I came home from running errands and Steven met me at the door. “Everything okay?” he asked. “You’ve been gone a long time.”

“I got side-tracked.” I admitted as I draped the dry cleaning bags over a dining room chair. “I was going by the community center and there was a baseball game on the field Alex always played on.” I looked at Steven and smiled. “I had to stop for old times sake.”

Steven nodded his head and smiled. “Those were the best years, weren’t they?”

“I have to say today’s game was pretty disappointing.” I shook my head. “They were really awful!”

“Oh, come on!” Steven said. “They’re little kids!”

“Well, I just remember Alex’s teams being a lot better, at that age.” I went into the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of water. “You want one?” I asked as I held mine up.

“Sure.” I grabbed another one, handed it to him, then leaned against the counter and took a sip. “There was one kid in the outfield who couldn’t catch anything! The ball was dropping in front of him, behind him, it didn’t matter. He never moved!”

It was then that Alex walked into the kitchen. “Hey, what are you guys up to?” he reached into the cabinet and grabbed a bottle of water for himself.

“Your Mom stopped to watch a little league game and now she’s making fun of the kids who were playing.” Steven answered.

“Hey!” I cried. “I’m wasn’t making fun of them!” I looked over at Alex. “I just remember your teams being so much better!”

Alex laughed. “I guess we had a few good teams.” He admitted. “But we also had a couple of years where the only thing we were good at was beating the winning team to the pizzeria!”

“Oh…” Steven started to laugh. “Those years were great too!”

“Okay, maybe I forgot about those years.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I just remember how much fun we had sitting on the bleachers cheering you guys on!” I looked over at Steven. “Don’t you remember how some of the parents were even talking about college scholarships?”

“Scholarships!” Alex laughed as he leaned against the counter and looked over at me. “You know we were probably ten years old when that happened! We were just hanging out with friends and having fun.” he shrugged his shoulders. “It was no big deal.”

“Well, some of the Mom’s on those bleachers would disagree with you.”

Alex laughed as he headed back to his room. “You’re suppose to say that. You’re Mom’s.”

“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true!” I called after him. I looked back at Steven. “I wouldn’t.”

“Yes you would. That’s what Mom’s do.” Steven said as he shrugged his shoulders. “But you’re right, they were pretty good players.”

“See!” I pointed my water bottle in his direction. “I told you!”

“But…” Steven added. “I’m pretty sure every parent at the game you stopped by to watch feels the same way about their kids, too.” He grabbed the dry cleaning from the back of the chair and headed for the bedroom to hang it up.

“Well, they’d be wrong.” I called after him then finished the last of my water and tossed the bottle in the recycling bin.

Steven and I were sitting on the couch, channel surfing, when Steven noticed a book on the coffee table. He reached over and held it up, “Colorstrology?”

“A girlfriend gave it to me.” I took the book out of his hand and began flipping through. “There’s a different color for each day.” I explained. “You look up your birthday and find out what your color is.” I showed him my color. “Mine’s Iris.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Not my favorite color but at least I like my month color!” I showed him the Coral Blush color swatch. “Pretty, right?”

Steven looked confused. “So what are you suppose to do after you find out your color?”

“Well,” I flipped to the front of the book. “It says you need to incorporate your color into your life through art, clothing or décor.” I looked up and smiled at him. “So if I wear something Iris it’s going to help me reach my goals!”

Steven looked even more confused. “But you just told me you don’t like your color.”

“That’s where my month color comes in handy. I already own pink!”

“I thought you said it was Coral Blush.”

I showed him the swatch again. “It’s pink.”

Steven just shook his head. “Do you really believe this stuff?”

I was flipping through the book. “Not really, it’s just fun.” I stopped at our son, Alex’s birthday. “Lyons Blue, wow that’s bright!” I flipped to his month color. “That’s not much better.” I thought about it for a moment. “Maybe I could work that color in a throw pillow for him.”

“Are you serious?”

“Why not try it? If it doesn’t work…” I shrugged my shoulders. “then it doesn’t work. But if it helps, why not?”

Steven started to laugh. “So you’ve given up on following your horoscope and now it’s all about the colors?”

“Nope, I still read my horoscope every day.” I smiled. “In fact, today’s said I was going to discover new things!” I held up the book to prove my point. “It’s amazing how right it was.”

Steven looked surprised. “So you do believe in this stuff!”

