The 30's!

Oh my how life has changed!  Life has changed in many ways through the years.  However, this past week I truly reflected on one specific aspect of life in Dallas that certainly is quite different than life in Phoenix( and different from life in Seattle too). 

This past week featured a little bit of everything, a little something for everybody to be happy or unhappy with concerning the weather!  Cody was happy then truly unhappy!  At one point last week I reflected how odd it is to be thinking 30 degrees is not so bad! 

I watch the weather temp closely since moving to TX.  Especially in the winter time.  I have to know just how cold it is.  It's important to know if it's too cold to walk the boys at their usual long walk time before getting outside.  This past Thursday it was way too cold to walk the boys at their normal long morning walk time.  We had to delay the long walk of the day.  We did still get it in but not until much later in the day. 

On Thursday I got up for the day to do the normal "first thing in the morning" chores which includes a check of the weather temp on my phone.  The weather reading was 18 degrees!  Yep, no chance I was going to put myself or the pugs through a 35 minute walk when it's only 18 degrees out with a wind chill.  Yikes!  We instead went out briefly.  Later in the day it "warmed up"  to be 31 degrees.  I laughed at myself as I leashed up the boys for their long walk in the 31 degree temp thinking that 31 degrees is 'not that bad'.

Now growing up in Phoenix, I don't remember many 31 degree days.  I remember it reaching the low 40's and people freaking out at that point.  A high temp of only 40 degrees in Phoenix does happen but those days are sparse.  Few and far between, maybe a handful of days during the whole year where it's chill you to the bone in the low 40's as a high.  I never grew up thinking to myself...."Oh it's 31 degrees out, not bad, time to go for a long walk."  No!  That never happened!

I used to grab a jacket thinking it was cold when it was only 60 degrees out in Phoenix.  I commented to my mom about 10 days ago on the phone that the current temp was 52 out.  Her response was, "Brr, that's too cold for me!"  That response is any typical Zonie's response. 

My new thought process concerning the weather is SOOOOO much different than my "Phoenix" thought process! The sixties never feel cold to me anymore!  The fifties are nice too!  Fifties are brisk but I'm not freezing.  And on mornings that feature a low 40 degree temp I'm loving it!  It means I have to bundle up, yes, but it means I won't feel like my hands are about to fall off at the end of a long walk with the boys.  As for the 30's...oddly enough the first though that pops into my head is.....'not that bad, I can handle 31 degrees easily'. However, 31 degrees and a substantial wind chill is a bit different.  In recent weeks I even went out for a long walk with the boys when it was only 27 degrees out.  I was rather proud of myself that day when I completed that walk!  I can honestly say growing up in Phoenix I never thought I would ever see the day where I felt proud of myself for accomplishing a long walk when it's only 27 degrees out. Never thought I'd see the day when I thought anything in the 30's was not that bad to walk in. LOL! Yep, life sure has changed!  Seattle prepared me quite well for Dallas weather but I don't remember Seattle being as chilly as Dallas gets! Seattle featured lots of 40 degree temps in the winter and some high 30's.  Seattle's thing is drizzly rain!  Oddly enough, I remember the first time I took the garbage out while living in Seattle when the high temp was only 43. I remember thinking 43 degrees didn't feel as bad as I thought it was going to feel when I stepped out. It all depends on what you get used too!  I wonder what Cody prefers.....a 40 degree day with drizzly rain or a 27 degree day with very little wind chill!  Hmm! Oh who am I kidding, Cody's thought process is fixated on 70 to 85 degrees and sunny.  If it's not in the 70's or 80's and sunny count on him being a pain outside!