It may look cosy, but...

...it's SO cold! Like I said, we had our first snow, and nothing else has fallen except for temperatures: inside and out. It's a good thing we both leave the apartment for the majority of the day, and go to lovely warm places, even if it means work. But when we're home, it's COLD. There's only so much you can do to stay warm:
-turn on heater (which blows air directly toward the front door) and stand in front of it, hugging it.
-drink tea or hot chocolate. constantly.
-wear every sweatshirt you own.
-wrap a blanket around your upper body and another one for your legs.
-go outside for a while, then come back in to trick your brain in thinking that 60 is suddenly very warm.
-take the hottest shower to raise your temperature.
-decide to bake cookies or something that requires plenty of oven use, preferably around 350 or 375.
-heat and reheat the AWESOME rice bag that Mom and Dad gave you. Honestly, I couldn't live or sleep without it. It has become my ritual: I heat the pad, I put it in bed lengthwise and then I lay down on it so that it warms my entire back (sleeping on your back is the best).

Sure, we turn on the heat, but 13 minutes go by and we're back down several degrees. This apartment loses heat in record time--worst heating I've ever experienced. And we know where our heat goes: through the floor. Right now, if you touch the floor with even a finger, or if you're brave, your whole hand, you'll think you've just put your hand onto the icicles on the sides of the freezer. No joke. Test me on this and I'll win your bet. The floor is as cold as the pavement outside, at 2 am in the dead of winter. The question is, what to do? Do we spend hundreds of dollars on mismatched craigslist used carpet? Do we crank up the heat? Do we move? Or do we just wear fuzzy socks and slippers? Sigh, we're buddling up our feet and hopping from carpet to "carpet" (= the Buffalo Bills blanket).

Thankfully, winter here doesn't last as long as it does in Syracuse.

And thankfully, we've ordered a space heater that should help us direct the heat where we want it, namely in the bedroom. I think I've developed a sore throat from sleeping in such cold air. Last night made me think of all the homeless people who are suffering in the bitter cold, whereas I'm complaining about the 50 degrees. A humbling thought.