“No, it’s just for fun.” I repeated, then flipped through the book until I reached his birthday. “Wow, this is one tough color.” I turned the book for him to see. “Muted Clay. That’s going to be tough to incorporate in your wardrobe.”

Steven laughed. “I’m not wearing that color.”

“Wait a minute!” I flipped the pages. “We have another chance with your month color!” I smiled as I turned the page for him to see. “Aqua! That’s a great color on you!”

“I think I already have a shirt that color.” Steven said.

“See, you’ve been following the doctrine of Colorstrology all along, you just never knew it!”

Steven shook his head, “Now you’re going to tell me my horoscope said I should be open to learning new things.”

“No, I read your horoscope this morning and it actually said that you shouldn’t be so quick to judge others.”

Steven seemed doubtful. “Seriously?”

“Naw,” I had to laugh. “I just made that up.” I reached over and picked my phone up from the coffee table. “But I could look yours up for you if you want me to.”

Steven shook his head. “No thanks, I’m good. I’ll stick with the aqua shirt I already own to bring me luck.”

Alex had woken up late and came walking into the living room sleepy-eyed but with a smile on his face. “Good morning.” he said rubbing his eyes.

“Morning.” I smiled then looked at the clock, it was almost noon. “You feel like going to the bagel store with me and splitting a bacon, egg and cheese? My treat!” I’d held off eating my breakfast hoping he’d say yes.

Alex stopped rubbing his eyes. “A bagel?” His smile got bigger. “That sounds great!”

Moments later we were in the car headed to one of my favorite weekend treats. A bagel shop only a block away from the beach. I’d run in and grab a sandwich then we’d park by the seawall to eat and watch the waves crashing on the sand. I always looked forward to these quick moments with him, just visiting and finding out what was happening in his world.

As we drove through the neighborhood I couldn’t help but notice how many of the lawns were already dotted with dandelions.

“Remember when you’d come into the house with a bouquet of dandelions for me?”

Alex just laughed. “No.”

“Oh, come on! You have to remember!” I looked over at him. “It was so cute!”

Alex just shook his head. “What was I, about two?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Probably.” I finally said. “But it would make my day seeing that chubby little fist holding a dozen dandelions. I even had a tiny vase I’d put them in.” I looked over at him. “I still have that vase.”

Alex laughed some more. “I’m not picking you a bunch of dandelions.”

“Oh, come on! It would make my day.”

“It would not.” he countered. “The time where it would be cute for me to hand you lawn weeds has passed.”

I knew he was right, it wouldn’t be the same as when he was little. So we drove on chit-chatting about our week. I knew it was ridiculous but each time I drove by someones front lawn dotted with those yellow flowers a tiny part of me was sad that those moments were gone for us.

When we arrived at the bagel shop I parked the car then reached in the back seat to grab my wallet out of my purse. When I turned around Alex was holding a twenty dollar bill out to me. “It’s my treat today.” he said.

“Aw, really?” I took the twenty out of his hand. “Thank you.” I guess he could see I was getting a little choked up.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothings wrong.” I smiled at him. “It’s just that I’ve always felt that it should be my treat, kind of a bribe to get you to come hang out with me.”

“You don’t have to bribe me to hang out with you. I like our beach lunches.” he started to laugh, “Now isn’t this better than a bunch of dandelions?”

I looked down at the twenty and smiled. “I have to admit, being treated to lunch is better.” I opened to car door and climbed out, but before I closed the door I turned around and peeked back inside. “But when we get home I’m getting that little vase out and putting some dandelions in it, just for old times sake.”

Alex just shook his head and smiled. “Please, just don’t tell anyone I picked them for you!” he called as I closed the car door and went to go get our lunch.

It was beautiful spring day and I was enjoying a quiet day puttering around the house. I’d opened some of the windows to let the fresh air in, and was getting ready to think about making dinner, when the raucous call of a Blue Jay caught my attention. Within seconds several more Jays were joining in, their sound so frantic that I went to the window to see who they were yelling at.

I looked around the yard to see if one of the neighborhood cats was visiting. That’s always an entertaining sight when the Jays swoop down and gives them a little peck on the butt to get them to move faster. It amazes me how high a cat can jump when it’s startled.

But then I saw that the Jays were swooping and diving into the branches of the pine tree in our front yard. Alex joined me at the window. “What’s got them so mad?” he asked looking out the window.

I pointed to the pine tree. “I think it’s a Cooper Hawk they’re dive bombing.”

Alex look up in the sky. “Where’s the Hawk?”

