Springing into Action

 Spring is in the air!  Spring and all of her blessings and curses has arrived, and she could not arrive too soon for me.  After slogging through the dreary days of January into February I finally feel alive again.  Am I a plant?!  Sorry I missed you all in February.  I wish I could say it was because I was off in a remote part of the world with no internet connection or because I was just so busy living my life that there just wasn't a spare moment to write or because I was too busy writing my book, but alas, it was none of the above.  It was mostly because I didn't think I had much to say on the icky days of January and early February.  Hope your winter was better!  I did find myself wondering how I used to spend those dark damp January and February days when I noticed most of the "memories" photos to cross my screen were on ski slopes.  Ahhh, that explains it!  I think I need to find my new ski slopes during those weeks and I think they may be on a golf course somewhere in the southwest.  Hope I remember this next year!  Who is in?

If you can't find beautiful flowers outside, make one inside!

As I looked back through my photos of February...I did a lot of puzzles.  Then I got tired of doing puzzles and we decided to visit some of our grandchildren.  Nothing like young family dynamics to vault you out of the winter doldrums.  We hung out with Augie and Thomas in San Francisco for a long weekend.  They are growing and changing so fast I hate to miss out on all of those cute stages!  Then we went to Madison and hung out with Daniel, Christopher and John while their parents celebrated 20 years of marriage!  Well done!  They boys are now pretty easy to watch and a lot of fun/competition for Grampy on the cribbage board.  We got to see some basketball games and experience some real winter.  Love seeing all the kids grow up. 

Post church donut o'clock!
He earned the biggest and best donut!

So much happiness!!!

Those eyes!!!

Just me and the guys waiting for our pizza!
Celebrity guest, one of TJ's brothers!

In hindsight...which is perfect, I realize now how sluggish I was in those early months of the year.  Once the days got longer and warmer and everyone came out of the woodwork, this extrovert was a happy camper!  Plenty of sunshine, long walks and golf!  And as if two weekends away were not enough, we threw in a trip to the big apple to celebrate one of TJ's high school buddies 70th birthday.  Yikes...!  NYC was on our radar for a visit and with the birthday invitation we were all in.  We love the city and managed to see two plays, eat dinner and brunch with one of our nieces who lives there, walked many many miles, ate some excellent food, stumbled onto/into a great wine bar and had some delicious charcuterie and wine and totally enjoyed the city springing to life.  Perfect weather too!  The city felt very subdued this time, dare I say cleaner and safer?  Maybe it was just my rose colored glasses.  

Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge has been checked off the list!

Highly recommend Cork Wine Bar in SoHo!

Last but not least... it's here!  Speaking of turning 70, one of us, is turning 70 next month and the other one thought it would be fun to take a celebratory trip to a place that has been on his radar.  Hopefully by tomorrow night, I will be sitting in a cafe with my head spinning, looking through bloodshot scratchy eyes in wonder while sipping a lovely glass of wine and savoring a delicious meal with my soon to be 70 year old husband and a couple of friends.  This is almost my favorite part of any trip...the part where my imagination runs wild with fantasies of the perfect travel experience.  So far, the trip has been perfect, hehe!

Stay tuned in April when you get to see and hear more than you want about the trip.  Arrivederci!

Groundhog Month

 January is a beast! Like so many Januarys before, this one seems like it has been at least 5 weeks long!  The first week of the month brought the inevitable post-holiday withdrawal from friends, family and wine. I put Christmas away and embraced at least two days of quiet before realizing I was going to be home for the entire month.  Then there was the adjustment to being home alone (TJ went skiing and I didn't, because I don't do that anymore, sigh) and had to entertain myself through a very cold and wet week with random cleaning, dragging all of my potted plants inside to protect them from the freezing temps, very little cooking, a jigsaw puzzle, a vast wasteland of streaming, and a book...or two.  Next came Snow-magedden 2025 week, which was actually a very nice change of pace here in Texas!  This brings me to yet another wet, dark week of what can only be classified as the fifth week of dry-January because I can swear each of the previous weeks was at least 10 days long!  

One of the bright spots in January.

Yes, I am here, whining without wine about January just like everyone else...again!  Note to self, I really need to plan something other than clean up after Christmas and hibernate in January next year.  I know this slower pace of life along with the dark days is supposed to be good for us somehow, but it is a hard pill for me to swallow this year!  The more I am forced inside the more I realize how much time I spend outdoors in my life!  I played golf yesterday in wet, muddy...but not freezing conditions just to get outside for an extended period of time.  Once again, my plan to stay home in January and work on my golf game has been hijacked by the beast.  When will I learn?

During the second week of waking up to gray skies, looking at the thermometer and seeing that my morning walk would again require bundling up and the rest of the day would drag on as if it were 30 hours long, I decided to plan for the future and dream about blue skies and crystal-clear waters.  Nothing like the hope of traveling to a perennially sunny location that has beautiful scenery, great food and wine and a lot of history to brighten even the dullest day in January.  I spent the better part of a week or more planning and dreaming.  Now we just need to survive until the end of March!

