Ladies in the Northeast

cathmg

Hello Everyone,

Is anyone finding that the long, cold winter makes feeling positive more difficult? I find the inability to get outdoors makes me more depressed and worried about my health and future. There are lots of things I like about living in Maine, but right around February I am so sick of winter. I keep reminding myself that I am lucky to be alive and well-but I still feel anxious. What are folks doing to keep their spirits up?

Cat 

mamanmidwife

I am so with you, this season is really getting to me this year. and working fulltime at a crazy place isn't helping. i do travel porn just look up and price vacations to warm places. going on a short druide next month, then down to St. Pete Beach in april and southern california in may, and a SCUBA trip to cozumel in june. but that just means working a lot of overtime to pay for the trips, lol

I also try and get a belly laugh in every day

cathmg

Travel porn! Love it! I was looking up trees and plants in a New England field guide, so I can go on some nature hikes when the snow and ice are gone.

cathmg

There is a clear patch of ground near my neighbor's house, and 3 inch high daffodil leaves are popped up. Also say a pair of Cardinals singing away and flitting about the yard. Also took a walk on the beach without freezing. Spring is coming!!

Laurie09

Hello fellow Mainer!

There's a lot of melting going on today.  The glacier that was my driveway is finally breaking up and I can see the asphalt!  I still have a good bunch of snow in the yard, but am hoping that it will start to disappear now that it's a bit warmer.  

Spring is definitely coming!  

Lena

Maybe spring is coming to Maine, but it's still winter in New Hampshire. I know that can't possibly make sense since Maine is NORTH of New Hampshire, but:

:-( This weekend started out good, i.e., 40s and raining so I thought, maybe, oh maybe FINALLY maybe spring's coming and let's melt all this damn ice and snow from the parking area and the driveway-hill. Today is the first day in 3 weeks or so I can actually see the ground in the parking area (I live in a townhouse apartment with two other townhouse-apt units so we all share the same parking area) but you know what? It's gonna turn to freezing rain, sleet and snow -- there's a winter weather warning here now till 11 something tomorrow morning cause we're supposed to get 4-8 inches of sleet/snow.  Sorry, but that doesn't sound like spring to ME, to get all that snow and ice back! >:-P

3 weeks ago when we got that warmup for 2 days and it hit 50, it had melted all the parking area and hill-driveway snow/ice (first time I'd seen ground since December!) but like a day or two later we got slammed with 9 inches of snow and you  know the melt refreeze, melt refreeze cycle, the "skating rink" came back and now that it's finally gone TODAY, we're getting MORE!  

Enough already!!!!!

:::::sigh:::::

  

I am sooo sick and tired of winter! 

cathmg

Hi Laurie! What area of the 207 do you hail from? I'm from Saco, so that explains the walk on the beach today!

Lena-sounds like you're feeling as fed up as I have been. Sorry you're getting more winter weather. Luckily, we are getting just rain overnight and I'm really hoping the huge snowdrifts in the front yard will melt. I'm in So. Maine near the coast, so we get rain sometimes while the rest of the state gets walloped. What a hard winter it has been though, and we've had no chance to get away (daughter in college $$) I hope it melts quickly for you.

Cat 

Laurie09

Cat, I'm close to you, in Portland area.  

cathmg

Laurie-funny to "meet" someone so geographically close in cyberspace! There is Mary's Walk happening this coming weekend-it's a walk and roadrace that raises funds for the Maine Cancer Foundation. Do you do any of the walks? My company, Saco Bay PT, also puts on a roadrace to raise funds for bc cure  in the fall. 

Nice to "meet" you! 

Laurie09

I do some of the walks - I've done the Komen walk with my Mom (also a survivor) and am doing Tri for a cure this summer to benefit the Maine Cancer Foundation.   

I haven't signed up for the Mary's walk as I think I'm working though I'm not sure... I'll have to check.  

I wonder if there are others from our area on this board.  Nice to meet you too!  

Baxter

Hey fellow Mainers......on top of everything else, something tore down our mail box today...great!

The other day I penned my frustrations !

My Winter Rant!

The plow went by and made a mess

So I went out determined to do my best

The snow blower started, I lifted the choke

It just kept on stalling and stopping.....no joke

I knew I needed another good plan

Unfortunately, that meant shoveling by hand

I worked on the driveway, then looked at the deck....

Too much for my implants....they're now in my neck!

Lena

Ohgosh I hope that didn't really happen to you, Baxter! :-O

cathmg

Baxter-your ode to winter was one true Mainers can relate too! We get it. I'm always over working my poor pecs trying to get rid of the ice in the driveway. Somehow I feel better when the tar is clear...

I'm starting a collection of Maine ladies in my "favorite members", so am going to add you! Lena, are you in ME?

