I Am Thankful for Spring.

I have mentioned before that I resent being assigned a season for thankfulness.
I try to be grateful for all the greatness that fills my life every day.

Today in a PTA meeting the guest speaker was sharing his wisdom and insight about our children's childhoods and balancing home and school and activities and recreation.
He discussed the partnership that is fostered between parents and teachers and really dove deep into how it should work and how it should blossom and grow and be such a bond that really enriches our children's lives.
When asked what we, the parents in the audience, would like to see from our administration and teachers not one of us could say a thing.
Every thing he had listed, everything he had mentioned?  Covered.
So, because I hate silence, I said "I honestly believe that our admin and teachers do all of that and more.  I have trust and confidence and respect for each one of those ladies and the teachers that work for them.  I am so happy and so grateful."
I, of course, choked up.
Then another mom said "I just try to take time each day, or even once a week, to reach out and say 'thank you'".  And she started crying.
Then another mom said that she was "a Military Wife and she will miss the school, parents and community when she inevitably moves again" and I am pretty sure I saw a tear in her eye, too.

How freakin' awesome is that?!
Our PTA meeting was a Love Fest!

So, I am kicking off Spring with another season of thanks...  and today I am thankful for Gilead Hill School and all that comes with it.
Our admin staff, our teachers, our parents and community - the kids - it's all part of the "system" and I am so thankful to be a cog in that complex.

Turning the Page

Wanna know something I have never done?
I have never walked inthe snow with my flip-flops on.
Until this past weekend, that is.

It was gorgeous outside and while we have many acres of nonsense to rake, blow, re-soil, mulch, prune and plant, I took great pleasure in cleaning out our little flower garden out front.

After trimming the Ornamental grass and raking all the dead leaves and grass away I had to put it somewhere.  In order to put it in the woods I had to walk to the woods and guess what?
There's still plenty of snow in my front yard.

Way back there, behind the boy, you can sort of see the Compost Bin where I had to get to!

And just like before this past weekend I had never walked in snow with only my flip-flops on, I had also never cleaned out a flower bed while there was still snow in my front yard.

Sundress & Rain Boots - Check.
Snow in the yard while it's warm enough to wear only sundress & rain boots? 
Check Check!

I shoveled a lot of snow here at 131 this winter.  And I will gladly - with great joy, pride and delight - rake, prune, blow, soil, plant and mulch for 131 as well.

 Remember these shots?  Feels like a lifetime ago!  I forgive you, Winter...

 But freaking LEAVE already!!

***

Just a quick little  B&A for ya:

I can see Clearly Now...

So, snow is frustrating when it piles up, freezes, piles higher, keeps falling from the sky, freezes more, piles higher and never seems to end.
This kind of snow can cause an uncommon amount of stress into one's household.  Even to the point of one's 5 year old, sensitive and darling daughter to say "no!  I don't want any more snow!" when a simple 3-6 inches is in the forecast for the overnight.
Each storm that has hit since Christmas was a big one.  Not one storm that has been forecasted has failed to perform.  In fact, most have outdone themselves.
And each. one. has. been. on. a. weekday. while. Jay. was. away.
I have plowed, snowblowed and shoveled more snow in the past 2 months than I have ever moved in my life.  Seriously.  You can ask my dad.

Then, we had 2 beautiful days in the 50's.  I actually wore my flip-flops to bring the garbage pails up one day when it was a balmy 36.
The snowbanks melted down more than a foot.  My driveway and the roads widened.  We can see our new pool deck again and the mailbox is reachable from the road again.  I could actually resume our mail delivery.

With the big meltdown came some wet ceilings and walls.  There's water in the walls, water in the ceilings...  who knows where else.
Annoying but certainly a homeowner's claim - not a life-threatening issue.  Our roof did not collapse, we did not lose water, power or run out of oil.

Bathroom ceiling.

We could just style the rest of the living room in the same "Jungle Striped" theme that the wet ceiling started.

Aside from an aching back and some snippy moments of exhaustion, I think I came out of "January 2011" relatively unharmed.

