C'mon Spring!!

Is it still February?? For a month that is so short, it sure is taking a long time to pass! Move out February!!  I'm tired of the cold and I long for warmer days. I'm tired of cold toes and fingers, and surely, my husband is tired of me warming my cold toes and fingers on him!

You know what one of the worst things about Facebook is? It's people from the warmer areas posting pictures of warm-weather activities and people are wearing shorts and flip-flops, t-shirts and they're complaining how hot it is! Hot!? In February!!  I see those photos and it makes me dread going outside in 20-25 degree weather, bundled up in my big, bulky coat, the cold wind whipping at my face and rushing in the holes of my pants' leg openings.

I have a friend that recently moved to Hawaii and she is posting near daily photos of herself at the beach or doing some warm-weather activity and it's almost enough to make me want to unfriend her at this point!! Ohhh! Warm weather, how I miss you so!

I wonder if that's partly why this winter has been so rough for me.. not just the fact that it's cold, but because I am constantly being exposed to images of warm weather.  It's different from a travel agency touting beach pictures because those are meant to be a getaway vacation from the cold and you know after your time is up, you have to return to the cold-- bummer!  But these are personal images from people that live year-round in warmer climes and they have no thought of being cold and so continue their lifestyles without worry of snow or sleet or having to bundle up in twenty layers of clothing just to stay warm. Meanwhile, here I am, sitting in a slightly chilled house (we keep it fairly cool in here and dress extra warmly) and cupping my hands around a big steaming mug of hot chocolate spiked with coffee, wearing a sweater and socks to ward away the chill. Oh Spring! Hurry up!!!

Doesn't help when the stores are also starting swimsuit sales and pushing gardening things. My pool has a 6-inch layer of ice on the top of it and my ground is still frozen solid. Imagine my shovel hitting the ground and making this sound-- thunk-thunk! If this were a cartoon, my shovel would twang and shiver and then make me twang and shiver!!

There's hope yet, though. It warmed up a little bit today, to a cool low 50's and I actually went outside without having to put my coat on! I'm dreaming of the garden and looking forward to starting a few cold-weather loving plants for the first time this year. I have hope that in 3 weeks or so, I can break a small patch of ground in the garden and get some seeds planted!

I know that because of our location, some seasons are harsher than others, and I'm alright with it. I know that Spring is coming and Old Man Winter will be getting the boot pretty soon.  Just getting a little anxious for those warmer days and it's going to feel so good shedding all those layers and feeling the warm sun on my skin again!

Post-Valentine

We don't make a big deal of Valentine's Day around here.  I'm not a flowers kind of girl, which I made clear to Andrew way back when we first started dating. My favorite flower is a Daisy, but I'd much rather see them growing in a field rather than cut into a bouquet where they'll die within the week.

I guess we're just simple folk and we make cards for each other and perhaps a nice, special dinner.

The kids spent a couple of days making cards with construction paper and markers and they came up with some really thoughtful cards.  I really enjoy seeing their thought processes now and they tried to come up with cards that had meaning to the person the card was for.

 Knowing they put their hearts into making cards for everyone, I decided to make Valentine's Day a little bit more special for them and made these woven heart paper baskets. I remember making these at school when I was little, 6 years old, and I amazed myself when I still remembered how to make them! 

I whipped up some homemade chocolate nonpareils candy and added in some play tattoos and a mini-Lego figure for each of the kids inside the basket. 

We went into town yesterday for errands and ate at the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet and it was a pretty nice day. Simple and sweet, and I can't ask for anything better!