Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

At 3:15 this morning, we were awakened by snow plows.  Only about two inches had fallen at that point, but the road crew for Village Grande was already out working!  It would have been nice if they had waited until a little later to make all that noise.

Bob and I would never complain, however.  Our roads were clear this morning; whereas, in many other areas of the county, roads were snow-covered well into the day.  Even more wonderful: our driveway and sidewalks were cleared before midmorning!  Neither of us had to pick up a shovel.

Funny, but I didn't feel a bit guilty when I telephoned a parishioner at 8 a.m. to inform him of the cancellation of the Council Planning day.  He told me that he had been up at 6 a.m. shoveling out his driveway.  Life is certainly wonderful in our 55+ community!

We had about 4 inches of snow.  Thankfully, the predicted freezing rain didn't materialize in our area.  It fell north and west of us. 

Bob and I were amazed by the weather map we saw this morning.  Most of the U.S. was receiving precipitation in some form.  Sadly, in  areas such as Seattle, the combination of snow and rain were wreaking havoc. 

It was a quiet day at home that we spent doing all the little (and big) things that we had not been able to complete since the first of the year.  I packed away the rest of the Christmas decorations and wrap that were still out in our guest room.  We replaced our holiday artwork with the pieces that we had stored up in the attic back in November.  The house is pretty much back in order now.

Last evening, Bob hosted his first wine tasting evening.  We had three guests- all women- come to learn some basics of tasting and enjoying wine. It was a lot of fun, and we will be gathering again- hopefully with a few more people- in March.  Two of the women were neighbors, Cath from Veranda (the development behind our house) and Pam, our next door neighbor.  Herb, her husband, was away, but he hopes to join us the next time when we meet at his house.  The third woman, was Cath's friend, Beth.  After the tasting, we continued to drink the wine and enjoyed some snacks and conversation.  All in all, it was a great evening.. 

 Bob had worked really hard to prepare for the introductory session.  He had purchased index card holders for each participant.  Each of us had 4X6 cards with diagrams of wine colors and flavor descriptions plus several note cards on which to make our notes about the wines  as we tasted and discussed them.  He had chosen three red wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot, for us to taste. Since he had the bottles disguised in paper bags, we didn't know which was which.  It was a great way to begin to discover the flavors and characteristics that tend to define wines made with these three varieties of grape. 

Taking down Christmas

The worst thing about decorating for the Christmas season is taking down and packing away all the decorations when Christmas is over.  The house looks so bare.   The corner where the Christmas tree stood is empty.  There are no more lights to turn on each evening.  All that's left are the fir tree needles that the vacuum cleaner refused to pick up and the left over wrappings from packing up the decorations.

Does anyone else out there get depressed when Christmas is over?  Actually, I understand that post-holiday blues are very common.   Some call the condition PHB, which is not to be confused withwith PFB (Post Football Blues- the condition that affects many after the Super Bowl).  Of course these conditions share many of the same symptoms:  irritability, a sense of loss, extra time that you don't know how to fill, etc. 

Anyway, I thought I'd look around to find some ideas to help me get through the doldrums and enjoy the New Year.  Here are some suggestions I compiled fromthese two websites - http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/managing-post-holiday-blues-163300789.html 
and http://12most.com/2012/01/07/12-helpful-beat-post-holiday-blues/
 
1.) Schedule events or outings to look forward to. Whether you enjoy going out with friends or engaging in your favorite hobby, pre-planning enjoyable events will give you something to get excited about.
2.) Seek support from your friends. Now is not the time for isolation. Call a trusted friend or family member. Just hearing their voice will help refocus you on all the wonderful people you have in your life.
3.) Remember that our cousins were our first friends. No need to wait for holidays or special events to catch up with therm. Call or email weekly to follow up on some of the events going on in their lives and continue the story line about yours.
4.) Get out of the house. Remember all those things you wanted to do but couldn't because you had too much going on…now is the time to go for it!
5.) Go shopping in your closet. Really go through your clothes and donate the things that you are done with. It sounds simple but you will utilize what you have more and you will discover things you forgot you had. Donate what you don’t need and you will feel great about the space you save and the good deed you’ve done.
6.) Don’t be afraid to pray. TELL God/The Universe/All That Is what EXACTLY you want in your life. Tell your spirit helpers that you are ready to be guided to those people that can help YOU manifest all that you desire. Don’t forget, we have to ASK for what we want. Be honest with God and yourself about your situation.
7.) Get plenty of rest. We tend to eat, drink and party too much during the holidays. None of those activities are conducive to a good night’s sleep. The more worn out you get, the more susceptible you are to depression and discouragement. Work out as much as you can even if that’s a brisk walk through the park or even grocery store.
8.) Don’t focus on what you don’t have – focus on what you do have. If you think about it, it won’t take you long to picture someone in a worse position than yours. God has neither left nor forgotten you. Get out of yourself and into other people.
9.)Learn to curse in French! That way you can still swear like a sailor, but you’ll sound FANTASTIC doing it! [Spanish is good, too.  Of course, you really don't have to learn the curse words.  Anything you say in French or Spanish  will sound great.]10.)Throw yourself into the next holiday (or sport, try basketball or hockey.)  [Personally, I've always loved Valentine's Day, and corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day is yummy!]

According to one of the bloggers that provided some of these suggestions, "... if you try at least half of these suggestions you’ll start feeling better sooner than later, and the next time you look at this list you won’t be so post holiday blue."  I, for one, am getting started on beating the post holiday blues!

Go shopping in your closet. Really go through your clothes and donate the things that you are done with. It sounds simple but you will utilize what you have more and you will discover things you forgot you had. Donate what you don’t need and you will feel great about the space you save and the good deed you’ve done.

4.) Throw yourself into the next holiday (or sport, try basketball or hockey.)

5.) Remember, this too will pass. Before you know it the holidays will be upon you again. Live life in the present, don't pine away waiting for the time to pass, you may miss something you will regret later!