“You do realize it’s still winter?” My husband Steven said as I emptied my pocket of shells and sand.

“Oh, of course I do!” I said as I arranged the shells on the kitchen counter top. “But when it’s sixty degrees out, the sun is shining, and there’s no wind. Who wouldn’t want to go visit the beach!” I brushed the remaining sand off my hands and stood back to admire my new treasures.

My son Alex came into the room and saw the pile of shells on the counter top. “That’s a nice collection of shells for your first time out this year.”

“I know! It’s only February and I’ve already started collecting!” I couldn’t help but smile as I looked over at Alex. “Thanks for all your help searching for them.”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “It wasn’t much of a search. The beach was covered with them.”

“I know.” I picked up one of the shells to give it a closer look. “They’re so much harder to find in the summer.”

“That’s because everyone is looking for them then.” Steven said as he moved over to the cabinet where we kept the snacks.

While he was searching in the cabinet I scooped the shells off the counter top and into my hand to bring them over to the glass container that already had shells from past years in it.

Steven had gotten out the bag of pita chips and was headed for the refrigerator for the container of hummus as I poured my handful of shells into the container.

“That was such a perfect day down at the beach.” I sighed as I reached over to the bag of pita chips and took one out, then looked over at Alex. “Didn’t it feel like spring today?”

Alex nodded his head.

“Well, don’t get used to it.” Steven said as he opened the container of roasted red pepper hummus. “It’s suppose to snow tomorrow.”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter.” I said as I dipped my chip in the hummus. “I just need a few days like this during the winter months to get me through until summer.”

“Me too.” said Alex as he reached in the bag for a chip.

“Well hopefully I won’t have to use the snow blower tomorrow.” Steven said as he handed the bag of pita chips to Alex before wiping his hands on a paper towel.

I looked over at Alex. “It looks like your Dad could have used a day at the beach with us.”

Steven shook his head. “I have too much work to catch up on.” He started walking toward his office.

“You haven’t finished your work yet?” I called to him.

“Nope. Still have about another hour to go and then I’m done for the day.”

Alex and I watched as he walked down the hall.

I put the lid back on the hummus container and put it back in the refrigerator. Alex put the chip clip on the pita chips and went to put them back in the cabinet.

“Are you feeling as guilty as I am about going down to the beach while Dad had to finish work?”

I shook my head. “Your Dad’s not a fan of the beach no matter what time of year it is.” I popped the hummus on a shelf in the refrigerator and took out the package of chicken breasts.

Holding it up for Alex to see. “I’ll just make him some chicken parmigiana for dinner and he’ll be as happy as I am when I have a pocket full of seashells!”

It was late Saturday morning and my son Alex came into the living room where I was sitting on the couch, still in my pajamas, with my laptop on my lap, scrolling through my phone.

“I thought at breakfast you said you wanted to get some work done today?” he asked.

“I did.” I guiltily put my phone down and brought my attention back to my computer.

“Hey, I’m not telling you what to do.” Alex came over and draped a blanket over my legs.

“I know.” I adjusted the blanket to get my bare feet under it. “Thanks.” I looked back at my computer. “But I really do want to get some work done.” I shook my head as I looked over to him. “It’s just that I’ve been having some pretty busy work weeks lately and by Saturday it’s hard to get myself moving.”

Alex reached over and picked up my phone. “Would it help if I put this somewhere where you can’t get to it?”

“Hey!” I held my hand out and Alex placed my phone in it. “Candy Crush and Solitaire help relax me.” I laughed.

“Candy Crush and Solitaire?” Now he was laughing. “More like Facebook and Twitter.”

“Those too.” I couldn’t argue with him on that.

“So why don’t you just give yourself a break and take the day off?” He pointed to my phone. “Without using that.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise. “Without my phone?”

“Yeah, a day where you can really relax.”

I thought about it for a moment. “I guess I could finish reading that book I started. Or maybe I’ll work on a puzzle.”

“See! Those things are relaxing.” He looked over at my phone. “Every time you’re on your phone you’re looking at some video that makes you mad.”

