Hope In Winter

This was taken at sunset on Sunday.
I like the blue sky and clouds.
They give me
hope
that not all is as dismal
as our winter days want us to believe.

Having lived in the Northwest for 23 years,
-via San Diego, California-
I've learned to literally look for the bright side of life
in the weather department.
Although we rightly have a reputation for lots of rain,
it isn't the rain that gets to me
as much as the gloomy grey of the skies.

How about getting up when it's still dark?
That's a hard one for me and the DH.
I deal with it by
drinking hot coffee with hazelnut creamer
and reading the comics, the food section, and the home & garden section
of the newspaper.
DH:  Irish creamer, sports section, and opinion section.
Often times we'll fix what's wrong with the world
by discussing politics.
Oh, that last part.
We don't do that until we're well into
our second cup of coffee.

And for those of you who don't know,
we're empty nesters
so we don't have to get kids ready for school.
Pheeewww!
Now don't get me wrong.
I miss our kids so much sometimes
that my chest hurts.
Like my heart is literally breaking.
And I've had 10 years to get used to them being launched.
Will that feeling ever go away?

All that being said, it is nice to have the freedom
to drink coffee and read the paper at my leisure,

Boomer used to help me
with the coffee drinking and paper reading chores

or play in my garden,

Summer 2010 

in the summer.
But winter?
meh.


Another way I get through the dark mornings
is to celebrate December 21st.
Know why?
'Cuz the days start getting longer
-by 1 minute-
and I know spring is not far off.
HOPE
is the operative state of mind here folks.

It's supposed to snow a little here tonight.

Maybe a light dusting, maybe 2 inches.

Maybe there won't be any school tomorrow.

Either way it's a win-win situation for me!

Play with my camera, blog, etc. if I'm home.

[Notice I didn't include "clean my house."]

Or be with my students at school.

I'm good with it, no matter what.

What's your morning routine in the winter?

Does weather affect your outlook on life sometimes?

Are you more energetic when the sun is out,

even if it's cold?

This is the day the LORD has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24


Blessings on your day!
Love,

Linking with Darcy @ lifewithmy3boybarians

Happy Last Day of 2010!

 Tuesday, our family woke up to this kind of weather:

At the beach near my Mom's home in California, 

people were wearing shorts and flip flops,

 playing in the sand, and walking along the boardwalk.

Others were catching tiny halibut from the pier.

Word nerd alert:

Is "halibut" the correct way to write the plural of "halibut"? 

Help me!

Help me, Rhonda!

Seriously, Rhonda and I want to know the plural of "halibut."

I love the opening line of that song:

Well, since you put me down,

there's been owls pukin' in my bed.

No, that isn't the real opening line,

just the one found in

Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs.

When I read that, it made so much sense

'cuz I could never figure out what the lyrics really are.

Can you?

About 15 years ago, our family used to read Dave's column 

in the Sunday newspaper.

It was something we could laugh about together.

We had 3 hormonal teenagers, 

one menopausal Mom (me), 

and one worried-about-getting-3-kids-through-college Dad (my DH)

living in the same home and sometimes 

laughing together wasn't on the agenda.

But we sure looked forward 

to those fun moments 

on Sundays after church,

sitting on the couch together,

laughing.

Thank You, Jesus,

for the grace of those times! 

Major digression there.

But what happy memories those are!

We got home to the Beautiful Pacific Northwest yesterday.

There's no place like home!

This morning we woke up to this:

Let's see...

Warm, sunny, bike-riding weather...

My Little Brother is checking out the surrey with the fringe on the top.
Couldn't resist the reference to "Oklahoma."

 Or frost covering the landscape? 

The candy tufts-blooming in winter for the first time-have cozied up to the foxgloves.

I know many would choose the warm weather,

but 

there's no place like home.

After all,

I'm looking forward to the crocuses

[croci???]

coming up and blooming very soon!

What's it like in your little corner of the world?

Would you choose to live somewhere else?

Why or why not?

Linking up with Java at Never Growing Old
for Follow Friday 40 and over.

and
Kailani at An Island Life for
Aloha Friday.

and
Mama To 4 Blessings & Homegrown Families for their

Blessings to you 

on this, 

our last day of 2010!

Love,