So, no joke, the sun is currently setting at 3:30 pm. And with a full coverage of clouds all day long, it has been a dreary end to November. I'm so weirded out by how early it gets dark here. We would complain in Texas when it started to get dark around 5:30pm or 6:00pm, but this is a whole 'nother ball game. And we are still a month away from the winter solstice! Sheesh, think I should just go into hibernation now??
Actually, I have come up with a sneaky little plan to get the most out of these 'short' days. I'm calling it my "Maximize Winter Days" strategy. Here's how it works. Wake up with the sun, currently around 8:00am, and do everything you need to do in those 'daylight' hours. Daylight is in quotes because it has been mostly gray. Then, around sunset (did I mention this is at 3:30pm!), take a quick little nap. Once you wake up, it will be dark, but the night time will feel so long, it will be like you get two full days in one. So by strategically napping, I feel like I get twice as much time. One full day, and one really long night.
Genius, or detrimental to my health?? Who cares. I'm probably throwing off my inner clock so badly, but oh well. And no, I really don't nap everyday. I can't do that, I've never been a napper. But it's fun to try.
Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of the Thanksgiving week! At least those of you in the U.S. We are having a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday after the home game. I am the only American here again, but pretty much make all the imports celebrate it whether they want to or not. Really, though, who can resist turkey and gravy!?!
I've posted a quick, but really neat, video over at Nobody Need Wait, my other neglected blog. It's a cool story about a guy finding a roll of camera film in Central Park and hunting down its owners. Very well done, and I think you will like it.
Have a great holiday (and eat lots of pumpkin pie for me, the one thing I can't get here), or for those non-Thanksgivingers, have a good rest of the week!
 |
| Maybe I could build a nest out of blankets and pillows, hmmm... (source) |
Genius, or detrimental to my health?? Who cares. I'm probably throwing off my inner clock so badly, but oh well. And no, I really don't nap everyday. I can't do that, I've never been a napper. But it's fun to try.
 |
| That looks familiar, except no snow, suckers!! (source) |
Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of the Thanksgiving week! At least those of you in the U.S. We are having a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday after the home game. I am the only American here again, but pretty much make all the imports celebrate it whether they want to or not. Really, though, who can resist turkey and gravy!?!
I've posted a quick, but really neat, video over at Nobody Need Wait, my other neglected blog. It's a cool story about a guy finding a roll of camera film in Central Park and hunting down its owners. Very well done, and I think you will like it.
Have a great holiday (and eat lots of pumpkin pie for me, the one thing I can't get here), or for those non-Thanksgivingers, have a good rest of the week!
dont you just love the 4 hours of daylight we currently get?! and knowing that it is ONLY decreasing?! (yea no worries it makes me want to cry too). and the best part is that it is so cloudy all the time that i cant really tell if the sun is coming up at 10am or not because it is just always dark. :)
ReplyDeletei hope you have a great thanksgiving. my boyfriends family is going to be making me a thanksgiving dinner and they asked me what is in stuffing. i said 'i dunno, stuff'. so this should be quite entertaining :) if you get bored or anything, we can have a skypedate tomorrow haha :)
Hi Ya Ltl Tex - This week has been a busy one with lineups on front street, with everyone shopping for American Thanksgiving Weekend. Myself, I am looking forward to eating lots of everything and watching the Packers Game on Weekend, and I am not even American. ha,ha Being a border town, we get to celebrate two Thanksgivings - NEATO
ReplyDeleteAlso, Black Friday is fast approaching and its always fun to go and be part of the excitement - I don't really go to purchase anything - its just fun to be a part of - kinda like "dancing with the community cause there are sooooo many people" and kinda crazy at the same time.
I think your idea is quite good and I think it will work. Happy Thanksgiving to you and hub - have a great meal.
We are presently having our first snowstorm of the year and supposedly might receive 10-20?? I am going to dress really warm in winter duds and take PJ out in yard to play a bit later. Nothing more refreshing than playing in the snow.
Have a great day and hi to hub :)
My holiday will be spend with the parents. There may not be many of those times left in this life as the aunts and uncles are departing at an ever increasing rate. I am coming very late to the party of enjoying family time but luckily I am making up for it in recent years... ok year. Never take a moment for granted no matter what age you are.
