It's cold outside and my hands are soft and happy

We are considered a Mediterranean zone so the temp is warm enough to grow tropical plants and it rarely freezes.  This is the time of year when I'm grateful to live in such a temperate climate.  The kind of climate where I could wear shorts 12 months out of the year, or at least into November if I wanted to.  When the temperature goes under 60 degrees everyone's complaining about how cold it is, and if it actually freezes for one night out of the year, we're all in a panic over our poor succulents.  

Being born and raised in sunny California, I'm not comfortable when it's cold.  I honestly don't know how people deal with snow year after year.  I know I can't drive in it and I certainly can't garden in it, so it's hard for me to see why people flock to it, unless its a weekend in Tahoe. 
On the flip side, being too hot makes me cranky too.

Right now, it's a cool 39 degrees and I'm sitting at the computer wearing a fleece, a hoodie, I have a beanie on my head, plus wool socks and slippers too. Everyone else in the house has succumbed to the cold and they're already in bed sleeping.  Not me, I'm still stoking the fire, bundled up and typing.  It's f'ing cold outside, and because I'm anti-heater, it's just as cold inside my house.  Even my dogs are under down comforters, none of us are used to this drop in temp.  

I feel the cold the most in my hands, especially when I'm out gardening.  There have been mornings when I've been working on the other side of the Caldecott Tunnel I thought my hands would shatter if they were touched too snappily.  This kind of cold is debilitating and inhibits my drive to work. 

I now wear gloves daily and I feel like I'm missing something when I don't.  Even with the gloves, gardening in the winter months makes my skin split in the most painful areas and more importantly, the hardest to heal places.  My cuticles used to be split and painful.  I found a product for this problem a month ago, and it's simply wonderful.  It's O'Keefe's Working Hands.  These old dog paws are now soft, with nice cuticles.  I've tried many products for weathered hands, and this is the first one I'm satisfied enough to mention it by name and picture in a post.  It's awesome. 

Stay warm.  Keep your hands lubricated and always stay positive...