I sighed. “That’s true. We’re living in some crazy times right now.”

“So get away from it and do something fun.”

“You’re right!” I moved my laptop to the coffee table and got up from the couch. “I’m going to go make myself another cup of tea and get right back under that blanket and finish reading my book!”

As I was walking into the kitchen my husband Steven was coming around the corner. “Hey, it’s getting close to lunchtime. Do you have any ideas on what you’re fixing?”

I looked back at Alex and sighed again. “I guess I’ll start my recharging after I make everyone lunch.”

Steven looked confused. “Recharging?”

Alex looked over at Steven. “Mom was looking for a day to just relax.”

“Oh.” Steven shrugged his shoulders. “We could always order take-out at the diner.” He looked over at Alex. “You want to come with me to pick it up?”

“Sure.” Alex went to get his jacket.

“Thank you so much!” I gave Steven a kiss on the cheek before I went over to get my tea kettle to fill it up at the sink. “This is going to be the best Saturday ever!”

For years I tried to get my husband Steven interested in becoming our family griller but it never came to pass. So a few months back I decided I was going to give it a try and we went out and bought a small gas grill.

I was now sitting at the dining room table looking through some grilling cookbooks, a friend of ours had loaned me, when Steven came into the room. “What are you up to?”

I held up the book to show him the cover. “There are some great recipes for the grill in here.” I placed the book back on the table. “But some of them are really advanced.”

“The recipes are advanced?”

“No, the grilling technique.” I shook my head. “I don’t think Bill realized that I’m a beginner griller when he loaned me these.”

I began leafing through the pages. “I’m pretty sure these cookbooks are for people who have mastered grilling like he has.” I looked up at Steven and shook my head sadly. “I’m still at the Easy-Bake oven level of grilling.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“I’m trying not to be but when Bill was asking if I’d tried using brickets and a chimney starter.” I stopped and shook my head. “I had no idea what he was even talking about.” I closed the book and sighed. “The only thing I’ve cooked on our grill so far are hot dogs.”

Steven smiled. “And they were delicious!”

I had to laugh. “Thank you. But that doesn’t help me decipher what’s in here.” I pointed to the cookbook. “I think they’re just assuming I’d know to cook with the lid closed or opened.” I looked at Steven and shook my head again. “But I don’t.”

Our son Alex came into the room. “What are you guys up to?”

Steven looked over at him. “Mom’s getting new recipes to try on the grill.”

“Oh, that’s great!” Alex said.

I looked at Steven with a confused look on my face. “I just finished telling you that these are too advanced for me.” I looked over at Alex. “So far I’ve only cooked hot dogs on the grill.”

“That’s not true.” Alex said. “Last week you made a steak on the grill.”

“That’s right.” Steven chimed in. “I forgot about that! That came out perfect!”

“It did.” Alex agreed.

I looked at both of them and had to confess. “I kind of cheated with the steak.”

“Cheated?” Steven looked at Alex. “What’s that suppose to mean?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea.”

They both looked back at me.

“Well, I kind of started the London broil in the oven and when it was almost ready I put it on the grill so it would get the grill marks.”

Steven started to laugh. “Well it still tasted good.”

“It did.” Alex agreed. “So what are you going to try on the grill next?”

“Well, considering my skill level, I was thinking about hamburgers.”

“There you go!” Steven said. “You can start them in a frying pan first and then go put them on the grill for the grill marks!” Steven asked.

“Don’t think I’m not considering doing exactly that.” I said as I got up and went into the kitchen to start dinner.

My husband Steven came into the living room and handed me a yellow envelope. “What’s this?” I asked.

“It’s from my client Kathleen, the butterfly lady.”

I looked at the writing on the front of the envelope and began to read it aloud. “Kathy, thank you for the butterfly knives. Penny for each point. Thank you!” I had given her a set of knives with butterflies painted on them. I looked back at Steven. “What does that mean?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “She said she’s very superstitious.”

I picked up my phone and began my Google search. When I found what I was looking for I couldn’t help but sigh. “Oh, man. I had no idea.”

“What?”

