Dear Winter: I Hate You.

pic courtesy of bigfoto.com

I know that in the winter, I don't shut up about my seasonal affective disorder, or how much I just hate winter in general. Here in the northeast, it just seems to drag on forever (although I feel like the fleeting beauty of fall almost makes up for it, almost), and this past week or so has been the worst of the worst. There have been snow storms, ice storms, migraines, and (GAH) the super bowl to contend with. Gross. On top of that, Hubs has put in about 40 hours of OVERTIME in the past week or so which means, you guessed it, that I have here at home too. Being stuck in the house is no picnic, but board games and crafts (and Netflix) have made it ok, as well as knowing that even though it feels that way, this will not last forever! Also with Valentine's Day around the corner it is helping me to have something to focus on in the short-term. The days are only getting longer from here on out!
If you, like me, need a lift this winter, here are a few links to help you out:

•  Over at Modern Mrs. Darcy, Anne blogs about the things that are saving her life right now (she is dealing with some seasonal bummer-tude too). For me? It is between spending the remainders of my Christmas Starbucks giftcards so I have a reason to leave the house, you know, besides grocery shopping and preschool drop-offs, and the coveted "Mom Time" when I get the house to myself for a few hours and turn my brain off. Oh, and doing bootleg Leslie Sansone walking videos from youtube in my living room *if* the kids decide to nap during the day. She's a guilty pleasure, and I know I can't really count it as a workout, but I love it. So what is saving you right now? It's a hell of a question to ponder.
• Be glad you don't live near me. A town nearby is considering outlawing sledding. You heard that right. I don't really sled (part of the whole "avoiding the outdoors in winter" thing) but when I take the kids to the field by the legion to drag them around for a few minutes, I can't imagine being given a ticket for it! Instead, focus on the million reasons why you should never come to New Jersey (all sarcasm. It's gorgeous here, despite my seasonal hatred for everything).
• Boardwalk Cats. Atlantic City has taken quite a beating lately with all of the casinos closing and the economy kind of tanking and though I would once have wandered around that town for days, now I wouldn't leave the relative safety of the boardwalk, because that's how bad it's getting down there. But you don't have to leave the boardwalk to make friends with these adorable felines, who live under the boards and are part of a trap-spay/neuter-return program there. I have personally befriended many a boardwalk cat and also considered taking them home in my purse but you know what's worse than driving 4 hours home with a feral cat in your car? Winter, but not much else.
• The Walking Dead comes back this Sunday, so there's that to look forward to. Here's a link to the first two minutes of the mid-season premiere, courtesy of AMC. Poor Maggie. But Beth was not making for terribly riveting television. Now we know that they're heading somewhere outside Richmond, though, at least in theory.

Chew on that for a while. I'll be jacking up the heat and dreaming of Wildwood in the summer!

Beating the Winter Doldrums...Maybe?

In the winter, I try to do a lot to keep myself busy but really end up doing very little. Last weekend, the hubs and I made a gallery wall in our red room (which is not red, nor had it been for at least 4 years or so, but old habits die hard), and it came out alright despite me kind of flying by the seat of my pants and not making a plan at all. Well, that's not entirely true. My plan was to take pictures I had laying around and put them on the wall. So, success.

Also since the house is still up for sale, there's a ton cleaning and upkeep, besides just picking up the same toys for the 67th time in a day. But I'm trying to keep busy in other, more personally satisfying ways too. Here are a few:
Today is library day at our house, so I'm starting the Modern Mrs. Darcy 2025 Reading Challenge, and I encourage you to check it out as well. It's only 12 books total for the year. Totally do-able, right? There are 12 categories, and you just pick a book from each and read it. You don't have to do it in any order, and there's no book club, and no pressure. I'm psyched about the "Book by a Favorite Author" and "Book You Should Have Read in High School" categories, and not so much for the "Book Your Mom Loves" one...yeah, we have markedly different tastes, and our interests really no not intersect at all. Any time either of us has recommended a book to the other, we've both kind of regretted it. That said, January is almost done, so I'm a bit behind and I'm excited to go to the library and get started!
I'm also participating in Sarah Mae's 31 Days to Clean, cuz to be honest? The abode could use a little boost this time of year, and so could my spirits. It always helps me when I can look around and not feel like I'm living in the basement of a junk store. So I'm following her steps and hoping that at the end, I have a more comfortable space for everyone. Yesterday I started in the kitchen and today? I need to clean the fridge and the microwave. Just to let you know an embarrassing truth about myself: I store all kinds of crap in my microwave. We so rarely use it to just nuke anything, but I am forever putting open bags of popcorn and other junk in it. See?

Right now there's a bunch of leftover candy canes and Christmas stocking candy in a Halloween candy bin, because obviously that's how I do. Oh, and hot sauce popcorn. And a tin full of Hershey kisses, and about a thousand ring pops (why are ring pops so popular for little kids at Christmas? They drive me nuts). I'm embarrassed, but I'm so much more embarrassed of what the inside of my fridge looks like that I'm not even going to show it to you. It's that bad. I've got my work cut out for me!
Also, I'm trying to get out and walk or run a little more every day. Has it been working? NO. But do I feel better when I do it? Oh hell yes.
What do you do when it feels like winter is never going to end (and you're not even halfway through)? Help a sister out!