I think the sun is supposed to shine tomorrow

Catherine

Lena

No, Cat, I'm in New Hampshire. And yes, the sun is shining here today, AND the snow and ice are melting -- it's supposed to get all the way up to 35 today, but you know what they say: "if something SEEMS too good to be true, it usually IS."

So I'm afraid to get TOO optimistic about spring coming just yet! I know there's GOTTA be at LEAST one or two more nasty snow, sleet or ice storms lurking out there waiting to hammer New Hampshire again between the rest of this week and sometime in late April or early May! :-(  :::::sigh:::::

cathmg

Hey Lena,

NH is close enough-I'm adding you to my list. I took my dog  to the beach today for a walk, and it was so good to be outside. You're right though, I'm not holding my breath for spring just yet.

Cat

Lena

Well Cat, maybe you should change your list from "Mainers" to "Northern New Englanders" maybe? LOL

OMG I saw the ground today -- about 75% of the ice and snow actually all melted in the parking lot (but last night a neighbor was slipping and sliding and skidding, and almost didn't make it up the hill). Tomorrow's supposed to be mid-30s so more melt (YAY!) but snow again tomorrow night into Thursday morning. 

My Pack Rat tells me just the fact that we've had rain and sleet, even more snow again means the back of winter is broken, i.e.,  it's "warm enough" for that stuff. But that was before he fell down on the ice at his house! 

:::::sigh:::::

cathmg

Hang in there-snow tomorrow but in the 40's I hear for this weekend.

Lena

It got all the way up to freezing today. LOL

And yeah, it snowed -- but at least only about an inch to an inch and a half. 

cathmg

Woke up to the sound of rain-woo hoo.  Buds are starting on the maple trees, and I finally see a patch of the neighbors yard through the snow.  I think we're gonna make it!

Kezzie62

Hi from a almost snow free Boston...  Spring is almost here..

Thank God..

 Kezzie

Lena

Oh wow, it stayed "warm" enough overnight that I didn't have to leave the under-kitchen-sink cabinets open so the hot water pipe wouldn't freeze! And yeah....today is in the mid-30s and raining -- even got a flood warning in effect till 7 PM.

OK good then, I don't have to go anywhere today, so let it rain rain rain and RAIN and wash all this crappy snow and ice away!!  :-D 

cathmg

Yeah, someone at work was talking about grilling out this weekend! Might wash my car, but I don't want to anger the snow gods...have  a great weekend Lena!

Hi Kezzie, we still have a couple of feet of snow in S. Maine, but it's rapidly disappearing. God, wasn't this winter long???

Cat 

eileen1955

I had to double my vitamin D dose this winter. I get the winter "blahs"Seasonal Affective disorder. This year I had to take twice my normal winter dose.  I live in NJ and don't know how people do it in the real snow areas.         I have chemo-induced osteoporosis so I do not venture out on slippery days.   Hence, no Vitamin D from sunshine.   

Good news! I saw the crocuses coming up on my front yard yesterday!! There is an end in sight!

Certain ethnic groups need extra Vitamin D in winter: Irish (that's me) and UK; Scandinavian countires and coastal Native Americans.     

This winter cannot end soon enough!   How do people in Buffalo NY do this year in and year out?   eileen 

cathmg

Hi Eileen,

I think I have that SAD, too. Have felt downright gloomy and empty this past month. I haven't had my D levels done for awhile, but the last reading was 43-still low, although I supplement. I think the level needs to be checked again.

I think you're at least a couple weeks closer to spring than we are. My daughter goes to school in Conn., and she says there is no snow there. 

Have a GREAT weekend!

Catherine 

NSWTD

I am in the Midwest, in Michigan, but it is still winter here.   My hubby and I always take a warm climate vaca in late Feb, early March....and did that this year.  But in coming home, it is still very cold here and getting ice and snow.   In fact an ice storm closed the freeway near me just last week due to the high number of accidents.  

That said, I tried walking my dog outside and we are both suffering from cabin fever, but I nearly killed myself due to the icey streets.  So, last weekend, I did something I never do and took off to the mall to walk......just walk.  It felt good to get a few laps in and get things moving.   

This week the weather cleared enough for clear pavement and I took the dog for a bike ride....he runs along side and i peddle my a$$ off.  Seriously, he is FAST....a jack russel and he loves to run, run, run.   The bike rides wear him out.   IT was cold, 36 or so, but i put on my winter coat and gloves and took to the streets.  Normally I think of bike riding only when it is warm, but the dog has changed that as we get him out as often as possible.  It was really kind of fun to be out on the bike a fresh breeze in my face.   We were both better for it.  

Lena

My Pack Rat has SAD, and he says he has felt way better in the winter this year and last year than any previous winter he can even remember. Last year's winter was when he started megadosing himself on Vitamin D! By megadosing, I'm talking 15,000-30,000 IU daily.

