So, I know I’m down quite a bit on winter in the Midwest, but there are SOME upsides to the cold weather and short days. While I mentioned my all-time favorite around this time last year, there are still a few reasons why this season isn’t as bad as some (ahem, I) make it appear:

No Binge-Watching Guilt

As previously noted, one of my favorite activities in the cold months is a good old-fashioned binge watch. Last year when I sprained my foot, I got to watch all of House of Cards in a single weekend, and for this years’ hibernation, I plan on re-watching them all in anticipation of the Season 3 release in February. The best part: I don’t feel like I should be outside doing something else because “the weather’s so nice.” It’s Ohio in winter, “nice” weather will not be here for at least another two months. Unless you like to ski. Which brings me to my next point…

Ski Season

Or snowboarding, snowshoeing, snowtubing…you catch my drift …-season. Thanks to modern technology, its always *technically* possible to go ice skating indoors when its 75 degrees outside, but do you really want to? There’s something special about hitting the slopes on a clear, bright winter morning, with the crisp air in your lungs and a whole day of fun ahead of you. (As you can tell, this isn’t really my cup of tea— too cold— but I can understand the appeal; it’s sort of like a snow day when you were little. On those occasions, sledding was the best.thing.EVAR!)

Snow Plow Trackers

You guys, did you even know this was a thing?! Cities around the country are allowing you, the average joe citizen, to see what streets have been plowed in your city #binge# via GPS and the magic that is the Internet. Now, I’m pretty sure that this was done simply to avoid all of the questions that cities got along the lines of “why isn’t my street plowed?” and “when will you be to my neighborhood?” but it’s actually really fun; I dare you not to stalk your local snowplow the next time a snowpocalypse hits.

Bonus- hot cocoa, because, duh!