Winter Blahs

This has been a rough winter.  Icy. Gray. COLD. Expensive.  At times, my SAD was crippling. I was musing about the things I've done to perk myself up, and I wonder how many of you did some of these things, too.

I frequently visited the travel pages on the internet.  Never has a trip to the Caribbean looked so welcoming. Honestly, I think I warm up about ten degrees just looking at a picturesque beach.  I even took a cruise this February.  I plan to take a vacation next February, too.  Those warm days in Nassau seem so far away.

I curled up in a blanket in front of the space heater and read a lot of books.  Sandra Dallas is my new favorite author.  Her pioneer women survived winters that made mine look like a vacation in comparison.  It is not too late to add to your reading list.  Pick out something by Sandra, sit back, and enjoy.

I cooked some yummy meals. Food Lion sells stuffed scallops.  I'd buy a package of them, each deliciously stuffed on the half-shell, and warm them in a 400 degree oven for thirty minutes.  During that cook time, I sauteed asparagus in olive oil and Marsala wine.  Oh yummy.  Unfortunately, I baked.  I grazed.  I gained.

Some of my closets were cleared of excess junk.  I often read posts from minimalist friends on Facebook. My goal is a place for every thing I own.  Hopefully, those things without niches will find new places: on the yard sale tables, with friends, at the consignment shop, in the trash.

I discovered new television addictions.  Just what I needed, right?  Thank you Adrian O. for hooking me up with Shemar and Criminal Minds.  Do you know how many times a day one can catch an episode of that crime show?  Enough times that I can start figuring out who the unsubs are and why they do what they do. TCM,  Turner Classic Movies, shows great stuff and it's commercial free.  Has anyone here ever seen Autumn Leaves?  What a movie!  Marty, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Boy With the Green Hair, Where the Boys Are, How to Marry a Millionaire, Sleepless in Seattle, and the list goes on and on.  Did I mention no commercials?  Check it out.

I bought stylish winter hats.  Two of them, in fact. Both seem inspired by Downton Abbey (see above TV reference).  I enjoy wearing them and people frequently compliment my chapeaus.  A kind word always brings a warm smile on a cold winter day.

Tomorrow marks the first day of Spring.  The crocuses are poking through the hard soil. The trees are starting to bud. The grass, when you can see it, is turning green.

The weather people are calling for another snow storm next week. Sigh.......