This week has been one I will be very thankful to see in the past.  Too much hockey, too many obligations, too many meetings, throw in a small stomach bug and, here I go again, not nearly enough time.
  It's funny how in the midst of winter when the days are short and the evening comes early, we yearn almost desperately for the summer months where the days are long, the sun is warm and our schedules are busy in a completely different way.
  For the longest time I convinced myself if I could just make it until summer, or winter, or whatever season was around the corner, things would be different.  We'd be less busy, our schedules would break free and we would experience freedom, a lack of plans, an absolutely uncluttered, unscheduled, unregulated life.  Hahaha, how naive! because it never happens.  If winter is busy with schedule and commitments, summer is filled with catching up with friends you haven't seen since the previous series of warmer months.  Every season of time is no less busy, just shaped differently into the form of life.
  I'm rambling, I know that full well.  I tend to do that when I need to process everything that's going on and feel it rather than just be caught up in its whirring schemes.  I understand all that goes on around me when I process it verbally, and I haven't had time to process much verbally recently.  I haven't had the chance to sit back and go over all the what if's that hide in the potential scenarios that are waiting for me around the corner.  
  Maybe I feel the extra pressure to sort everything out before a new season begins, sort of like taking as many shots as I can before the clock runs out.  
  The snow has begun to melt here and the sun has been warm, shining high and bright off of the icy coated drifts of snow that have blanketed my world.  The past few days have been the sort that spur you to want to pack away the winter gear and dig up the flirty dresses that are made for the beach, drive with the windows open even at the risk of being splattered with muck by other passing vehicles.  It's time to scrub the walls, clean out the closet, turn my face to the radiating sun and basque.
  If I sound mildly discontented, it must be because I think that's how I'm feeling.  I don't want to rush through, I want to savor, enjoy and embrace each moment that I have because that's what true living is about....isn't it?
  Oh boy!  I'll stop now, because I feel a serious rant coming on!


Top Five

1~ peeling a layer from my running gear and still being warm, sweaty, and inspired by
     the teasing scent of spring
2~ waking up to foggy fields, icicles that hang long and low, squinting my eyes at the sun's
     brightness
3~ watching my boys skate around on our small patch of ice outside the back door.  Their
     giggles, joy, and contentment breed hope for their future
4~ feeling content, blessed even, with where I am, what I do, and the purposes I have laying
      before me that I am called to fulfill
5~ the women in my life.  They deserve so much more than these small words.  I've said it
      before but it continues to resonate with me; you are beyond fantastic, and I wouldn't
      make it through without your constant love and support.  A last minute Costco run, a
      phone conversation, helping a friend out with a ride, a poster that humbles, encourages,
      and makes me believe, the voice of my mother-in-law, the generosity of my mom, an
      encouraging squeeze of hand when words are unnecessary, prayers from lips I'm 
      unaware of.  For this and so much more I am thankful for the spectacular women in my
      life.  

  It's Friday!  I hope you make it through and can gather encouragement from the small and not so small things in your own life!  Hang in there if your week has been anything like mine.....A new week is waiting around the corner and there is always something to be thankful for!

Cheers to the weekend to all you beautiful souls both near and far!