I began to read from the site. “It says that when you give a gift of a knife that some people believe it could mean a severing or cutting of the relationship but if you give a penny with the gift, it breaks that meaning.” I looked up at Steven. “I was the one who was suppose to include the pennies with the knives!”

“I’m sure she realized you didn’t know, so that’s why she sent them to you.” Steven started to go into the kitchen. “By the way she left you a present on the back porch.” He called over his shoulder.

“What did she leave?”

“Go see for yourself.”

Steven was smiling as I passed him headed to the back door. Looking through the window I could see several empty gallon milk jugs and a few with dirt in them. “Oh my gosh! She sent us more milkweed!”

“I ordered some milkweed seeds for us too.” Steven opened the cabinet and took out a glass. “They should be here tomorrow.”

“Oh my gosh! This is so exciting!” I looked past the milk jugs out at the bare trees in our backyard. “This will certainly help me to get through this dreary winter.”

I turned around and leaned against the counter. “Remember all the fat little caterpillars we had on the milkweed plants she’d given us last summer?”

Steven nodded. “After I made my coffee I’d go out and check on them every morning.”

“Me too!” I laughed.

I went over to the refrigerator and pulled out some cold cuts. “You ready for some lunch?”

“Sure. What are you making?”

“It looks like you have a choice between ham or turkey.”

“I’ll have turkey.”

I went to the cabinet to get the bread. “I used to love searching for their chrysalises.”

“They did make them in some strange places.” Steven reached into the cabinet and handed me two plates.

“Remember the one hanging off the back of the Adirondack chair?”

Steven laughed. “Yup.”

I looked over at Steven. “You know, I should really pick up a little something for Kathleen to thank her.”

“I think that’s a great idea.” He went over to the refrigerator and took out the head of lettuce. “Just remember she’s very superstitious.”

“I’m way ahead of you on that.” I took a knife out the the silverware drawer and pointed it in his direction. “This time I’ll definitely do some research first.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding!” I cried as I stood on the bathroom scale.

“Everything all right in there?” my husband Steven called through the bathroom door.

I grabbed my robe, putting it on before opening the door a crack. “I gained three pounds from yesterday!” I cried.

Steven looked confused. “Three pounds in a day?”

“It happens every time I eat pizza.” I sighed as I opened the door all the way and went over to the closet to get ready for work. “I only had two slices! How can that put on three pounds?”

When I didn’t get an answer I looked over at Steven. He shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t look like you’ve gained any weight.”

I guess my confused look had him continuing. “You always look beautiful.”

I had to laugh. “I’m not looking for a compliment Steven.”

I could see the relief wash over his face.

“I know it’s just water weight. But it still annoys me.” I began tossing pants and shirts on our bed. “Now I’m going to have to find a you’re-fat-today outfit.”

I began looking at jackets and sweaters that would cover my bloat. I turned around facing Steven. “It’s so unfair! I love pizza!”

Steven shook his head. “But pizza doesn’t love you.”

He went into the bathroom, opened the cabinet and grabbed his toothbrush. Putting a dab of toothpaste on it he began to brush his teeth.

I was still in the closet grumbling about what I was going to wear when Steven came out of the bathroom. The toothbrush was still in his hand, some foamy toothpaste still around the corners of his mouth. He had a quizzical look on his face. “Didn’t you have some cheesecake last night, too?”

I stopped what I was doing and looked over at him. “Are you serious?”

He went back into the bathroom, rinsed his mouth out with water and put his toothbrush away. When he walked back into the bedroom I was still staring in his direction. “I was thinking about it and not only did you have those two pieces of pizza but you also had a slice of cheesecake.”

I hadn’t realized my hands were on my hips as I stared at him. “Your point being?”

Steven looked confused again. “Well now you know the three pounds didn’t just come from pizza.”

I took a deep breath before looking back at the pile of clothes that were on the bed. “And exactly how is that suppose to make me feel better?”

Steven still looked confused. “Oh, we’re back to making you feel better?”

I nodded my head again. “How long have we been married?”