ReplyDeleteThen off to Orlando to shop for a new place to live. Not quite ready to give up in the South Florida Guy lifestyle just yet. Just as soon as I can. Have a great holiday and remember, the sun never sets in the summer.
eek! I don't think I would do well there. I'm still suffering from the daylight savings time change and the 5:30 darkfall myself! I guess that is the price you pay for all the fabulous European experiences you are so lucky to receive. (wink) enjoy your weekend festivities and Happy Thanksgiving to you!
ReplyDeleteThats pretty crazy, dark at 3:30pm.. ahh your right here in FL i still feel werid when its dark by 6pm. HAHAH we are spoiled i guess. Well hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteyou are getting sleepy... sleepy... sleepy... you are asleep. wait it's only 2pm, i will be back in two hours... happy day.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about the pumpkin pie. Strangely it's one thing you can get almost year round here. Sweet potatoes, cranberries, celery and good lettuce this time of year....that's a whole other story.
ReplyDeleteOf course I meant you can get pumpkin here, not pumpkin pie. No one in Morocco eats pie just for the recordI didn't want to mislead anyone that Morocco is the pumpkin pie capital of the world or anything.
ReplyDeleteSun setting at 3:30?! Sounds awesome. I gave you a shoutout on my post today, by the way.
ReplyDeleteAs I said on FB- I really would struggle! I don't do well with the day time darkness..I am sure I have SAD or maybe i'm just a bit of a sad case for not handeling it well lol!!! I was thinking today we should do a Christmas present bargain swap?! Find me Finland's best and me vice versa?
ReplyDeleteI don't get it...the whole napping strategically thing...I'm a fan of the nap, but my mommy brain can't process how it's helping you...sigh
ReplyDeleteDark at 3:30pm? I'd curl up and hibernate, I can't stand it getting dark at 5:20 lol...it's awful...Good luck! ~Wendy
ReplyDeletehaha..I would easily go hibernating If I could.)))We do need some sunshine!!!
ReplyDelete@Megan - Oh, just love! lol. Haha, I haven't hit the cry stage yet, still just strange. Haha, what's in stuffing....stuff! Hilarious. I hope it goes well :) We should deffo skype date soon!
ReplyDelete@Saucy - Awesome, there is nothing better than two excuses to pig out on great food! Jealous, I would love to go shopping and hit up the deals. EVen if just to look around like you do. Thank you so much, Lilly. You are always so sweet! Eeeks, good luck with the snow!
@SFlaGuy - Well at least you got there at some point. Have a great holiday with your family! Love your attitude about it ;)
@Barb - Hey lady! haha, I hate that too. I guess, I guess. Am I coming across as a spoiled brat!?? GOOD, cause I am, haha, no not really. Thanks Barb!
@Lisa - so strange! lol, ,same with those Texans. Enjoy the sun for me over the holiday, will ya?!
@iZombie - haha, actually my nap was at 2pm yesterday. Hmmm, your voodoo tricks work for miles!
@Marie - We have lots of sweet pots, cranberries, but they have no squash up here. Ok, zucchini, yes, but no spaghetti squash, no pumpkin. I'm starting to doubt these Finns ;) Have some for me, will ya?!
@Joshua - Hey! I will have to go look, I was going to make my rounds this morning, but thanks for the heads up. And no, it's not awesome :)
@Missy - haha, seriously. Bargains? In Finland? I've never heard of this word here ;) lol. Hmmm, let me think about it!
@Not - well it has been too long since you have enjoyed a nap then! lol
@Wendy - haha, see, I told you! Have a great thanksgiving!
@Mrs K - I could soooo go for a sunny beach right now. Mmmmm ;)
I've already eaten an entire pumpkin pie pretty much but I'll eat another one just for you, since you twisted my arm and all. I wish I could hibernate for the winter and just come out when people are happier and less crochety again.
ReplyDeleteYou should seriously consider a nap everyday. It's one of those things that makes me happiest. I'm also really grumpy and mean when I'm tired and Matt now knows that sometimes he just needs to tell me to go lie down.
ReplyDelete@Jordan - what would I do without a friend like you! haha. Amen to that. I don't like crochety people either. What a great adjective, lol
ReplyDelete@Erin - Haha, I try, but I always end up tireder afterwards. Maybe practice makes perfect??
Holy crap, 3:30? Man, that reminds me of the Pacino flick 'Insomnia' the girl and I watched this week. I don't envy the effects that might have on your sleep schedule! What time is sunrise for you this time of year?
