The temperature outside is 26 degrees Fahrenheit, and the two electric heaters in the cabin are struggling to keep it reasonable inside. I have four shirts on, three of which are of the 'thermal' variety. Mia is sound asleep next to me on the settee, and it's only 7:56pm. 

Today has got to be the coldest day I've yet experienced in Annapolis, a reminder of why I have been in another part of the world this time of year for the past two years. Yes, Sweden last year was freezing cold as well, but I wasn't on a sailboat. That cozy apartment in Uppsala sounds absolutely incredible right now.

Christmas this year will finally feel like Christmas again. I almost forget what that is like. I remember two years ago talking to Kate, Ash and Blake on the phone while they were celebrating Christmas Eve up at Mommom and Pappap's house - it was already Christmas Day in New Zealand, and my friends and I were walking up to the hot springs in Lake Taupo, in board shorts and t-shirts. I was enjoying the "holiday" with an American guy, two Brits, two German girls and a Belgian guy, sitting in naturally scalding water at the edge of a river so clean and clear you could drink out of it. I say "holiday" because it just didn't feel like Christmas. That evening we ate pasta and drank wine