“I think I can see him at the very top of the pine tree.”

The tree was so dense Alex was having trouble finding him. “What’s he doing?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Just sitting there.” Several more Jays were coming to help, their noise was deafening. We watched as over a dozen Jays were now swarming the tree.

“Is the Hawk even moving?” Alex was squinting, still unable to see which branch the Hawk was perched on.

“Nope, just sitting there like nothing’s happening around him.” I had to laugh as I pointed to all the smaller birds headed in the other direction, away from the danger. “It’s times like these that I feel bad that Jays are labeled bullies.” I looked over at Alex and saw the surprised look on his face.

“Um, aren’t you the first one to call them that?” Alex reminded me.

“I know.” I looked back at the action. “They are kind of jerks when it comes to bird feeders. Always pushing and shoving, scaring everyone off until their done. They’re like the obnoxious wedding guests that have to rush the buffet line as soon as the first table is called.” We both watched as the frantic Jays were keeping the Hawk busy so the smaller birds could get away. “But they’re like nature’s car alarm when they sense danger.”

Just then the Hawk took off, calmly flying further into our neighborhood, the dozen Blue Jays right behind him making sure he’d think twice about coming back this way again.

I closed the window and looked over at Alex. “Maybe I should go top off the feeders for them.”

“For them?”

“I’m sure they’re going to be starving when they come back from the Hawk battle.” I went into the refrigerator and reached way in the back of one of the shelves. “I’ll put this out as a special treat.” I held out the nicely chilled suet brick.

Alex didn’t look thrilled. “You keep the bird food in the refrigerator?”

“Just the suet. It keeps longer and it’s easier to put it in the suet feeder.” I began unwrapping it.

Alex opened the refrigerator and began looking around. “What else do you keep in here that isn’t for humans to eat?”

I smiled but didn’t answer him. Sometimes it’s just fun to let him wonder.

“Look what I found at the grocery store?” I called out to Steven as I walked into the kitchen and placed the small green pot on the counter.

“I was hoping for food.” Steven sounded disappointed when he came into the kitchen and saw the plant I was fussing over.

“There’s plenty of that in the car.” I moved the pot closer to the window. “I didn’t want anything to happen to this little beauty so she rode up front with me.” I brushed a speck of dirt off the pink dotted green leaves. “It’s called a Polka Dot plant but the other name it goes by is Freckle Face!” I looked at Steven. “So I’m going with Freckle Face.” I couldn’t help but smile. “Isn’t that the cutest name?”

“Sure.” Steven grabbed his jacket to go out and get the groceries. “Cute name.”

I was still busy fussing over my new little friend when Steven came back in with the bags. “This is all of it.” He placed the bags on the counter and accidentally bumped one of them against the plant.

“Careful.” I said moving the plant from harm.

“Oops, sorry.” he began unloading the bags. “So where are you going to put it?”

“On the back porch.” I said. “It says it likes moderate to low light so I thought the table next to the rocking chair would be perfect.” I began helping him unload the bags.

“It can go out now?” Steven seemed surprised.

“Well, not right now.” I admitted as I filled the fruit bowl with clementines. “It’s still too cold out. But once it reaches 60 degrees it’s our new porch plant!”

Steven looked at me. “You know it still goes down to the 30’s at night. It’s not going to be able to go outside until late May at the earliest.”

“I know that.”

“So why did you buy it now?”

“Because when I saw it at the grocery store it just made me think of summer evenings on the porch.” I looked out the kitchen window where I could still see a few stray fall leaves blowing around. “I can’t wait to get the hummingbird feeder hung and put the pillows out.” I turned around and looked at Steven. “I guess I’m just in a rush for summer.”

“But what about Spring?” Steven asked. “Usually at this time of year you’re standing by the lilac bush letting me know when you see the first bud.”

“I know.” I sighed. “But for some reason this last cold snap has me wanting to go right to summer.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Freckle Face can live on the counter for now.”

Steven looked over at the plant. “I guess for an impulse buy it’s not a bad one.”

“I see your ready for summer too!”

“Actually, I was just thinking how lucky I was that the grocery store wasn’t selling puppies, kittens or baby bunnies.”

“Oh, the baby bunnies!” I cried. “I wonder when our first litter will be hopping around the front yard?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Wasn’t it about the same time the lilacs started to bloom?”

I grabbed my jacket and headed for the front door.

“Where are you going?” Steven asked. “I told you I already got all the groceries out of the car.”

