A Few Ways to Improve February

I have to admit to being the builder who wrote the email with a subject line: I’m not whining, but…

As you can imagine, that email contained some whining, but I don’t want to spend too much of my time just whining and surviving, so I am trying to think of things that have made some winter days better than others.

1.  Grapefruit.  This wonderful citrus is in season right now, and it feels and tastes like a burst of sunshine every morning.  I cannot tell you what a difference it has made to eat half a grapefruit every morning this week.

2.  Smoothies.  Frozen fruit, plain Kefir and some OJ in the blender take me straight to the tropics, and, I have some hope, give us a better shot at fighting off whatever is going around.

3.  Homemade Granola.  Come February, the children and I have had enough of oatmeal.  It was cozy in January, but now it just seems lumpy and depressing, so we are switching over to an easy maple granola.  Our batch uses a whole large container of oats, so it lasts a while, and now I don’t have a pot to scrub in the mornings.

4.  Long play baths.  My 4 year old can spend an hour playing with boats in the bath, and he often does.  If I am worried about dry skin I might throw a little oil in there, and the bright, warm, steamy bathroom is a mood lifter for him and me.

5.  Push-ups.  I am not getting into any sort of regular exercise routine these days, but when I am really feeling gross I get down and do 5 knee push-ups.  It is not exhausting, but it does seem to kick in some endorphins and adrenaline, and make me feel powerful.  If I do more than that (sometimes a set of 5, 5, then max), my arms hurt a little bit all day, and I kind of love that feeling, too, knowing that my muscles are still alive.

6.  Planning and dreaming.  I am thinking about doing some redecoration in the big boys room this spring, so I am having fun looking at paint colors and shelf layouts and planning for what we might do.  One caveat, I have to keep this in check or planning and dreaming turns in to coveting, but as long as I am reasonable, it is a great diversion.  I’m also researching cruises, and while it doesn’t look like I’ll be taking one anytime soon, I am having fun thinking about itineraries.  Let’s see, what would be more interesting, Istanbul or Hong Kong?  Actually, I may have the kids play travel agent, research a foreign city and present a trip on a poster board, then stamp all of our fake passports.

How about you?  26 days to go, what’s getting you through?