STAYING COOL: A TOP 10 LIST

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

~ Anne Bradstreet

As far as winters go, this past one was pretty harmless.  There were very few snowstorms, none of them epic, which resulted in only two snow days for my kids, much to their chagrin.  There were even a few sixty degree days sprinkled in every month or so starting around Christmas.  That was weird.  And lovely.  The whole winter was weird, really.  And now here we are in April and Mother Nature is laughing from above.  I suppose the fact that it's currently snowing (they're saying 3-5 inches) with temps in the 20s shouldn't agitate me that much.  I mean, we were kind of due for a late winter/early spring slap in the face.  But, I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't annoyed.  Personally, I have shifted gears.  The birds have been chirping.  The tulips are breaking through.  Our spring track season is officially underway and the Boston Marathon is in just two weeks.  In my mind, winter is over.  In Mother Nature's, not so much.  Because I do my damnedest to see the glass half full these days and because bitching about it isn't going to make it go away, I've attempted to make light of the situation by dreaming up all of the reasons that it might actually be nice to have a few more weeks of cooler weather.  This one took me a little longer than usual, but that's besides the point.  Here's what I came up with.  Stay warm and think spring.

Top 10 Reasons To Appreciate the Extension of Winter

1. I love to run with my dog.  When the temps heat up, she's not able to go as far, if at all.  The cooler weather is a major win for us, especially for Clover.

2. I hate applying sunscreen, particularly on my children, who also hate dealing with it.  If there's snow on the ground or it's below 40 degrees, we all get a pass.

3. When the sun is beaming down, the outdoor track is like a frying pan which is beyond brutal for our athletes.  Colder weather is much easier for them to fight through.

4. We get a few more weeks without Kal circling through our neighborhood.  Who's Kal, you ask?  He drives the ice cream truck and the minute the weather turns nice he starts rolling through our hood right around dinner time.  Every.  Single.  Day.

5. I'm a self-proclaimed hoodie addict as they make up a very large percentage of my wardrobe.  Not only can I continue to wear them in the colder weather but I also can avoid having to make new, spring outfit decisions for a while.  Not that I was particularly stressed about this.  But still.

6. I'm a huge fan of cozy nights by the fire. We might be able to eek out a few more of them this week.

7. As the weather gets nice, it gets harder and harder to get my kids to do any or all of the following:

~ finish their homework

~ come inside for dinner

~ stay focused on school, sports or anything else important

~ stay clean
Thus, I'll have complete control over my girls for a few more weeks.  Or, at least that's what I like to tell myself.

8. My running partner, Kirsten, and I always say we'll take slogging through 20 miles in the snow over heat and humidity any day.  Looks like we won't need to worry about this one for a while.

9. I prefer hot coffee to iced.  But, I rarely drink it hot when it's warm out.  So, I'll be continuing to enjoy my steaming cup of joe for a while.  Sounds minor, but, to me, it's not.  Mmmmmm coffee.

10. When the warm weather does creep in, we'll all be that much more excited about it.  Then we'll all get big time spring fever and run around bursting with love and joy.  Yipppeeeee.

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