Hours of sunlight: 4:01 hours (although it was hazy today, so we didn't actually see the sun!)
I have to note that even though it is a ridiculous -47C with wind chill today, I STILL don't feel as cold as I did in Ottawa at -20C! The dryness is amazing, and it will be hard for me to ever move back to a damp climate...
One of the first pieces of advice I received when I told people I was moving North was: take Vitamin D pills! With the lack of sunlight during the winter, we need to take Vitamin D supplements for a variety of reasons... it helps boost your immune system, build strong bones, deal with loss of energy and tiredness, reduce depression and general lethargy, and may even reduce cases of cancer, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis!
So when I made my first trip to the pharmacy, I bought these wonderful pills...
There doesn't seem to be a consensus on how much Vitamin D you should consume per day up here. Some take a lot, others don't take much at all. I've decided to take 2 of these little guys (each one is 1000 IU) and see how I manage with 2000 IU a day. I have to be honest, sometimes I forget for a few days, and I don't notice a huge impact on my energy level, but I don't really want to know what happens if I stop taking them entirely. I may experiment next winter!
The one thing I found hard was waking up at 7:00 in the morning when it still felt and looked like 3 am outside! I could barely crawl out of bed, and had to have 2 alarms to get me out of bed (and I still hit snooze for half-an-hour first). So I have started sleeping with a little nightlight in my room, so that when my alarm goes off, there is some light in the room -- this has made waking up MUCH easier.
Down the road, I may decide to invest in a sun alarm, which wakes you up with "natural" morning light. But that's something that can wait until I really need it... like when I miss my first morning meeting and have to resort to such measures!
(photo from clockview.com)