The Long Winter.

For the first time ever in my life, I d e s p i s e wintertime in Ohio. So much that I dream (frequently!) of moving. Yes, just selling our current house (that I LOVE and wish could just move with us!), packing up and moving south.  South or southwest; something like that.
Winter with three littles is …torturous…to all involved. For us grown-ups, it's stuck inside with these ticking time bombs of flesh and bone. They’re loud. They’re whiny. They’re not tired, because they’re not depleting all that energy on a daily basis, in fact, it’s like it just keeps building and they keep sleeping less and less. While ours seems depleting moment by moment (how is that?!) And jumping races down the hall, running circles in the house and tumbling in the bounce house only get you so far!
For them, I’m sure it’s just as tough, maybe tougher. We’re more impatient. We’re more exhausted. We like to snuggle up, drink hot coffee and veg out. They’re more like, "Hello?! Come play with us!”
And I’m all like, “Is nap time yet?” (Knowing full well that only one of my three naps these days.)

BURNOUT.
I’m just burned out. We’re all burned out. We need the outdoors. We need warm breezes, sunshine, running, skipping, jumping, bike-riding, baseball, rock- skipping and feeding fish at the pond. Outdoors.
You might as well say it’s been freezing since November. And snowing almost as long. So yea, we’re tired of it. The past four months have felt like a year.
But, here we are, 20 (or so) days from the first of spring. And with it comes a promise of brighter, warmer and more enjoyable days. I really am thankful for the days I’ve been given and even though I’ve just used half a page complaining about the recent weather, I do work at giving thanks in the simple things each day (on my second 1000 Gifts list!). I’ve even given thanks for the sparkle of the snow in the sunshine (that we see a little more of lately, thank you God!), the giant fluffy flakes that have fallen so often and even in the tenth of an inch of ice that coated everything recently. It’s beautiful. It’s peaceful. It’s nature at her wintertime finest. Until my three rambunctious, stir-crazy boys are bouncing off the walls because they want to go outside and play baseball or ride bikes and cry about wearing their coats and snow suits (and keep asking, “Can we set up the swimming pool?!” and "Can I please wear my flip-flops?"), but cannot because "the white stuff just keeps falling from the sky".
So yea, bring on the big thaw. Bloom, Forsythia, BLOOM. Come on spring, please arrive on time. And stay, please stay.