ReplyDeleteI totally think of that movie all the time here. Although, I would kill for it to be light all day long. Or maybe not, that would be weird too. Its up at 8:30am. When solstice hits, it is 9:30-2:20 eeeekkkksksss!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting way to deal with the early setting of the sun. Here in Jamaica it starts getting dark about 5.30 now. It is not yet 6 o' clock and it is rather dark. I am a new Follower from the FTLOB weekend hop. Have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteJudy - JUDY H-J'S THOUGHTS
Hmmm, if I could do it, I would definitely try your strategic napping! I get so depressed in the winter when its dark all of the time!
ReplyDeleteHaha Good luck with your body clock adjustments! Have a great weekend! :-)
ReplyDeleteSince moving to Scandinavia, I have heard LOTS of strategies for beating the darkness, but none quite as , um.... creative as yours! :-) Hope it works!
ReplyDeleteUg, the dark is hard to handle. I don't think your naps are bad. I think that whatever works is fine!
ReplyDeleteYeah, constant darkness wouldn't work for me at all. I can hardly handle it with the 5:00 darkness!
ReplyDeleteYep dark at 3:30 here also, not nice when you are collecting the kids from school in darkness.
ReplyDeleteSo, I know...this is what 5 DAYS LATE...but I'm catching up..and it's the holidays...and I'm a right shit friend :( . I think I did a round the world in Lindsey days via your bloggy! Have you started this insane experiment yet? PS-did you celebrate an Americana/Canadia thanksgiving at all despite the location? I saw a Finland factoid on the music channel and totally thought of you! I hope you're having a fabulous start to the week, lady!
ReplyDeleteI think I would die if I didn't see the sun out for more than 4 hours a day, maybe you could move to Alaska after this : ) Oh and I'm so down with nap time strategy, I WISH I could take a nap every day but I'd settle for once a week
ReplyDelete@Judy - haha, I guess it is one way. Nice, that isn't too bad. Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDelete@Meri - no depression yet, knock on wood, just wacko bed times ;)
@Irene - haha, well thanks! You too!
@Kelli - lol, it really isn't that bad. And if all else fails, I invest in a sun light.
@Kyria - you are right, whatever works for each person is probably best. If the naps don't work, I'll switch to heavy drinking ;)
@Ixy - Just makes the day feel so rushed and short, doesn't it?!
@Ryan - lovely, huh!?? I bet that is really weird!
@Morgan - well glad you still said hi :) I am being really bad about blogging lately too. Aw, glad you thought of me! Yes, we did thanksgiving, writing about it a bit todya. Hope you had a good one too!
@An Irish - you might just die here then, haha, no, you would be ok. Just pale like me :)
Yikes...I thought it was bad at 4:30! I get a lot more sleep here than I did back home. Good idea on the power nap! :-)
ReplyDeleteAh I think it is bad with the sun setting here at 4:30. It makes nights so long I feel exhausted come 8 pm. AWESOME though that you are still snowless. I swear I saw some of my first European flakes when I was in Muenster last weekend.
ReplyDeleteOh and PS, I ate plenty of pumpkin pie for you :)
I was JUST complaining about how dark it is here aroun 5:30- I cannot even imagine 2 hours earlier than that! My melatonin would be taking over!
ReplyDelete3:30? Does this mean the sun sets at around 11 in the summer?
ReplyDeleteThis year the sunrises and sunsets are 9:24 and 15:13 for the winter solstice and were 3:54 and 22:50 for the summer solstice in Helsinki. In Oulu the times are 10:29, 14:03, 2:18 and 0:21, respectively. (source)
ReplyDeleteOkay. I am officially done with complaining about the 5:00pm sunset here in Canada where I live.
ReplyDeleteI forced the other American family we know here to have dinner with us. I made most of it and then took it over to their house to eat. My place is too tiny! It worked out well. I hope yours did too!
ReplyDeleteI was just moaning about our 5 o'clock descent into darkness here in SoCal. I think I'd pace around like a mad man if the sun set at 3:30. HO-LY COW! That would be like working at night for those that have a 9-5?! I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving, if you can even call it that without pumpkin pie! :-)
ReplyDeleteDrivers here in the Northeast still haven't adjusted to the time change; every night, it's like an obstacle course driving home, trying to scope out cars driving in the dark, with no headlights on. Shortened daylight hours seem to have everyone dragging along when 4 p.m. rolls around.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoyed your away-from-home Thanksgiving; my hubs just gave me "the look" when I told him he's having Turkey...again...for dinner. Hey...when you cook a 30 lb. bird, you get leftovers; what can I say?
Hugs!