Today is a beautiful day full of bright, warm sun.  Annamarie & Rissy played in the backyard almost all day, evidenced by the mess they left in the den, their bedroom, the kitchen table . . .   They came in each time only long enough to get out another "toy" or to go to the bathroom, eat lunch, get a drink; and, much chaos was left behind after each of their trips inside.  I now have them slaving away cleaning all that was undone.  The taskmaster lives! 

This morning, when I heard the singing birds back early from their southern journey, saw the sun pouring through the slats in the blinds, and, again, as I grabbed Luci's lightweight jacket before she left for daycare, I realized it certainly appears spring is on the horizon.  I know March can have its nasty cold snaps, and even April can have a surprise frost, but I can feel that spring is so very close.

I grew up hearing "time flies when you're older" and I never knew why time would be any different for an adult compared to a child.  Time is time.  It is what it is.  Twenty-four hours in a day, 365 days in a year . . . .  That comment seemed as crazy as the guy advertising a "jumbo gallon of lemonade" (a gallon is a gallon for crying out loud!).

But, it's happened to me.  The years ARE shorter.  The seasons whip by faster each year as I get older.  Well, maybe not summer and Indian summer here in Oklahoma.  BUT, the summers have gotten hotter (or is that just hormones?) and winter seems to have shortened.  One of the best things about moving to Oklahoma from the San Francisco area was the definite changes in season.  I still appreciate the well defined changes and will gladly suffer through the Oklahoma heat and humidity to wait for the beautiful fall leaf colors to change and eventually drop.  Thankfully, the wind is a large factor in Oklahoma and those leaves just get blown to another yard where, eventually, someone's house (that sits at the precise angle) collects everyone's leaves and the raking chore is left to that one poor homeowner!  Oklahoma is a great place to live, especially because we've never lived in a house that was that ONE house, on a precise angle, collecting the neighborhood's leaves!

We're coming out of our snowy and icy weather, a very cold and more harsh winter than usual.  It just didn't last very long.  Seems I was just burning my oatmeal & raisin cookie scented candles a few weeks ago, and now I'm antsy to get out the hyacinth and fresh linen scents!

I'm trying to find a way to stave off the hands of time that chug faster and faster year after year.  My way to slow things down is to hang onto (maybe clutch to my breast) the departing season's ways and things.  Despite my eagerness for spring, I'm still cooking hearty winter meals, I'm still wearing the darkest winter clothing, and we are burning firewood to heat the front of the house in the chilly mornings and I'm enjoying the smell of the burning wood.  I refuse to drink iced tea, just yet, and I will  ONLY drink hot tea until it's 78° consistently.  Spring will be here soon enough.

With Spring's arrival will come the changes.  Different clothing, different menu items, children gone all day outside, flowers to think about planting, ants, fleas, etc.  Then before I know it, BANG!!!!!  It's time for an Oklahoma summer and everything is as hot as a skillet.  What happened to spring?

I don't think I like spring just because it's when my birthday falls, which I choose to take as a gift (being born in spring); but the renewal of everything brings me a sense of hope.  I love the colors that emerge after a beige/gray winter - something I didn't experience when living in California where SOME type of flower is always in bloom year round, as are green lawns.

I appreciate the summers when the girls can spend all day in the pool, when they can drink lemonade and eat their lunch on the porch, and when I can throw on a lightweight dress & slip on loafers and be ready to walk out the door.

Then, the pool water is suddenly too cold to swim.  When did THAT happen?  Good tasting tomatoes become more scarce.  What happened to all the late summer peaches in the stores and at the farmer's market?

Oh!  I get it!  It's 32° this morning and it will only warm to 62° by afternoon.  The beginning of winter . . .

First of all, "dental day" went fine.  I was out of there in 30 minutes.  And, noooooo folks, 20mg of Valium did nothing! 

I was fully alert and even asked if they hadn't prescribed sugar pills that *looked* like Valium and if it was oxygen instead of gas coming through the tubes into my nose!!!!  Frankly, my dentist couldn't believe I was more alert than last time!  He does recognize my absolute panic and is still sweet and patronizing to me!  "There's LOTS of patients that are anxious like you."  I bet not many of them need a horse tranquilizer to put them down! 

When he does the next work (the cleaning and 2 fillings) he said he'd give me Halcyon.  I had taken that years ago, to help me sleep, after a crisis in my life.  I thought it had been taken off of the market and asked him about it.  He said it was still around.  I told him I thought that was the sleeping pill that was a *hypnotic* (he said it was) and caused people to wake up in the morning and have no recollection of having robbed a 7-11 store, naked in the middle of the night.  He got a kick out of that and said, "Yes, that was a problem with Halcyon being used as a sleeping pill."  He assured me he'd keep me in the chair so I couldn't slip out and hit a 7-11 while his back was turned!

The reason I didn't post for the past few days was because Rissy's "stomach bug" hit me early Thursday morning.  3 a.m. to be sure.  I was praying for the Angel of Death OR a miracle healing!  It only lasted through the next afternoon (about 12 hours) but I'm still a little dizzy (no fever any more) and a little tipsy if I do too much or get up quickly.

The good news, all the birthday cake and ice cream didn't put one pound on me and I lost a bit!!!!

Jesse is still negotiating (or attempting to) to sell his half of the pawn shop partnership.  Won't go into the details here, but it's been a rough couple of weeks.  Trying to conduct ourselves like Christians and not act like we really *want* to act.  Flesh vs. Right Behavior!

My friend, Lori, was worried about the girls hitting each other or accidentally throwing the pinata stick and doing damage to each other after reading my birthday post.  Rest assured, Lori!!!  We had a 20 foot rule!  Jesse, our freezer, and extra refrigerator were the only things in real danger and Jesse was careful!!!  Everyone had to stand at one end of the garage and somehow everyone hung onto the stick.

Since I wasn't up to my usual energy level today, I read a book in the morning and watched one Shirley Temple movie with the girls (they loved it) and the second half of David Copperfield this afternoon.  A relaxing day despite the knowledge that all of my work will be waiting for me on Monday . . . unless the "fairy maid" surprises me with a visit!