“I know, I’m going to check the lilac bush and see if there’s any buds on it yet!” I was already out the door excited to see what I would find. “I can’t believe it’s almost bunny season!” I called over my shoulder.

It was early in the morning and I’d just been outside to get the newspaper. “Can you hear the woodpecker out there?” I asked Steven as I put the newspaper on the counter. I grabbed the kettle and began to fill it with water.

Steven listened for a moment. “It sounds like he’s banging on someone’s gutter.”

“I guess when you’re calling for a mate the louder the better!”

“I wonder if it’s the same red-headed woodpecker I saw in the back yard the other day.” Steven pointed out the window. “Two of them were digging around in the lawn.”

“They’re red bellied woodpeckers.” I turned the burner on and put the kettle on. “The red headed ones are really rare. They aren’t around here.”

“But the ones I saw had red heads…”

“I know, but I looked it up and we have the red bellied ones, they also have some red on their heads.”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Well, you’re more of a birder then I am so I guess we have the red bellied ones instead.”

“I’m not a real birder.” I got a cup from the cabinet and a tea bag from the canister. “I have a pair of binocular and a couple of bird books that’s all.” I leaned back against the counter waiting for the water to boil. “If I were a serious birder I’d be wearing the multi-pocketed khaki vest, a wide-brimmed safari hat, and maybe a walking stick, to be a little different then the rest.”

Steven looked confused. “Where did you come up with that outfit?”

“Don’t you remember last fall when we went down to Cape May? We were there when they were having the birding convention.”

“Sure I remember.”

“Don’t you remember the bleachers they had set up in the fields so that all the birders could watch the fall migration?”

“Of course, I remember that too.”

“But you don’t remember how they were dressed?” I was surprised.

Steven took the kettle off the stove and poured the hot water into my cup. “No, I honestly don’t.” he admitted. “I guess I was too busy looking up in the sky at the birds.”

“Well, that was your mistake.” I laughed as I grabbed the newspaper and my cup and headed for the table. “I couldn’t take my eyes off of some of their outfits. The vests were the best! Pockets everywhere!”

“What are they carrying that they need all the pockets?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “You got me, but their pockets were bursting with stuff.”

Steven sat down across the table from me. “So the only thing stopping you from being a real birder is an outfit?”

“What?” I looked at him confused. “What are you talking about?”

Steven tilted his head a bit looking as if he was trying to understand me. “Didn’t you just spend the last five minutes explaining to me how real birders have special outfits and that’s why you’re an amateur because you don’t have a multi-pocket khaki vest?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m an amateur birder because I don’t have the knowledge the real birders have.” I felt confused. “Geez Steven, if we went by your way of thinking I wouldn’t be cooking you dinner tonight because I don’t own a chef’s hat and chef jacket.”

Steven stared a me for a moment with a look of disbelief. Then he shook his head, “I can’t believe this whole conversation started because you heard a red-headed woodpecker tapping on a gutter when you went out to get the newspaper.”

“Red bellied, Steven.” I smiled, then took a sip of my tea and handed him a section of the paper. “It was a red bellied woodpecker.”

“Well, that took forever.” I grumbled as I lifted the eight bags of groceries hanging from my arms, and placed them on the counter.

“Are they’re any more in the car?” Steven asked as he headed for the front door.

“Nope.” I rubbed the spots where the bags had dug into my arms. “You know me, only one trip into the house with the bags, even if it’s enough groceries to fill a shopping cart.” I began the unloading.

“Why did you say it took forever?” Steven took the pasta boxes and placed them in the cabinet.

“Because nothing inspired me.” I put the milk in the refrigerator. “I must have walked back and fourth in front of the meat counter twenty times and nothing, I mean nothing, called out to me. How many times can I make chicken, beef, pork or pasta? I was looking for something different.” I placed the bag of fresh spinach on the counter. “We can leave this out, I’m going to be using it.”

“Oh, fresh spinach, that’s a good start.” Steven reached into another bag and pulled out a pound of hamburger meat and placed it on the counter. “So I see you gave up and we’re going to be having hamburgers?”

I smiled as I grabbed my phone and pulled up the site I’d been on. “We’re going to have Swedish meatballs!” I showed him the recipe I’d found.

“Swedish meatballs!” Steven started to laugh. “What made you think of them?”

“Well…while I was wandering back and forth in front of the meat counter, waiting for inspiration to strike, I started to think about the matching bedside tables I’d like to get.”

