Any Similar Revival

March breaks my heart. It’s supposed to be spring. I wait all winter for March, thinking, "then I can start riding outside, garden, watch little flowers start to sprout."  And it always always always is such a bummer of a month! Cold and blustery and snowy. I went for a ride on Friday and was nearly blown off the road. Not smart to ride in 30 mph winds.

I’ve been scrapbooking like crazy, since the creative urge seems to keep depression at bay.

We’ve been building lots of fires in our fireplace, drinking MUCH tea, snuggling with Myles and the kitties. Doing a bit of plumbing (well, Chad is).

And I’ve been listening to Chopin Nocturnes non-stop while reading Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence. They go very well together.

And in the midst of all my seasonal blues, I have three things I’m looking forward to:

Double Century Ride in July:  Seattle to Portland Classic

New Zealand in late September with MEREDITH!!! WOOOHOOO!!! Very excited about this one!

Orlando in October with Billy, Julie, Luke & Hannah. And we’ll see FAITH!

But those things feel very far away on this cold and lovely March day.

And because I’m having so much fun with these old photos:

Isn’t my dad handsome?

I’ve begun sorting through old photos again, scanning them in, making them black and white, fixing the contrast. It’s most rewarding when using a set of those old square photos from the late 70s that have turned that unfortunate magenta color. I’m particularly fond of these:

Today I had Jill, Karen, and Linda over to celebrate Jill’s birthday. I wanted to do something special, so I made my own fettucine noodles. I’ve had the pasta attachment for my Kitchenaid for over a year, and I’ve only used it once. So I decided to try again today. I made a cream/gorgonzola sauce with walnuts, garlic and parsley, and it was SO good I wanted to cry. I couldn’t believe how much better the pasta was than store-bought! And I made Wild Rice and Almond soup, and molten chocolate cakes for dessert. The cakes actually worked this time–they didn’t break before getting them to the plate. Chocolate heaven! So lots of yum, lots of happy people, lots of laughs, and a cozy sit by the fire after lunch.  A good day! Now I’m completely wiped out, but it’s that good kind of tired, like you’ve done something fun and worthwhile, and you just need a cup of tea to recharge in time for the next good time.

Beautiful Jill the birthday girl!

YUM!!!

So Good I Had to Lick the Plate.

No bike for me today–it’s cold and snowing. So I dragged myself to the gym, and believe me, I did NOT want to go. But it was the best thing for me at the time. I like working out because it gives me a chance to think without distraction. And this morning I had to give myself a stern talking to. Because all week I’ve been blue and gloomy, sick of the weather, bored and lonely. And it seems like I am always waiting for something to happen before I can REALLy start living. Waiting until I have kids, waiting until I lose ten pounds, waiting until we are out of debt, waiting until spring, waiting until we have money, waiting until I’m grown up, waiting for the mood to strike me. And it’s not like that. I need to keep reminding myself that happiness is a choice, and it doesn’t depend on circumstances. I can wait until I’m blue in the face, but if I don’t choose to live, to be intentional, to have fun, to enjoy life, I’ll miss my chance. Maybe it’s just the February blahs.

But this is the coolest thing! They caught a colossal squid! They’ve been looking for these for YEARs, and until last year, had never seen a living specimen. (The first time, it was caught on film by Japanese scientists.) Some fishermen in New Zealand caught one. Weighing 990 pounds! I’m this excited because I like to watch dork tv, especially shows about sharks, deep sea creatures, etc. They often mentioned how amazing it would be to actually see a big ole squid. Here it is:

As if we didn’t already have enough snow.

but it was fun to play in!

First of all, my dear cousin Meredith arrived in Iraq yesterday, safe and sound. She is there at least until November, with a possibility of staying longer. She has a dangerous job there, and I ask all of you to keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

I mean:

Secondly, our friend Billy gave himself a hernia on Friday after straining himself. He is trying to rest at home now, waiting to schedule surgery. He is in a lot of pain and can’t do anything. Please pray that he will be able to sleep and that they can get him in for surgery SOON. We love you Billy & Julie!

Yesterday was Olivia’s sixth birthday. I had given her Stampin’ Up’s "tattoo kit" on Friday, and it was a huge success. She has added a tattoo parlor to her drive-thru restaurant in the basement. Sorry Mike & Kristen! I seem to be corrupting your daughter!

And you gotta see these legs. We counted. She had TWENTY tattoos.

Chad and I went to her birthday party yesterday–it was really nice to have someone there to take pictures of ME with the kids! I told Emma NOT to kiss me in these photos. It worked!

You know it’s deep when you have to wear your snowpants to take the dog out. I love my snowpants. Silly Chad went to work today, instead of sensibly staying home with his Valentine and a crackling fire. What is with that? What can I say, the man likes to work.  🙂 And that’s a good thing.

This morning:

So, I got stuck in the driveway when I went to leave work. Kristen had to come out, her boots, coat and hat on over her jammies, to push my car out of the driveway. It took at least 15 minutes, and their driveway isn’t even that long. I made it home in one piece, but didn’t make it very far up my own driveway. Completely and utterly stuck at the bottom. No room for Chad when he comes home. So I get out, immediately drop my cell phone somewhere in the snow, and schlep all my stuff inside. I come out and shovel for a while, but that car ain’t moving. Meanwhile, Chad calls Billy from the road and has him come over to help me dig out. We get it done, well, Billy gets most of it done. I do a bit of token shovelling, but mostly just fall backwards laughing hysterically and make snow angels. So now there is room for Chad, whenever he gets home, and I still can’t find my phone. The snow is so deep that Myles looks like he is swimming in it, and of course, he loves it.