Steven came over to me with a smile on his face. “You don’t look like you’ve gained any weight at all.” He leaned over and gave me a kiss on the forehead. “You’re also beautiful.”

“Much better.” I smiled back at him. “Now leave me alone while I try and find my fat outfit for today.”

We had just had our first significant snowstorm and the next day my son Alex and I decided to take a drive down to the beach to see the snowy dunes.

We’d stopped on the way to pick up some breakfast sandwiches. With the smell of bacon, egg and cheese bagels filling the car we headed for the beach.

Before we parked we made sure we had a good view of the dunes, with the ocean waves crashing in the background. Leaving the car running with the heat on low we began to unwrap our sandwiches.

That’s when a car whizzed past us and came to a screeching halt several parking spaces ahead of us.

Alex and I looked at each other. “Well someone’s in a hurry to get to the beach.”

We watched as a woman jumped out of the car. She adjusted her knit cap with the furry pom-pom on top before raising her arm and snapping a picture of herself standing next to her car.

I started to laugh. “Oh, it’s going to be one of those.”

Alex just shook his head. He looked at the clock on the dashboard. “It’s 11 o’clock. Let’s see how long she stays.”

We watched her walk the path through the dunes stopping every few seconds to snap a picture of herself, trying different angles to capture herself in the snowy scene.

When she finally disappeared from out view we continued eating, watching the wind blow through the dune grass and the waves crashing against the shoreline, grateful to be in our nice warm car.

“You know,” I looked over at Alex. “I can’t believe how many times we’ve watched people come down to the beach and not actually enjoy it but snap a few pictures of themselves and leave.”

Alex shook his head. “It’s weird.”

Suddenly our selfie lady was sprinting back up the dune path headed for her car. Alex looked back at the dashboard clock. “11:04.” He looked over to me. “Seems about right.” He started to laugh.

We watched as she got back in her car and turned on the engine.

“I’m sure she’s blasting the heat right now, trying to thaw out her hands.” Alex picked up his water bottle and took a sip.

I shook my head. “You know she’s going to spend more time cropping, getting the right filters and thinking up hashtags for her Instragram account than she actually spent at the beach!”

Alex took a bite of his sandwich and I could see he had a thoughtful look on his face. “So are you thinking she’s going with #longwalksonbeach or #clearingmymind?”

I had to laugh. “I was thinking #beachlife.”

We watched as she put her car in drive and sped off.

“Where do you think she’s headed now?” I asked as we saw her break lights disappear around the corner.

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I’m going to say Starbucks for her next Instragram worthy picture.”

“The one where you snap a picture of the cup in front of your steering wheel!” I had to laugh myself. “With a #startingtheweekend!”

Alex smiled as he took another sip of water. “Yup, that’s the one.”

It was a dreary morning as I was sitting on the couch, sipping a cup of tea, looking out the window.

My son Alex walked into the room. “Morning! What are you up to today?”

“Not that.” I said as I pointed out the window.

Alex came over to see what I was pointing at. “Wow! It’s like everyone in the neighborhood is outside!”

“Jogging no less!” I looked over at Alex as I tucked the blanket around my legs. “It’s not even nice out.” I leaned over and put my tea cup on the coffee table.

“Is it raining out?” Alex leaned closer to the window to see if he could see any drops in the puddles.

“It stopped about twenty minutes ago.” I pointed my thumb toward the window. “But these crazies were running in the rain, too.”

Alex laughed. “Hey, maybe they all did New Year’s resolutions. If that’s the case I’m glad they’re sticking to it.”

I shook my head. “New Year’s resolutions are such a rookie move.”

“Rookie move?” Alex called over his shoulder as he went into the kitchen to make his coffee.

“Sure.” I got up off the couch and grabbed my mug. “Everyone’s thinking about losing weight after the holidays. But it’s only the first week.” I grabbed the kettle and went to the sink to fill it with water. “Just wait.” I put the kettle on the stove and turned it on. “Just wait until February. None of them will be out there then.”

“Because there’ll probably be snow and ice on the ground.” Alex went and got the milk out of the refrigerator to pour into his cup.

