Winter Blues

Hey Y'all,

When I come home from school everyday, the first thing I usually do is walk Mr. Pitty Pat. Then I change into some "comfy" clothes, brew a cup of tea and sit down to read my favorite blogs. One common theme that has been occurring in a few of my favorite blogs for the past few weeks are winter survival rituals.

This really made me think.

I really don't live in a part of the country that has to "endure" winter the way some places do.. we have had two "snow" events here at the beach and it has been awfully cold, but nothing like many folks have had to deal with this winter. I am not a fan of winter. If you have read this blog long enough, you know that I am happiest when my toes are in flip flops and I am sitting on the beach reading a good book or walking Pitty Pat. I love wearing t-shirts and shorts. I enjoy sitting on my back patio during the summer eating ice cream and listening to the sounds of summer, sometimes a distant rumble of thunder in the distance. I am not a fan of being cooped up inside, under blankets, surrounded by darkness by 5:00. So I started to think about what kind of winter rituals do I have to make it through until the spring?

Warm drinks. I love to have my coffee in the morning. It is nice this time of year because they have all kinds of yummy creamers out, so everyday that is a little treat. After school and at night, after supper, I like to brew a cup of tea. I add Manuka Honey to my tea each night to sweeten it.

Twinkle lights. I am always sad when I have to take the lights of Christmas down. I purposefully leave up twinkle lights on my entertainment center until the end of February. I also have two trees that have lights on them that fit perfectly inside my kitchen window. At night, I turn on my little fireplace and twinkle lights and it just somehow feels brighter in my house.

Lots of scarves and cowls. Y'all know how I feel about these! I hate to have a cold neck during the winter and the hallways at our school are REALLY cold. I haven't left the house without a scarf or cowl since December. I think in a way, they feel like a big hug in the bitter cold.

Those seem to be my winter rituals. What are yours? For some really neat posts on these ideas, check out what Katie Leigh and Tea and Cookies have to say on their rituals.

Stay warm!
:) JKP