Today we had a brief respite from the bitter cold with a day of temps in the 40s and above with a smattering of rain throughout the afternoon. Our most wonderful, beloved babysitter took Colin and Christopher out for a bike ride/stroll (Christopher has been wearing his helmet around the house as he's going through biking withdrawals) and I had the luxury of practicing and hearing my own thoughts knock about in my head without the sound of Lego towers crashing in the background. Ahhhh.
But, really. This February thing can be hard to take when it seems like daffodils won't ever poke their heads up and bare feet are impossible to dream about. I made the boys smoothies over the weekend and promised Christopher that we'd be drinking them in the backyard with our picnic lunches in just a few months. He looked at me as if I was crazy. Maybe he can't remember what summer feels like? When you've only experienced 3 summers, is it hard to remember what it's like to be driven inside because it's too HOT outside?
So, we plow ahead and continue to do the things that put smiles on our faces. Cardboard houses cut from giant boxes courtesy of Daddy's work. Spontaneous cakes - with sprinkles! - for Valentine's Day. Trips to the city for music and museums (the latter of which is generally free or super cheap for state residents in these slow-tourism months!). A mid-week hooky excursion to a place I thought we'd never go... but we all completely adored. We've attended drop-in playtimes at our Rec Center's gym and rediscovered a toddler/preschooler playspace that we haven't visited since last winter.
Lastly, I'm trying to regain a little traction on my pre-holiday running form... I did that 10K on Thanksgiving and promptly relaaaaaxed my running drive. Driven by the stick much? Ah, well. It's so easy with icy weather and other commitments. The popular Shamrock Shuffle 8K in Chicago is on April 7th, but I'm not excited about taking the El all the way down by myself at 6:30AM just to run and celebrate finishing... alone. Instead, I'm on the lookout for a 5K+ that's closer to home so my cheering squad can come out and meet me with their posters reading "Go Mama, Go!" and high-fives in the final stretch. That was definitely the best part about chugging along for 6.2 miles on Turkey Day!