I don't have SAD (hell, I don't stop at winter, I take my depression all year round LOL), but I do take Vitamin D. I tried megadosing for awhile in the beginning (not as much as him, I only tried daily doses ranging from 5,000 through 15,000 IU per day) but it didn't make any difference in how I felt, so now I only take 1000 IU per day to go with my 1200 mg daily calcium supplements.

Oh yeah. Today's weather report -- mid-30s and partly cloudy. Chance of rain. Tomorrow predicted to be partly sunny, low 40s and no precipitation, which means I can get at least some "out of the house" stuff done. My choice is:

A. Tape measure part of my deck to see how much room I'd have for container gardening, if I do it, and,

B. Do the laundry. I've been putting it off for about 3 weeks because I've been afraid to try to carry the laundry basket to the car with all that ice.

OR I can

A. Tape measure part of my deck with regards to the container gardening, and,

B. Take a ride out to Market Basket, the "good" supermarket in the next town over and buy some of their produce to totally die for, as well as restock things in the pantry and freezer I've been using -- BEFORE I run low enough for it to get prohibitively expensive to restock no matter where or when I go. Lately I've been getting my fresh fruit and salad stuff at Shaw's which is very close by here in town, but their produce isn't AS good and they're more expensive than Market Basket (so, oh wow, hmmm,  the only food shopping I've done at ALL since the end of December has been to buy perishables only:  the fresh fruit and veggies, milk, bread and eggs).

I'd do all of those things tomorrow actually, but I don't have the physical capacity to do more than one physically strenuous project in a given day. If I clean the whole house (which I actually did this past Wednesday), I can't food shop or go to the laundromat. If I go to the laundromat, I can't clean the house other than washing dishes, and can't go food shopping.  If I do a serious grocery trip, then no laundry or other housework outside of washing dishes. Thank you so very MUCH, treatments for Stage IV cancer! --NOT--

cathmg

NSWTD-I use my bike for my dog, too! He's a border collie/lab mix and he actually takes me for a ride. You're brave to go out when it's still cold, but the fresh air is good,isn't it? I got  a helmet because it's a little dangerous with him flat out running.

Lena-doesn't even thinking about gardening feel great? I'm going to try and expand my little garden in the yard. Our soil is kind of clayey, so I have some work to do. Love Market Basket. I used to go to the one in Portsmouth sometimes. Shaw's is just a mile away, so I go there, but the veggies aren't great. Trader Joes just opened in Portland, so I've been going there for some things. I know someone from church who has stage iv IBC. It has been 5-6 yrs for her,and she's doing OK. Hope you have a great day.

Let the sun shine!

Cat

Lena

Cat -- Thinking about container gardening is actually making me feel ambivalent. I am VERY interested in it, and would LIKE to try it, but... I have almost NO "discretionary" income and buying the containers, dirt, mulch and so on is probably going to cost more money than I have, so I will likely have to can the whole idea. But I'll still measure the area I'd do it in to see how many containers of what size I'd have room for, and price stuff exactly -- being "pretty sure" I "probably" can't afford it isn't the same as knowing for certain, and if I don't "do the homework" I won't really know, will I? However, I think it's very likely I'll just have to settle for just the pot and some dirt for Solfegietto, that much I finally WILL do. Oh. Solfegietto is my diffenbachia cutting.  I've had "him" for probably going on 5 years and he lives in a big vase of water in the kitchen. Been meaning to get him a pot with real dirt for ages, and keep not getting around to it, but now that I have a deck he's going to love in the spring and summer, I really need to get around to it.

I'm still trying to make up my mind about tomorrow -- laundromat or Market Basket? LOL. I got a flyer in the mail today and chicken thighs are on special. I still have "enough" in the freezer but they're a staple, and if they're cheap, good idea to stock up. Plus as of yesterday, I ate up ALL my fresh fruit and veggies! So this afternoon, I was saying to myself, "OK, Market Basket tomorrow." Then tonight when I put on my jammies, and noticed the severely overflowing laundry basket (and I also wanted to take the 2 quilts)....sheesh, I dunno. I suppose I'll figure it out tomorrow.

So they have Market Basket and Shaw's in Maine, huh?  At various times over the years, I have visited every state in New England EXCEPT FOR Maine, but my only New England grocery shopping experiences have been in NH, so I don't even know what stores the other NE states have.

I'm glad your church friend with IBC is doing well.

OH MY! ...it's 11:30 PM and it's ABOVE FREEZING?!?!!!!!!!!! WOW! 

36 DEGREES! LOL 

(Umm Hmmm...OK. I think I figured it out. Market Basket tomorrow.)

cathmg

White crap falling from the sky after a 70 degree day yesterday? Man, this is getting old. Going to the farmer's market in town. Take my mind off it.

Lena

61 yesterday, high 30s today. No snow though. WHEW!

cathmg

Lena, did you get your plant potted? Will he live outside in the summer? The snow is off the garden and there is garlic and rhubarb growing like gangbusters! Woohoo!