It happens every year...

It happens every year.

Right after daylight savings time.  You know, the days when it's dark by 4 o'clock.

I start to mourn the death of the warm days.
I begin to gripe about how I have no warm clothes.
I quickly slip into a dark hermit-like state of being.
...and it happened again this year. 

 Sure, I just had a baby, so I didn't notice it as quickly.   Staying in my house all day wearing 2-day old sweats seemed okay...but I wasn't doing it only because of the baby.  I was letting the dark, cold days push me deeper and deeper to hibernation.




Speaking of hibernation...Why couldn't I be a bear?  Or a goose that flies south for the winter?



After a long week home with both kids last week, Ellis lost it.  Saturday morning was grump-city.  We had run completely out of things to do.  All the Thomas' had been watched.  All the toys had been played with.  Books had been read countless times.  He needed out.

Bryan saw it too.  He came in the living room and said,

"go pack up, we are going to the park".  

Speak for yourself, dude.  It's cold outside.  I don't do cold. 

"Kendahl, it's over 60 degrees!"




And that's when it hit me.  I had pre-hibernated.  I was so concerned with the fact that it was going to get cold soon, that I didn't even realize that it hadn't actually gotten cold yet.  Sure, we had a few cool days, but it's not winter yet.

So we packed up and went out.
And it was glorious.  The sun was bright and the air was crisp.

Ellis ran and ran.  He scaled the plastic rock wall like it was his job.  He laughed.  He needed to be outside.  He needed his mom to snap out of it.
and I'm so glad I did.



Now let's be real here.
I'm never going to love winter.
I'm never going to truly enjoy being out in the cold.
But I can choose to put myself aside and embrace it for moments like this...