I'll be there! By the way, love the screen name, Valkyrie! I was Brunnhilde for Halloween last year... small Wagner obsession here.

Well, let me tell you my winter tales of woe.

First, I lived in Chicago for one year a while back. The winter I was there set records for the coldest winter ever in that city. I was used to 60 degree winters, not 60 degrees below zero winters. To be fair, a lot of that was wind chill, but it still amazes me that you could take one breath of air outside and have the snot inside of your nose freeze over. It was that cold.

So then I move to MD, and I'm thinking, "Well, sure it gets cold, but it's no Chicago." And then we get hit with the coldest winter and the worst icestorm in decades. It left us powerless for three days in freezing weather with no heat or hot water. And this was in Rockville-- not exactly the middle of nowhere. Three stinkin' days! Yeah, it was no Chicago, but at least in Chicago I never had to be cold for longer than it took me to get from my house, to the car-- which was suitably warmed up and waiting for me because that's what husbands are for.

As far as I was concerned everyone was lying to me when they said that Maryland winters weren't so bad. Dude, that was bad. A huge branch encased in ice fell out of the tree in our yard! People, it was not only cold, it was scary! It missed our house (and the room we were sleeping in) by about 5 feet. And it was loud, and boomy when it cracked off the tree and hit the ground.

I've now just accepted that other states are trying desperately to scare me off with horrible winter weather and threats of woody violence. But now that Maryland has realized I'm sticking around, most winters have been relatively mild.

Wear layers, invest in a good comforter-- I recommend one of the feather ones from Ikea, inexpensive and luciously warm. A nice thick coat that goes down to your knees really helps in windy, snowy weather, as does a pair of comfy waterproof boots (with no slip soles as things can get icey.) And a space heater in your bathroom so your showers aren't twice as long as they should be because it's just too damn cold to get out from under that awesome stream of hot water.

I'm a Californian, too. And I THINK Asharah, too? Maybe?