A new leaf

Lately I can't bring myself to open up Blogger. I've had a handful of recipe posts lined up (in my head at least... but pictures already taken and recipes already written out), and I can't bring myself to post them. Maybe it's the weather here... cherry blossoms are open, dogs and kids are out to play, the neighborhood is opening up to say hello more each day. I love my neighborhood walks, and couldn't be more excited to have more sun soon to fit them in. Daylight Savings or bust.

Pretty in Pink, last weekend

I'm ready for the weather to change, ready for new blossoms and ready for... newness. And while I doubt this spring will turn out exactly as we hoped it would, it's easier for me to feel upbeat when there's such beauty everywhere. I'm thankful for the big fun we've been having as the season turns, with friends who make my sides hurt from laughing so hard. I'm thankful for the three weddings we're attending this spring - in Austin, here in DC, and in New Orleans - and all the hope those events engender. I'm thankful for a yard that gets my landscaping wheels turning in this great weather, despite my decision-making paralysis about layout and fencing and plantings. But mostly, it's the walks that settle my brain down that I'm so thankful for... and the guy who's often with me for them. 

Lincoln Park at dusk

I want to go and play outside with the ferocity of the birds outside my window. There are literally two dozen of them in a single tree right now, flitting around and celebrating the moment. These budget spreadsheets I'm working on seem especially cruel by comparison. Isn't it terrible that adults don't get Spring Break, too? This is why smart people get married in the spring, I think... providing Spring Break for their loved ones. In that light, then, my Spring Break is two weeks from now, in Austin. Just in time.