavor without having it be gaggingly sugary.

I bought some Yogi Tea in vanilla hazelnut, thinking I like hazelnut coffee, and I obviously like vanilla tea. I tried one of those yesterday, and I couldn't drink that either. There's more than hazelnut and vanilla in there. I know there's cinnamon, and I think there's nutmeg too, which makes me gag. It was a bad combination for me. Even the dog wouldn't drink it. I tried pouring it in her bowl, and she sniffed it and looked at me. I swear I heard her say, "Don't try to pawn that shit off on me. I'd rather eat cat turds� mmm, cat turds."

I do have some chai tea my MIL gave me. It's loose though, so it's a total pain in the ass. I have to go through a whole extra step to make tea. Never question the extent of my laziness. Here's proof. The chai tea is pretty good, but I don't see what the big fuss is about with that stuff. I see it everywhere: hot, cold, frozen. I guess it's supposed to be healthy, but it sure hasn't done a damn thing for me and my neverending cold from hell. I'm out of it now and unwilling to pay the eight bucks for a tin of the kind she has. I'm sure the cheap stuff isn't as good. Anything I actually buy is never as good (see Yogi Tea above).