Mar 10
Here it is, early March 2009, and it is STILL deep in the COLD COLD weather that we have been plagued with since the snow started falling in December.
It was -38C when I got up.
BEFORE the windchill, that is.
This winter has consistently been below -25c… and that’s been a problem for everyone and everything in my life.
Work: I work for a construction company. Our vehicles (never mind our men) does not work well when the temperatures are below -25c. That means that a lot of jobs are put off and delayed when the weather is as cold as it is. And with the economy slowing down somewhat (although not as much HERE as in other areas my company works) we can’t afford to slow down too much.
Add to that the fact that, as the guys slow down, MY work slows down. And I can’t afford to be laid off or cut back either, not when I am facing having debts piled onto me in the next week or so.
Kids: Because it has been so cold there have been very few days when the kids have been able to go outside to play in the snow. Its not like Canadian kids don’t KNOW about cold weather (or that Canadian parents can’t bundle the kids properly) but when its that cold there is no point in spending 10 minutes bundling everyone up for the 5 minutes that you can tolerate the cold and the wind before your skin starts to freeze.
Many days this winter the days were so cold that exposed flesh would have frozen in a minute or less.
You’d think, wouldn’t you, that given the common weather conditions around here (even on “good” winters) that they would have more indoor playgrounds, events and activities at REASONABLE prices for a wide variety of ages.
But they don’t. Not really.
The one indoor “Playground” is unacceptable — the staff is disinterested, its dirty most of the time, things are broken, and because the focus of the staff who ARE there is to sell overpriced food and to supervise birthday parties, issues come up with younger kids being picked on or trampled by older kids because they are all trying to play in the same area (there is a baby area, but that’s for 2 and under)… and every time we go there it costs me $15 to get in and around $10 in food/snacks or games.
NOT WORTH IT, really.
Other choices that we have available:
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Malls — too much temptation to buy stuff
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movies — HORRIBLY expensive
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the university grounds — have to be quiet
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swimming — this can be expensive as well
And so the kids have been going stir crazy, at home, at the babysitter’s, and at school they are kept indoors with no relief in sight.
RGG: Poor RGG has been suffering from a lingering cold or something for the past month or so that he just can’t seem to kick. Then again HIS kids have been sick on and on all winter (mine really haven’t been), and he works at an elementary school, so he’s constantly exposed to colds and flus and things so he never really has a chance to fight anything off — he gets one thing and he is already run down and he gets exposed to the next and the next.
I’m glad I’m not working as a teacher (laugh).
On top of it he has been complaining about having gained some winter weight which he can’t get off (I haven’t really noticed any problem, jsyk)…
Me: Well… I’m having breathing issues that seem to be wholely unrelated to illness (I haven’t gotten “sick” since BoyChild gave me the stomach crud back in September) — i haven’t had a sore throat, cough, or real congestion all winter. What I HAVE had, though, has been issues breathing — asthma attacks.
The cold snaps that we have been having tend to cause inflamation. And although I have been taking my steroid inhaler (when I remember it), I have found that the constriction from this inflammation makes my chest hurt… and it makes breathing a chore, which makes everything I do a chore… and even the rescue inhaler doesn’t always work well enough to relieve the stress.
Added to this is the fact that during the winter the dust and pet dander and things are trapped in the house and no fresh air is able to get in because MOST (if not all) of the windows have a layer of ICE over them preventing them from being able to be openned.
And, being around the dust and smoke (from the neighbors upstairs), breathing unusually cold air, being exposed to illnesses (and having to take preventative medications for that)… and the emotional roller coaster of the divorce and a new relationship…
I have had more asthma attacks this year than ANY other year that I can remember.
At least, despite MY kids being sick, RGG’s kids being sick, and RGG being sick (and being exposed to several colds and flus this way) I have managed to fight off all the respitory illnesses that would make the asthma just so much worse.
Like, going to the hospital and having to deal with a breathing treatment type worse…
Not that RGG didn’t almost send me this past weekend… (I have the best boyfriend, he actually cares about things like this)… Like I said, he and my kids were “concerned” about the HUGE asthma attack I had on Saturday at the hockey game that thankfully I got under control before they could force me to go to the ER.
But, yeah… I’ve got cabin fever AND the cold dry weather makes it harder for me to breathe, having the kids going nuts makes me feel anxious to get out and DO things, and the level of dust and cat hair in the house causes all sorts of nasty triggers to happen to me…
Not to mention that having to find ways to entertain everyone, drive everywhere, and keep the house warmer than normal has had a bit of an effect on my budget…
I’m OVER winter.
And I say that right now knowing full well that the next step (climate wise) will be MELTING, which will bring a new level of allergens up from under the snow and thus likely causing me to have asthma and “hayfever” (watery eyes, sneezing, wheezing, coughing, sinus pressure and pain and even migraines) symptoms from snow mold…
But I can’t take any more -40!!! I just CAN’T!
AMEN!!!! Or should that be “Eh-men” heheh
I am SO frigging SICK of winter! I don’t have asthma, but when the weather changes like this, even I find it hard to breathe! The nose clogs up and then runs like crazy. My skin dries out. And my eyes. I’m depressed for no reason and have no energy. It’s awful! AWFUL!