“Exactly!” I nodded. Grateful that he realized their rookie mistake. “They should have started their exercise program when it was warmer out.”

Alex looked at me confused. “Who’s to say they won’t use a treadmill when it gets cold out?”

That made me stop for a moment. “Wait.” I looked over at Alex. “They can’t all have treadmills at home.”

“Why?” Alex shook his head. “We have one.”

“Well, that’s different.” I took a tea bag out of the box and placed it in my cup. Then began pouring hot water over it. “Because I never use ours.”

Alex started to laugh. “But Dad and I do all the time!”

“They can’t all have treadmills!” I cried.

Alex took his phone out of his pocket. “Let’s look it up and see.” He began typing and handed me the phone when an article came up.

I began to read out loud. “Home fitness gear surges during pandemic.” I read further down. “Are you kidding me!” I cried as I pointed to the article. “Sales of treadmills went up 135 percent!”

Alex grabbed his coffee cup and headed for the living room. “Told you.”

I was right behind him with my cup of tea. We stood next to one another taking small sips and looking out the front window as even more joggers went by.

“Stupid pandemic.” I looked over at Alex and shook my head. “I guess I’m going to have to start using our treadmill now.” I sighed. “But I’m not going to be jogging!”

“Well, that’s it.” I sighed as I looked around house.

My son Alex came into the room. “Who are you talking to?”

I sighed again. “Myself. I just finished putting away all the Christmas decorations and now that the New Year is here I’m faced with this.”

Alex looked confused. “Faced with what?”

I waved my hand around the room. “Nothingness.” I looked over at Alex. “Did you hear that?”

“What?”

I shook my head. “I swear it echos in here now that it’s so bare.”

Alex laughed. “Just think, it’s only eleven weeks until spring!”

I cringed. “That’s not making me feel better at all.” I looked out at the gray sky. “Why can’t we hibernate in the winter like my little chipmunk friends?”

My husband Steven walked into the room. “Hey, you got all the Christmas decorations down.”

He looked over at me. “You made it a really nice Christmas for us.” He leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“It was a nice one.” Alex chimed in. “Thanks.”

I sighed again. “You’re welcome.”

Steven looked at Alex then back at me. “What’s wrong?”

“Mom wants to hibernate like the chipmunks until spring.”

Steven started to laugh.

“I’m serious.” I said. “I’m tired, the weather stinks, it’s getting too cold out, and spring is eleven weeks away!”

Steven patted my upper arm trying to make me feel better. “Weren’t you kind of hibernating yesterday?” he asked.

Now I was confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t you spend the day on the couch, under a blanket reading and sewing?”

I smiled at the memory. “That was like a little slice of Heaven.”

Alex looked over at me. “Remember we ordered dinner and Dad and I went and picked it up?”

“Oh, yeah!” I couldn’t help but smile. “That was a perfect day. I finished my book, took a nap and had dinner brought to me.” I looked at Steven. “That’s the kind of hibernating I want to do! Why can’t the whole winter be like that!”

Steven tilted his head and raised his eyebrow. “Well, I’m not sure your job would agree with your winter plan.” Steven reminded me. “Your Christmas break is almost over.”

I frowned as I looked over at the couch. “Well I still have a few more days before I have to go back so I’m not wasting it.” I went over to the couch, grabbed the blanket and laid down. Reaching for my new book I adjusted the pillows behind my back and sank back into them. As I opened my book I looked over at my guys. “Which one of you wants to order dinner?”

Steven looked at Alex. “Pizza?” he asked.

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Sounds good to me.”

“When it comes I want to eat it right here.” I reached over and tapped the coffee table. “Happy hibernation to me!”

My son walked into the living room where I was sitting on the couch working on my computer.

“Are you kidding me?” he laughed. “How many times are you going to play that song?”

I looked down at the video playing on my phone. “Hey, Little Drummer Boy is my favorite Christmas carol!”

“I can tell.”

He went over to the couch where my phone was laying and looked at the video. “Do you have it on a loop?”

“Oh, come on!” I laughed as I picked up my phone. “It’s not that bad.” I tapped the screen to pause the video.

