I really hate the winter

Anyone who knows me, knows I absolutely, positively, undeniably DETEST the winter. I hate everything about it. I hate the color of the sky, the bare branches, the short days, the long cold nights, covering my plants - which I give up on and then they die. I hate all the clothes you have to wear and that your toes are covered in not only shoes, but socks too. Sweaters make me itch. Coats make me hot. There's just nothing nice to say about it. I eat too much, exercise too little, grow too big, and basically clench my teeth and hold my breath for approximately 6 months. That's just too much of my life without air and I'm wearing out my enamel.
Truth is, I was meant for the tropics. Inside this fair skin and green eyes is a happy brown woman who thrives in the sun. Even tropical rain doesn't bother me (too much) because when it mixes with warm earth and the everblooming flowers it's an aromatherapy straight from heaven. Thinking of Hawaii, there's just something about that rusty, damp, green smell of the outdoors. Even if it's recently rained, damp toes are just not that unappealing if the air is warm.
But here I am, in the purgatory of January. January- even the name sounds dreary and cold. I think there was a Shirley Temple movie that featured a crusty old seaman named Captain January. He was dressed in sweaters and sou'westers. Obviously he was wet and cold too. February isn't much better, but at least I get two Mondays off - thanks Mr. Lincoln and General Washington. I eat too much red velvet cake and Dove chocolate hearts. I even eat too many of those awful chalky little conversation hearts that taste like Tums. Does anyone really like those? And now that there's all that texting and email crap on them, it's just no fun. Like we really need yet another place to print "lol" or "tmi" or "cya"...Please.
So then we have March. True March 4th is a very optomistic date...get it? ...March 4th (Forth)...march forth...never mind. Other than my anniversary, there's just nothing good about March. No holidays and it's known as the "Windy Month". Oh, fine. Wind. Now there's a weather element that we can all get behind. Dry hands, leaves and twigs all over and bad hair. NEXT...
April - there we are again- "April showers bring May flowers" More rain. Ok, the flowers are nice, but truth is, it's the beginning of ALLERGY SEASON! Now, May is nearly tolerable, but there's not enough really sunny days in a row to make it worth putting your long jeans away. Ah, June. So many good things to say about June...Summer starts, school ends, and it's my birthday! July is great with the 4th and some seriously glorious hot weather. Swimming, lemonade and endless barbeques. August, it's great, but I'm beginning to get nervous...the end is in sight. September and we're staring down the tunnel of Fall and then.........WINTER. I hate the winter.

January 3, 2010
Okay, here goes...I've meant to get a blog going for sometime, but New Years seems to be a good time to launch again.
Just back from an incredible trip to the Southern Caribbean. Dominican Republic, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Antigua, Barbados and St. Kitts. Cruise on the the NCL Dawn. Now, cruising isn't really my favorite mode of travel - the stays at Port are too short and the food on the ship too tempting. But for this trip it was great. Nathaniel and John had the kind of freedom teenage boys crave, Robert and I had our own space and so in that aspect, it was pretty darn carefree. Loved the islands, the people, the beaches, the weather. Hot (80s) and water to match (82) Love that. I am convinced that Caribbean blue only exists there. I'd love to go back and spend a winter re-exploring the places I went plus more. Some day.
New Years Resolutions...lose 20 lbs. (again). Exercise every day for 30 min. Kaiser says I should and I think they're right. Read the Book of Mormon front to back. Hmmm...yep, that's it. I'll be happy with two out of three, but I'm not saying what's most important. You guess...