It's cold again.  And tonight we're getting "3 to 6".  But the snowbanks and patchy lawns are dirty and crusty with snow so the fresh snowfall will be a lovely change of scenery.  The stores are displaying Easter decorations and gardening supplies.
The promise of spring is in the air.  And maybe we can actually get out in it tomorrow and have some fun.  I'd like to show my daughter that snow is still fun.  (Especially now that we can walk in it without getting stuck up to our hips.)

This is a picture of my "footprint" (mid-thigh, really) where I fell through while digging a path for the oil delivery guy.

It's the time of year I start to look forward to raking blisters, the smell of dirt and pansies in every color I can find.
Crocuses and Daffodils will pop up earlier than it feels like they should.  The kids & I are going to start our flowers from seeds, probably earlier than we should.
I'll rake out the flower beds and count down the days till I can plant and mulch.

One thing this winter taught me was that I am much stronger than I thought.  Physically, for sure.  But also mentally.  I managed to keep my cool (most of the time) during what, at times, felt like catastrophic snow & ice.  I took care of the house, the kids and the minor emergencies that cropped up while Jay was out working his end of things - stuck in airports, delayed, missing connections and then actually having to work 40 hours in 3 days and get back into the uncertain skies to return home.
All of this reflection about a "winter" that was really only a few weeks of the season.

I refrained from buying the beautiful wrought iron dragonfly hooks that I saw in Joann's today.  I could just picture the lineup of brightly colored towels hanging from them on my new pool deck this summer.  But, it can wait.
First I will buy seeds & soil. 

I do not like this time of year.
It's boring.
It's ugly.
The weather is generally cold, nasty, wet, and unaccomodating.
I find myself withdrawing.  Hibernating.  Feeling quite irritated and anti-social.
I have lots of friends & family that I love to be with and talk to but I don't feel like it.
I feel discontented.  I make myself disconnected which leaves me feeling alone and sad.
I focus on small things.
I overthink.
I start big projects and map out even bigger ones.  Whatever it takes to distract myself from myself.

There's nothing going on.  There's nothing to do.  Nothing to plan, nothing to attend, nothing to pack for or set up for or save for.  It's b.l.a.h.  Nothin'.

Many people suffer from "Seasonal Depression".  It's not rare.  Maybe I do, too.  Maybe I should discuss it with my doctor.  When I do feel icky enough to consider "doing something about it" I feel too icky to bother.
Then, the next day, or a few days later, I generally feel "back to normal".

It passes.  It's normal, natural, the ebb-and-flow of being a thoughtful, feeling human being.
Then, something will set me off.  Someone will say something to me that I can't quite wrap my head around.  "What did that mean?"  "How did she intend me to hear that?"  "Does he know how that sounded to me?"  And I begin my obsession... 
Or something is done.  To me, to my family, to my friend, to the guy that bags my groceries or takes my $1.25 at the toll.  And I begin that obsession...
And then, I weigh in and see that I've only lost 1 pound even though I know I ate well and exercised my ass off.  Or, worse, I gained weight.  And I spiral into a self-loathing sulk that lasts a day or two.

In the Spring, I get joy from clearing out the gardens, sprucing up the outside of the house, preparing for our lives outdoors.  In the Summer I spend lots of time in the sun, at the beach, in the pool, with friends, in the gardens - all the fun, summery things that we all dream about in these yucky end-of-winter weeks.  In the Fall,  I truly enjoy the end of summer, the crisping of the air, the pumpkins, mums and apples and the holidays right around the corner.  In the Winter, I enjoy Christmas and the beautiful snowy days of January and even into February.
But now, this ugly-muddy-trampled-mostly-melted snow that covers my yard is just a reminder that winter is just about over, spring is weeks, if not months, away and summer is even farther.
The fun of the cold and snow is pretty much expired but the fun of the sun & grass is years away.

It's a yucky time of year.
And I am a generally happy, optimistic woman.  So, I figure if I feel this way about it, plenty of you probably do, too.  I hope you feel a little better now.
I do.

We went to the beach today. I live in New England and today is April 28th. But we went to the beach today. And the kids went in the water! And I have a sunburn!
Then, when we got home, the kids went in the little turtle pool.
And after that, we went to a neighbor's house and they went in the sprinkler.
Actually, Abby went under the sprinkler, Wyatt got sprinkled once or twice, furrowed his brow and muttered "oh no".

I cannot wait to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Cannot Wait! (I am also pretty excited about the new Fox show, "Glee"!)