“Wait, what?” Steven looked over at me, a confused look on his face.

“Oh, come on.” I began stacking the yogurts on a shelf in the refrigerator. “We’ve had mis-matched bedside table for years. It looks stupid.” I complained.

“This is the first time I’m hearing about this.”

“That’s because you don’t even see it anymore.” I took the hamburger meat from him. “So when I was thinking about the furniture I thought about IKEA and that led me to their Swedish meatballs.” I turned around a big smile on my face. “And that, my friend, led me to our dinner!”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I haven’t had Swedish meatballs in years.”

“I know!” I took the bag of noodles and placed them next to the spinach. “Who doesn’t like Ikea’s Swedish meatballs!”

Alex walked into the room. “Did I hear someone say something about dinner?”

“We’re having Swedish meatballs.” Steven said as he put the last of the groceries away.

Alex looked confused. “I don’t think I’ve ever had them before.”

“What?” I turned around and looked at him. “We’ve never taken you to IKEA?” I looked over at Steven. “How could that be?”

Steven started to laugh, “Remember about twenty years ago when we got the kids furniture there and it took me hours and hours to put it all together?”

I tried to think back that far. “Kind of.” I finally said.

“I swore then that I’d never buy any furniture that I had to put together.”

“So it’s been over twenty years since we’ve been there?” I was truly surprised. “It’s kind of funny that I don’t remember the furniture but I remember their meatballs.” I had to smile as I looked at Alex. “Just wait until you taste these.”

Alex didn’t look convinced. “Sure,” He shook his head and started to laugh, “Furniture store meatballs, who wouldn’t love them.”

I was standing in the dining room, staring out the window when Steven walked into the room. “You okay?” he asked.

“Not really.” I admitted.

“What’s wrong?” Steven sounded concerned.

“I just not feeling very with it.” I sighed and leaned my arms against the window sash. “I should really be making a list for the grocery store but I’m just not up to it.”

“Are you coming down with something?”

“Nope, I’m just feeling a little off-center.” I looked over at him. “You know how I usually know exactly what I’m making for dinner for the next five days?”

“Yeah!” Steven smiled. “I love that about you.”

“Well…it’s not happening this week. I’m not even sure what I’m making for dinner tonight much less five days from now.” I turned around a pulled out a dining room chair, sat down and leaned my head back against the chair. “I just feel blah.”

Steven placed his hand on my forehead. “You don’t feel like you have a fever.”

“I’m telling you I’m not sick, I just can’t seem to get moving. I’m usually so organized. By this time of the day I should have a load of laundry in the washer and the dishwasher unloaded and reloaded.” I sighed as I just sat there. “Instead I feel like I wouldn’t be able to find my shoes much less the car keys.”

Steven looked down at my feet. “You’re wearing your shoes.”

I laughed. “I was exaggerating to make a point.”

“Do you want me to make you a cup of tea?” Steven went over to put some water in the kettle.

“I’m not sure it’s a caffeine thing.” I shook my head. “I just feel like I’m in a brain fog. I can’t focus, I’m forgetful and I’m always tired.”

“Maybe it’s a hormonal thing.” he suggested.

I looked over at him.

“Well, you know at your age your hormones start to act up…”

I’m sure the look on my face stopped him in mid-sentence. “You’re really not about to tell me about my hormones are you?”

It was just then that Alex walked into the kitchen. He looked into the dining room. “Hey, morning!” he called. “What are you guys up to?”

“Your Dad was just about to explain to me why my hormones are making me feel so unproductive.”

Alex didn’t say a word. He just reached into the cabinet, grabbed a granola bar, and slowly backed out of the kitchen.

Steven’s smiled at me as he held up the kettle. “How about I make some tea for both of us and we make the shopping list together?”

I just looked at him.

“Or…” he put the kettle down and came over to sit next to me. “We could order out tonight and you could skip the grocery shopping.”

I smiled, I was beginning to feel better already.

I’d just returned from a shopping trip when Steven met me at the door. “Where have you been?” he asked.

I held up my bag. “I ran over to the store to pick up a cute vestie looking thing.” I pulled it out of the bag and held it up for him to see.

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “So you really needed a green vest?”

“Well…need and want are two different things aren’t they?” I tucked it back in the bag and went to hang up my coat. “But a friend of mine was wearing one at work the other day and when I told her how great it looked on her she told me where she got it and that there were still a lot of them on the rack so, I decided to go check it out.”