Alex nodded. “True. It’s not as bad as a few years ago when you watched The Greatest Showman movie every night for months.”

“It wasn’t every night.” I laughed.

“Sure seemed like it to me.” Alex shook his head. “I couldn’t get some of those tunes out of my head the next day!”

“Exactly!” I cried. “That was a tough year at work. Whenever it started to feel like it was becoming too much I’d replay one of those songs in my head, and it would help make a tough day better!”

Alex nodded his head toward my phone. “So is that what you’re doing with this?”

I shook my head. “No, Little Drummer Boy is just a favorite.” I picked up my phone and looked at the paused video. “Have you ever heard of the band called for King & Country?”

Alex shook his head. “No.”

“Well, that’s the one I’ve been listening to this year.” I looked over at Alex. “I loved when Bing Crosby and David Bowie did a duet years ago.” I paused to think of what others I’d loved over the years. I held up my pointer finger. “I also loved when Pentatonix sung it. Both of theirs were more classic versions. But this one…” I tapped the screen again to continue playing and looked at Alex and smiled. “There’s just something about this one that I love.” I was moving my head to the beat of the music.

“I can tell.” Alex shook his head again. “Well, at least Christmas break will be over soon.”

I was confused. “What’s that suppose to mean?”

“It means that I won’t have to hear Little Drummer Boy forty times a day.” He turned to go back to his room.

I smiled as I watched him retreating down the hall. “Let’s see if that turns out to be true.” I whispered under my breath.

It was after dinner and I had just finished putting the last glass in the dishwasher. I looked around, checking to make sure the counter tops were clean, when I decided it was time to give myself a little treat. I reached into the cabinet and took out a small juice glass.

My son Alex came into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.

“What are you looking for?” I asked as I stood next to him and took out the carton of egg nog.

Alex shook his head. “I don’t know. Just wanted to see what we had.”

I put the egg nog on the counter and went to the cabinet to get a small bottle of brandy. Then went over to the spice shelf and grabbed the nutmeg. “You know we literally just finished dinner.”

Alex closed the refrigerator and went over to the cabinet. “I know, but I’m still hungry.”

“Why didn’t you just have more dinner?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t want anymore.”

I looked over at him. “You didn’t like dinner?”

“No. I’m not saying that.” Alex patted me on the shoulder. “I was just done having it. I’m ready for something else now.”

He watched as I poured a splash of brandy into the glass then filled the rest of the glass with egg nog and finished my creation with two taps of nutmeg. I held up the glass. “This is such a treat!”

Alex laughed. “I know. You’ve been giving yourself one of those treats every night for the past week!”

I laughed as I took a sip. “You’ve been counting?”

“I wasn’t until we were on a walk the other day and you were complaining that you’d gained a pound in the last week.”

I took another sip. “You know, you’re right.” I looked at the glass. “This is the only thing that’s changed in my diet.” I held it up to Alex. “But it’s so tiny.”

Alex grabbed the carton from the counter top. “Do you know what in this?”

I took another sip. “Besides yummyness?”

Alex laughed. “Is that even a word?”

“It is now.” I licked a few specks of nutmeg from the rim of the glass.

Alex began reading the ingredients. “Milk, cream, high fructose corn syrup, sugar…”

“Okay! Okay! I get it.” I put the glass down. “But it’s such a tiny glass.” I sighed.

“It’s 190 calories for a half a cup.” He looked over at my glass. “That’s at least a cup.”

“Fine.” I sighed again. “I guess giving myself a holiday treat should be over now.”

Alex shook the carton. “Really? There’s still more in here.”

I took the carton from him and put it back in the refrigerator. “That’s true. It’s not right to waste things.” I picked up my glass and drank the rest of it.” I went over to the sink to rinse the glass out before putting it in the dishwasher. “Let’s say my holiday treat is done when the carton is empty.”

Alex shook his head. “It’s up to you. You were the one complaining about gaining weight.”

“Hey, it’s the holiday season.” I turned around and leaned against the counter. “Losing weight is what January is all about.”