People who smoke gross me out. More than that, people who smoke in their car and then throw their butts out the car window should be fined. Fined for more than littering with that butt; fined for just being so disrespectful, so disgusting and such a poor, poor example to our children. It is really so disgusting.

Anyway - it's Idol night.
I hate Jamie Foxx. What an arrogant mf-er.
Here we go:

Creepy red haired girl - I watched last week's Idol on DVR and Abby watched with me. She said, and I am not lying, "mommy, that one with the pink hair is freaky". I said, "yes, she is, babe. I agree." But, I did like her performance tonight, I really love that song,
she may be in the Final 3. But she won't win.

Kris Allen - I can't put my finger on who this kid looks like.
I think it's someone in my life but I can't place him. Maybe it's the guy who does our gutters. Too bad that guy is coming while we're away
(and doing our windows, in & out, too!).
Anyway - he was good.
He's sort of boring to report on because he is always good,
he's always cute, he never blows me away.

Adam Lambert – Clearly, someone is dressing this kid.
Unfortunately, he doesn't always seem very comfortable in what
they put him in. Is he so oddly shapen?
He seems to have really big legs and small arms.
Anyway - yes, of course I loved his performance.
W.O.W. He is a stand-out winner.

Danny – I really, really liked his jazzy, soul-y rendition of this very wonderful song. Loved it, loved it, loved it.
I have always loved ths song, used to sing it to my baby, tiny, infant girl... I love the way he took a sweet, romantic lullabye and made it so fun and hot.

Cyclops – Thank goodness for the Rat Pack, huh? Otherwise, what excuse would he have had for that hat!? And that hat saved us from his little buddy giving us the evil eye the whole performance.
I thought he sucked. Seriously - he was pitchy, he was weird-looking, his lip curved ina weird way but overall - he was just weird. He's gotta go .

How many go home next week? I'm not sure but I will put this out there now - the final three will be:
Danny, Adam and the Chick.

Can we talk about the Diet for a second?
I am still "on it" - I just feel like I haven't been "trying" very hard.
I am down 9 pounds but I have to admit that I've been lucky.

Now that Spring is here (not that it's warm but at least the ice is not preventing me from walking up my driveway) I have been walking to the places in the 'hood that I would normally make fun of people for driving to.
I have to go to Jody's a few days a week. I walk.
I went to my friend Deb's house, she lives 1 street down but our backyards touch. It's annoying because it really is about 1/3 mile on the road, what could be about 15 feet if we just walked through the woods.
I walked on the road.

Now, don't get me wrong - we ain't "power walking"!
We're walking with a 3-year old, pulling a 1-year old in a red wagon. Then, said 1-year old, helps himself out of said red wagon and we're chasing, 2 steps forwards, 22 steps back, 24 steps forward to where we just were, holding tiny hand. Tiny hand breaks free, the circus begins again. I would have to say that if you were watching me, you'd laugh. It's not pretty, but it keeps me laughing.
And at least we're active.

And we have the park. And the park is not what is used to be.
The park used to be: Put baby in swing, put toddler in swing, push kids.
Now the park is like this:
"Push me, mama!"
"Watch this, mama!"
"No, Wyatt!"
"Come back here, Wyatt!"
"Has anyone seen Wyatt?"
"PUT THAT DOWN!"
"Get back here!"
"Mama, can I swing on the big girl swing?"
"Wyatt, don't walk there, your sister's on the swing."
FWOMP!
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
and so on....

So, I guess I will be getting more exercise without really trying.

I did buy a WII Fit, though. I watched Jay set up his Mii and I have yet to set up mine. Maybe Friday.

Between now and Easter Sunday we have our MOMS Club Easter Egg Hunt, Gymnastics, a few local errands, a few G'bury errands, our church's Easter Egg Hunt, our own Egg-Coloring Eggstravaganda and then... drumroll, please... I was able to get squeezed in for a hair appointment!! Yee-Haw!!

Wait till you see my kids in their Easter Outfits!! You are going to wretch from their ridiculous levels of cuteness.
Hopefully we will get a good family shot. I am always trying, rarely succeeding, in getting a good family shot. How do you get 4 people to all look good at the same time - just to all look at the same time!?