There
is no doubt that winter is here. Bitter cold has swept the nation. Kids have
missed school. Parents have missed work. And millions of people in Atlanta
slept in their cars this past week. This winter has already been long, intense,
and exhausting. We have been housebound
for many more days than we would like. And it has made us more than a little
punchy, especially Andre.
Andre
is the kind of man who is happiest when he is working on a project or working
out. This frigid weather has given him cabin fever in a big way. He finished his most recent project last week. The bitter cold weather has been a de-motivator
and he has been much less active. Since
I am very pregnant, there are fewer indoor outlets for his excess testosterone...
And for the past few weekends, his demeanor has mimicked that of a caged lion.
He’s been pacing. He’s been brooding. And he has been staring. It doesn’t help that he desperately wants a
new house because he thinks this one is too small.
Like
most families, especially those on the East Coast, we have been desperate for
some relief from this winter. Yesterday, our prayers were answered!
Lately,
it has felt like a heat wave whenever the temperature gets above 25 degrees. However,
yesterday was a real heat wave. The temperature topped 53 degrees and we almost
lost our minds. I had a meeting downtown and was able to walk to the train and
home from the train station in a blazer quite comfortably. I even sat outside
and leisurely finished a conversation with a friend. In that conversation, my
friend casually mentioned that she planned to go out for ice cream later in the
day. And because I am pregnant and highly susceptible to suggestions, I began
craving ice cream at that moment.
And when a pregnant woman has a craving, the
craving has to be satisfied. So, after driving around to find an ice cream parlor that was open after 8:00 PM in the middle of winter, we happened upon a Ben and Jerry's in downtown Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has been transforming its downtown in recent years and unbeknown to us Ben and Jerry's opened last year.
All of the stars aligned. As luck would have it the store was open until 9:00 PM. So, each of us was able to get an ice cream. In honor of the heat wave, ice cream was 50% off. So, Andre only paid $6.50 for our treats. It doesn't get any better than that! Our outing was enough to give us some relief from the winter blues. It may just sustain us through the next six weeks. (Still, we hop Punxsutawney Phil was wrong!)
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