Spring is arriving!!!

It's been a long winter so far. But to tell the truth, the winter here is nothing like the horror stories that we were told from friends (but they did experience the worst winter last year in 50 years so what am I to talk!). If you don't know, apartments here do not have heaters unless you mess with purchasing one yourself and all the walls are concrete so no insulation. We were told that you basically freeze all the time, eat meals in your bedroom (which is usually the warmest room in your house), stay inside your bedcovers with the heating pad on all day, etc... Although there is some truth to what they said, we didn't freeze the whole winter, we always ate our meals in the dining room (although you eat faster so you can leave the table and go back to the bedroom to rewarm yourself!), and we never turned on the bed heating pad during the day. However, we did learn a few things during our first winter here:

1) Although 50 degrees is very bearable outside, it is very UNbearable inside your house.
2) We never thought we would be paying $100 a month to keep one room at a high of 60 degrees, but you find out that money is no object when it comes to being warm!
3) It is very possible to be warmer outside than inside your own house.
4) You learn to love long johns! I've never been a fan of them, but I even wear them in my house now!
5) You learn that living in one room of your house is possible, but you may go stark crazy.
6) Portable heaters are your best friend, and sometimes you may find your husband hiding in the bathroom (which heats up quickly due to its small size) with the heater for no reason other than to get warm again. Ok, I confess...I've been caught doing that too...
7) Olive oil becomes a solid state when cold, which our olive oil has been solid (not frozen, just solid) since winter started.

Which leads me to my title "Spring is arriving!"

We were very fortunate to be able to leave our city (and country) for 6 weeks -- a combination of retreats, vacation, and medical appointments -- and go to a very warm location. However, we never could figure out why people kept the air conditioners on at 50 degrees (or at least it felt that cold) inside buildings when we just left a place that was continuously cold! Anyways, the day came when we had to return to our cold city. It's a pretty disappointing feeling when you are enjoying the wonderful sun before getting on the plane and then, when you get off the plane, your struggling to find your coat. However, a sign of hope happened to me when we entered our apartment. I was busy in the kitchen, putting up some food brought back from our trip, and look! The olive oil was a liquid state! That must mean it has been warm lately! That must mean that spring is actually arriving! I never thought that olive oil would make me so happy. However, I'm sad to say, our olive oil is once again in the solid state, but I'm checking it daily for signs of spring!