Wintertime Is Not My Favorite Time

I think that January and February are my least favorite months. It is always about this time of year, mid January, that I find myself with a bit of the wintertime blues.

The anticipation and excitement of the Holidays are over, the novelty of the New Year is wearing off, and Spring seems so very far away.

Valentines Day just doesn't seem to hold my interest like it once did, so the weeks leading up to it aren't exactly crossed off my calendar in red pen like they once were. But then again, I used to get flowers delivered to my office on Valentines Day. And then a nice dinner out in a restaurant where it didn't matter if the wait was an hour. Because having to wait for a table was Great! We can sit in the bar! And order an appetizer! And talk!

These days I find myself getting antsy if the drive thru line at McDonald's has more than four cars in it, because it means I will need to explain at least 32 extra times why they no longer have Polly Pocket toys. Even the recent Strawberry Shortcake offerings were not enough to erase the fond memories of a Polly Pocket Happy Meal.

And, on the occasion when we don't dine at a place with a drive thru, if the wait is longer than 20 minutes, we must think about leaving. Because 20 minutes gives each of my children exactly 5 minutes of their own to hold the your-table-is-ready-red-light-is-flashing-beeper-thingy. I think the adult word for it would be a pager?

And if the pager has not paged us in 20 minutes, look out. Because things tend to get a little heated. The pager gets grabbed and pulled and yanked around like a it's a hundred dollar bill, each kid hoping that during the time they have it in their hot little hands, it will go off. And they are not afraid to wrestle each other for it. Meanwhile, every other person in the waiting area is PRAYING TO THE GOOD LORD ABOVE that they do not end up seated near us.

I don't blame them a bit. I often end up wishing I didn't have to sit near us.

And what our lack of restaurant etiquette has to do with my wintertime blues, I have no idea.

Anyway.

I think I was really feeling the wintertime blues today, because while I was outside with the dogs it seemed that there were reminders everywhere that Spring was not even close to being around the corner. Which means that Summer is not even on the horizon. And I love summer.

I had my favorite winter boots on. I mean I love these boots, I just wish I didn't have at least twelve more weeks left to wear them.

They are cute though, don't ya think? A little cowboy-ish, but yet with a rubber sole and rounded toe that says, "Hey, I'm really a suburban mom who, while with no real reason to need cowboy boots, thinks that they pretty cool with my jeans."





And as much as I love my boots, I'd give them up in a minute for a good pedicure and some sand between my toes.

Then there's the grill. Were no grilling is taking place. We tried to grill some burgers a few weeks ago, and it was just too cold. The grill never really got hot enough. Which is actually why we ended up at a restaurant with the infamous pager system that causes me great amounts of stress, when we had a taste for steaks a few nights ago.




Not too far from the barbcue is the pool. Which is frozen solid. And obviously, covered with snow. And lately the only thing that has been stressing me out more than the questions about Polly Pockets is the question that will not die.

"Can we go ice skating on the pool?"

Ummmmm, NO. And the answer will still be NO Every.Single.Time.You.Ask.





And look at this poor, lonely, cold little playhouse. It sits outside in the freezing air and cold winds probably wondering where the little girl and her Polly Pockets are. It was below zero here yesterday, and no one even bothered to care enough to close the front door. Poor thing.




Inside, the cubbies are filled with vests and coats and scarves. Where bathing suits and baseball uniforms used to hang, there is enough down to fill a king size comforter.




Of course, another sign of wintertime indoors is the ever present bottle of the 'pink stuff' on the counter along with some form of cough syrup or cough suppressant or cough inducer. Whatever it may be, for the love of a good nights sleep, JUST MAKE THE COUGHING STOP.




And finally, the biggest sign of all that it's winter, it's cold and it's snowing with no end in sight? BOTH of our cars are in THE GARAGE. At the same time. Together.

Why does this make me sad? Well, for one, it means a lot more of the driveway is going to need shoveling.

But really, it means we're not playing outside. The garage is not strewn with bicycles and scooters and jump ropes that are supposed to get put away when the playing is done, but never do. The powerwheels are hung up high and the driveway hasn't seen a chalk painting in ages.




As much as I like having the garage picked up enough to have both cars in it, these wintertime blues really stink. I need some sun. I need some warm temperatures, and the smell of some fresh Springtime air.

Mostly, I need to snap out of this funk.

I need to quit moaning and groaning about winter, and the cold, and the snow. The snow doesn't even bother me that much. It's just this feeling I have that the greenness, the newness of Spring is taking forever to get here.

I need to be grateful for each day, each moment. Cold weather or not.

I probably need to go play with some Polly Pockets.