it IS cold

So.

How cold is it?

It's so cold that our sweet little indoor/outdoor thermometer won't tell us the outdoor temperature.

It's outdoor temperature range is from -21.8°F to +156.2°F.

That's right. It's colder than -21F!

And if you factor in windchill we're probably in the -30s to -40s.

I just checked the temperatures in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Deadhorse, Alaska (look them up on Google Maps) and we are MUCH colder than any of those places!

Needless to say school has been canceled. I snuck into Annika's room and grabbed her alarm clock. I'd love it if the girls slept in today so that I can have a few more minutes of quiet time...either browsing the Internet or reading the magazines Mama sent me. Thanks Mama!


And now for Something Completely Different:

It's also time to order seeds for Spring. Yippee! I sooooooo much LOVE browsing seed catalogues. I haven't made up my mind what I'm going go to grow this year. Definitely tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, winter squash, onions, green beans (pole variety) and soybeans (loved those!). I grew lots of leafy greens that we didn't end up eating (shame on us). I would also like to start flowers from seed. I'm thinking of echinacea, impatiens, Angelonia and I'm not sure what else. Any ideas?

I also started taking down the Christmas tree yesterday. All the other members in this household were upset but I did say I would take it down after my birthday. Oh. And you should have seen how much dust it had collected. Blech!