I went into the kitchen to start dinner and Steven followed me in. “I thought women hated when someone copied their look.”

I opened the refrigerator to pull out the defrosted container of sauce. “Some do, but if she’s going to tell me the name of the store and let me know there were plenty left I didn’t think she’d mind.” I opened a drawer and pulled out a pot for the sauce. “They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” I reminded him. I pulled out another pot and went to the sink to fill it with water. “Besides you know how much I hate to shop and I really don’t have the fashion flair other people have, so when I see something I like I have to pounce!”

I looked over at Steven who looked a little scared as he choose his words carefully. “Well,” he finally said. “I do know you hate to shop.”

I smiled at him as I put the pot on the stove and turned the burner on. “Smart man.”

“So what happens if you both wear it on the same day? Isn’t that a problem?”

“Can you grab a box of pasta for me?” I pointed to the pantry he was standing next to. “And to answer your question I didn’t buy the exact vest she had, mine is a little different.”

He pulled out a box of ziti and handed it to me. “Wait, then why did you have to rush over to get one?”

“Well,” I leaned back against the counter. “I have to admit I was going to go over and get the exact same one. She was right, they had a bunch of them but, when I put it on the only thing I could think of was that when I wore it to work everyone was going to play the Who-Wore-It-Best game.” I looked at Steven and shook my head. “I have to be perfectly honest, I’ve never won that game.” I grabbed a spoon and gave the sauce a quick stir. “So when I saw they had other styles I got one of them.”

“So it’s not really an imitation of someone else’s style, it’s more a resemblance.” Steven said as he opened the box of ziti and dumped it in the pot of boiling water.

“Exactly.” I answered as I gave the past a quick stir. “Which is still a compliment to her style. But just not a creepy as buying the exact same thing.”

Steven pulled the plates out of the cabinet and placed them on the counter. “I have to say, we’ve been married thirty-one years and the way you figure things out still confuses me.”

Alex and I headed out the front door for a walk around the neighborhood, “Can you believe it’s only February and we’re wearing sweatshirts?” I was thrilled to have my winter coat hanging in the closet while we went for our walk.

“It is nice.” Alex agreed as he stopped to retie his sneaker.

I looked over at the side of our house. “Oh my gosh! Look!” I cried as I pointed to leaves popping through the soil. “The daffodils are already coming up!” I had to go over to take a closer look.

Kneeling down I moved a few forgotten fall leaves away from them. “I’m loving this! Aren’t you?” I looked over at Alex waiting for him to share the same excitement that I was feeling.

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I guess it’s nice.”

“You guess?” I got up and we headed out for our walk. The sun was shining and the birds were calling to one another when I looked up in the trees. “I’m not seeing any buds on the trees yet.”

“That’s because it February.” Alex reminded me.

“I know, but it feels like spring!” I felt like doing a happy dance, but I held back so I wouldn’t embarrass Alex.

“We could still get a snowstorm you know.” Alex reminded me.

I wanted to put both hands over my ears and chant “LA, LA, LA!” to stop from hearing his horrible words but I decided to take the mature way of stopping him. “Why aren’t you enjoying this day as much as I am?”

“I am enjoying today!” Alex countered. “But I also realize we’re still in winter and the weather is going to change.”

“But it might not.” I argued. We’d stopped at the corner and were waiting for a car to pass before we could cross the street. As the car passed we could hear to music blaring from it’s open windows. “See,” I looked over at Alex pointing at the car. “I’m in such a good mood that even though that’s not my favorite type of music I’m still thrilled to hear it because that’s another sign of spring!”

Alex just laughed as we crossed the street and continued our walk.

“More daffodils.” I pointed to a bunch peeking out from under a bush.

“Uh-huh.”

A few feet later, “There’s some more!” I cried looking over at Alex who nodded in agreement.

I was busy looking for more signs of spring when I noticed a small pile of dirty snow in the shady section of someone’s driveway. “Oh man…do you know how badly I want to go over there and stomp that snow pile to mush?”

Alex looked over at the snow I was pointing to. “I know, I kicked the leftover snow from our deck this morning.”

“You did?” I looked over at him and smiled.

“Sure. I’m tired of looking at the snow too.”

“So, you’re just as ready for Spring to start as I am!”

“I am, but I’ll say it again.” Alex looked over at me with a serious look on his face. “It’s only February and weather changes.”

Now I had to do it, I covered my ears with the palms of my hands and chanted, “LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!”