Spring Reflections

It's officially spring. Even though the calendar, weather and nature has ascerted this fact for several weeks now, as I sit in my new Tuscan room typing this, I can currently hear a cacaphony of lawnmowers performing the first mow of the season. I mowed my grass last week just for the sake of my low-to-the-ground pups who were having trouble maneuvering through the lawn. I didn't, however, mow the front yard because it really didn't need it. I just got back from my parents'. In the short two days I've been gone, my lawn seems to have grown about three inches and the dandelions are thick. Of course, because literally everyone else on my street mowed today or are currently mowing, my lawn looks doubly bad. I suppose I should mow but it will have to wait. It's been a beautiful weekend. Today, it actually got up to 85 degrees. This was a little too warm for my tastes especially given that only three days ago, it was only 45 degrees outside. Still, even with the mugginess of the sudden heat, it's lovely to be outside. It's nice to sit outside and enjoy the fact that winter is truly behind us. I also love that my herbs are starting to be ready to use. That's the one thing I miss dearly during the winter months- having a herb garden from which I can pluck a handful of whatever I need for my recipe without having to go to the store and pay ridiculous prices for some not-so-fresh-but-wanting-to-be herbs. It's also nice to sit in my Tuscan room. Changing the room over from being a retro '70's disco den was a good idea. There was no disco ball in the den but there might as well have been. It had that dark, fake wood panelling so popular in the '70's. It also had very thick, flowery curtains which I'm sure were nice but were far more to the tastes of the 70 year old lady who formerly owned the house than mine. Also, there is thick mustard-yellow carpet. All that remains of the '70's is the carpet which I'm hoping to fix by next weekend. The panelling is now a sunny yellow that matches my poppy-laden paintings of Tuscany perfectly. It feels like a completely different room. For the first time since I moved into my house, I want to sit in the room instead of using it for storage and a passageway to let the dogs out. It's amazing how much something as small as a coat of paint and some new curtains can change a room. It's now a great place to sit with a glass of wine and feel the breeze blow through while having a quick way to glance outside and make sure that the pups aren't Up to No Good. Sitting here writing this is a nice way to wrap up a weekend spent with my parents and my siblings that was already pretty great. It was one of those unplanned weekends that turned out to be a lot of fun which also served to remind me how glad I am that I moved back from Los Angeles. Even though it's only been a couple of years, it's amazing how much my life has changed since then. It was something I was reflecting on during the drive back from my parents. I still miss my friends in L.A. I do miss the variety of landscapes and the balmy Santa Ana winds. I miss the ocean. There are a lot of things I do miss. However, there's also something to be said about being able to hop in the car with the dogs, crank up the iPod and drive two hours to spend a lazy, sunny, spring weekend with my family. It's just another series of small things that makes life wonderful. Happy Monday and thanks for reading!

A Cold and Snowy Evening...

Here I am again on a Sunday evening, wondering how the weekend managed to go quite so fast. It's currently snowing hard outside, the wind is blowing and I'm glad I get to be inside and appreciate winter's beauty from inside. As much as I love snow, it's nice, sometimes, to curl up and enjoy it as part of the landscape rather than get too up close and personal with it.

I did get a little up close and personal with it this morning. I went to my parent's house for the weekend. I got to do some Christmas shopping with my mother and just have a nice relaxing weekend. As I mentioned on Friday, I knew it was supposed to snow today so I'd already planned on leaving their house much earlier than usual so I could make it home before the snowstorm hit.

I did leave early but I still managed to run into some tricky driving conditions. I forget that Indiana is a little less reluctant to salt/plow their roads as Ohio. As a result, I spent an hour and a half of white-knuckled driving going 35 miles an hour instead of the posted 55 mph limit. The road was snow covered and icy so I had to be careful to stay in the tracks other cars had made.

By the time I crossed over from Indiana to Ohio, I was exhausted. Driving that carefully and alertly makes for a stressful time especially with two puppies in the backseat.

Fortunately, the roads in Ohio were merely wet rather than snowy and it was a much more relaxed drive the rest of the way home. It was snowing but not very heavily- just wet, small flakes.

I hadn't been home more than an hour when it began to really snow. I'm talking the thick, fluffy flakes that accumulate really quickly. The wind began to blow and the snow seemed to be falling sideways. Needless to say, I was extremely relieved I hadn't stayed any longer at my parents.

The puppies are enjoying the snow. They've been running around in it for a while now. It's deep enough that their little tummies keep getting soaked. Dachshunds, with their short legs are very low to the ground for a dog and so it's comical to watch them bound through the snow, almost seeming to dive between steps. They don't mind. They run around and chase each other just as they do when there's no cold, pretty white stuff on the ground.

Sookie even gets excited when we do the snow dance. We did it last night. This means it's probably our fault that it snowed. I probably could have timed that a little better but given that we made it home before it started coming down fast and furiously, we also could have timed it worse.

The nice thing about snow is it makes you feel a little less guilty if you're dreadfully lazy. For example, this afternoon once the stress of driving had worn off, I spent the afternoon with two puppies curled up on my lap, drinking a mug of peppermint hot chocolate and watching "Meet Me in St. Lous." I think there could be worse ways to spend a snowy Sunday afternoon. There are probably more productive ways too but every now and again, it's just a luxury to be lazy.

I plan on continuing that tradition for the rest of the evening. I've decided this is my 'snow day' and I'm going to appreciate it. Every last minute of it even as time goes by as quickly as it always does during the last hours of a weekend.

Still, even if time does move fast, on a cold, snowy night, it's nice to be home to appreciate the minutes, fast as they might move.

Happy Monday!