Another time killing activity I did this month was to add up all of our travel statistics from last year.  Well, probably not all of them, but the ones I could actually document.  I guess if I couldn't go away, I would just reminisce about going away.  I made a photo album, online, and sent it out to be printed.  An activity that I enjoy, and they give me great pleasure to browse through occasionally.  Then I made a couple of videos from the hundreds thousands of photos from last year.  It was very hard, since I am limited to only 50 photos per video this proved to be a real challenge!  I ended up going with one that was mostly people and places and another that was no people, only places and things.  Maybe I needed January to tie up last year and put things in perspective.  Those activities certainly opened my eyes. 

 Some notable statistics from last year...

Number of miles I walked - over 1300 miles 

Nights spent away from home -122 plus 95 in Nova Scotia for a total of 227 for Lisa 

                                                  140 plus 130 in Nova Scotia for a total of 270 for TJ

Number of different beds we slept in - 39...more for TJ!

Rounds of golf played - at least 58...fewer for TJ

Fights taken - 30, not including all connections

I guess I understand when people say we are never home!  I am pretty sure this January is the most consecutive nights I have spent at home in a long time.  Nova Scotia is a different situation all together because I consider it home and we did spend 3 months in the same house while we were there!  Adding up all these numbers might explain why I felt so restless in January.  I just don't know what to do when I am home, especially if the weather is cold and wet!

 The good news is that by the end of the week January will finally be over!  I feel the way my dog Sadie used to feel any time I put my running shoes on..."yipee, I just know we are going somewhere now!".  Hope springs eternal!  The sun will shine in February, the golf course will dry up and the wine will flow (just a bit slower) and all of the rain will provide us with many flowers.  Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel that is January.

A couple of videos of last year to enjoy.

                                                      The people who make life so good!

                                            Some of my favorite places and photos from 2024

Thanks for reading!  

A Blank Space

By now, you have probably seen and read many videos and memes bashing January.  If not, crawl out of that dark hole you are hibernating in and scroll mindlessly through the internet like the rest of us! This year, January nobody's favorite month got off to a slow start!  Blame it on those Wednesday holidays.  Thursday, January 2 was still a holiday if you are in school, or a half speed day for those who work, or just another holiday for us retired folks.  Then there was Friday the 3rd, and really...did anything get done that day? The engine of the new year had barely sputtered out of gate before the weekend happened and shut that engine down.  Back to holiday mode. Monday, January 6 marked the official beginning of the new year if you ask me, it was the day we could finally press the gas pedal and get moving into 2025.  The question is, where do we go?

This is a terrifying sight to me!
Life is better with a plan in sight!

Once the year finally got going, I found myself eerily "caught up".  After over two weeks of holiday festivities surrounded by family and friends and many planned activities, I am starting the year home alone, with a short "to do" list.  This is not a good thing for me!  I really need a full "to do" list!  Yes, I realize there are some of you reading this thinking, "what I wouldn't do to have nothing on my "to do" list", I have been there, just not this year.  Today is like a blank space on the calendar taunting me to mark it up with chores, activities, appointments, short- and long-term plans and at least one trip...somewhere.  The possibilities are endless except for the ones that involve skiing or running marathons, then I'm out. 

I still miss spending January here!

 While TJ is gliding down the snowy white trails I planned to stay home and work on my golf game, join the many who participate in dry January and combat my holiday cookie habit.  All these well intended activities have been more difficult than expected, except for the dry part (I feel so much better!).  I continue to forget that January is a winter month, even in Texas, and golf is a hit or miss (literally and figuratively) activity available to only the heartiest of souls.  I have already broken my 50-degree temperature limit rule once and probably will again...if the sun is shining.  

The arrival of the January polar vortex has forced me inside.  With dreary cold days and no trips on the books there was only one thing to do.  Plan a trip and get the heck out of here!  Alas, here I am.  But there may be some travel on the horizon.  All I needed was a little motivation to guide my internet scrolling and find the next great place to visit.  Not a reality yet, so stay tuned.  I just needed a place to escape to, even if it is virtually.

To close, I will try to list a few good things about January.  It is probably getting a real complex with all the bashing...and here I thought I was the only one all these years!  Just check EVERY early January post on the blog!  Yikes!  At least I am consistent.

Things to like about January-

Plenty of time to read all those books you got for Christmas.

Ample opportunities to snuggle up with a cozy blanket by the fire.

Soup!

We all need some time to recharge after the holidays and there are not many distractions in January.

College Football Playoffs...Go Irish!

I get to wear those cold weather clothes that feel so neglected in my closet.

Boot weather!

After-Christmas sales to spend all that money we are saving by not buying booze!

Dreaming about the endless possibilities that lie ahead.

Like Taylor Swift, "we've got a blank space"...we can write whatever we want!

Only 40 more days in January!

Hang in there!

Happy New Year!