Thursday Thirteen - Winter

I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year.

So here are some random musings on winter.

1. I love waking up in the morning to a blanket of freshly fallen snow. Seeing each tiny diamond sparkle in a blanket of white really does my heart good. It's a magical feeling. I vividly remember many mornings of my mother waking me for school and the first thing she said was, "Look outside!" Ahhhh.....

2. I remember playing for hours in the snow as a child. Snowmen and snow angels and just wandering around this new wilderness of white in my yard. Lovely.

3. I also remember one winter afternoon when I was walking home from school, all bundled up in a coat and snow pants. To get home I would cross our high school football field. I remember that, on this day, the snow came all the way up to my thighs and I simply reveled in every step I took across that field.

4. Speaking of thigh-high snow, a few years ago we lived in Littleton, Colorado. While we were there we had a huge winter storm. I believe we got about 3 1/2 feet of snow. It was magical and fascinating. We couldn't get anywhere in a car for nearly three days. We were lucky enough to live just a block from a grocery store. One day I walked there for eggs and milk. It took me two hours just to get there and back. The steps by our apartment were absolutely buried in snow. So, in his usual way, JDub made the best of it. He took the kids sledding just outside our front door. We invited some friends over for hot cocoa and the moms and babies stayed inside to talk while the daddies and kids spent a great afternoon sledding down our snow-packed stairs.

5. I live in a land of skiers and snowboarders. And I have vowed never to ski again. In 2002 we went night-skiing and I took a turn a little too fast. I tumbled down the hill and one ski fell off, while one remained on. It caught on the snow and torqued my leg as I flipped. I got a splint and a ride on a sled down the hill from the lovely ski patrol men and women. Then there was the x-ray and the waiting in the clinic while everyone else was out having fun. Turns out I tore the MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) in my left knee. OUCH! I was miserable for months as I recovered. I still feel it every once in a while. So, I don't ski anymore. Call me a wimp if you want, but I just don't like skiing enough to risk that kind of injury again. Soccer would be a different story.

6. I love a white Christmas.

7. I HATE walking outside to take my kids to school only to discover ice or snow that needs to be cleared from my car. We have a two car garage, but it is currently being used as JDub's sanity department (aka woodworking shop).

8. I think a lot of the magic of winter goes away when you're the adult. As a child, snow was for play. As an adult snow means scraping, shoveling, spreading salt, driving on icy roads, replacing tires. Not as much fun. Maybe I need to play in the snow more.

9. I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. Which means the lack of light in the winter messes with my body and my mind. So, it's less than pleasant. But, I do have to report that after a shocking initial introduction of this year's symptoms, I have had a very mild and relatively symptom free month or so. It's been refreshing.

10. I love that winter is a time of rest. Everything in the world around me seems to take a collective breath, slowing down from the rush and growth of spring and summer and the flash of autumn. It's such a good time to pause and reflect and take stock of my life.

11. One word. Sweaters. I love my sweaters. I do love winter clothes.

12. Except, maybe, for my children. Yes, I do love the cute sweaters and the long pants and turtlenecks. But trying to keep track of coats and snow pants and gloves and hats and scarfs for a whole passel of children is just torture sometimes. As my children have gotten older, I've become a bit more of the "I'm sorry you lost your gloves again. I guess you'll just have cold hands at school." type of mom. Really, them being cold is their problem and when they're old enough to be responsible for keeping track of their own things they can pay the consequences for losing them.

13. The one thing that just makes winter worth it every year has to be Christmas, though. I love this holiday season.

So, Merry Christmas, Happy Winter and enjoy your Thursday!