Stir-fried Stir-craziness

It's official. I'm on unofficial house arrest, the product of months of inclement weather.

I don't know how people do it, but I certainly don't feel like taking 10 or so minutes to put on all the layers, scarf, gloves, hat, etc. (hating hat head all the way) just to trudge out in the 10-degree grey city canvas. I love this city, but I apparently love my warm apartment even more. I'm trying really hard to not bounce off the walls, but it's unavoidable to get a little cabin-fever around mid-January. The next event highlight is St. Patty's Day -- for many in this metro, it's a fantastic drunken celebration...but for me, it always marks the quasi-unofficial start of spring. In Chicago-speak, that means six or so weeks until the ground barely begins to thaw, and you see birds returning that have been absent since fall. It truly is something glorious to look forward to, after almost six months of utter frigidity. In the meantime, there's the obligatory "Why the hell do I live here?!" stammering, daily to multi-daily, now through April.

Then spring hits, and I remember why this is one of the greatest cities on earth, and why I'm so luckyhappythankfuletc to be here. Can you imagine if the Chicago climate was pleasant year-round? We'd have some serious population issues...sometimes, you gotta keep a good thing under wraps. Even if it means freezing your wrap ass off almost half the year. It makes the other half that much more sweet.