“Dear Winter, I’m breaking up with you. I think it’s time I start seeing other seasons. Summer is way hotter than you.”
Welcome back to SOLO at SIXTY!
Can you believe how cold it has been? And how dry everything is? Is your skin dry? Sinuses bothering you? Waking up with a sore throat? Remember Vicks VapoRub? According to my mom, Vicks is THE cure for any and all winter illnesses. Did your mom put Vicks on your neck and chest, wrap you in a towel and fasten it with a huge safety/diaper pin when you were a child? Mine did. And she also put Vicks in our vaporizer. Now I did not put Vicks in my vaporizer, but I did buy a Vicks Vaporizer!
I also bought a cute mister/diffuser for my office which I am now addicted to. It came with 3 essential oils, “Orange” (100% orange), “Fight It” (orange, cardamom, cinnamon, eucalyptus, clove), and “Pay Attention” (lemon, basil, rosemary, peppermint, sage), all wonderfully soothing. And yes, I did get it at Bed Bath and Beyond (using that 20% coupon!) but my daughter found one similar and cheaper on Amazon. So my office is now warm and toasty with my space heater going full blast and so soothing with the citrus and herb scents. Plus the static electricity is gone! Oh, and I followed my younger daughter’s lead and started drinking hot tea to warm me up. You know how I love pumpkin? Well I found a great Pumpkin Spice tea.
“A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” Eleanor Roosevelt
It was a frigidly cold weekend with record low temperatures. However, it was a warm and great weekend for me! Well, with the exception of the result of the UNC-UVA basketball game Saturday. (Congratulations to all the Wahoo fans – UVA rocked!) But I digress… All of my kids were here this weekend! Keeping with my goal of getting everyone together more often. Oh how it warms my heart to have my kids all together. Thankful that I got my live sourdough starter from an “old” friend in WS before Christmas because I have been able to have warm sugarcake weekly. Baked some Saturday morning for our pre-game brunch (and sent one home with my son). Thankful to my boss for our 6 tickets to the basketball game. Thankful to see the Tar Heels in person (especially the pre-game slide), even though they lost. I mean, we did score more than last year’s measly 43 points, but could not score 50 points! Really? At the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill, when the Heels score 100 points everyone gets a free biscuit at Bojangles the next morning. That does happen y’all. We scored 96 last night against Boston College. Not enough for a free biscuit, but more than 49! Just saying…
“When sorrow knocks at your door, tell it you’re busy finding happiness.” Saru Singhal
After the game we headed to a brewery to drown our sorrows and met some of my kids’ friends there. We then had dinner at Oakhart Social (where oddly, there were a lot of local UNC fans sitting next to us). If you are ever in Charlottesville, you must eat here. It is fun, eclectic, and delicious. Small plates to share, best brussel sprouts in the world, even if you don’t like brussel sprouts. After dinner my younger daughter took us to a quaint, wonderful little bar. I loved watching my kids together – all the laughing and telling stories – my kids are really fun to be with. And the atmosphere and drinks at the bar were really good as well!
“Happiness is when you realize that your children have turned out to be good people.”
What warms your heart in this cold, frigid season? My heart is warmed spending time with my kids. And if I can’t be with them, just talking to them. Or facetiming with my granddawg!
The weatherman has promised near 60 degrees by the end of this week. I am holding him to this! And have you noticed that we are having more minutes of light each day? That is making this SOLO gal very happy! We are now up to 2 minutes more of light each day. I’ll be much happier when the days are longer and warmer, but I know that is a couple of months away.
“I’m not going outside until the temperature is above my age.”
Hopefully, it is going to warm up for all of us this weekend. But you know the temperatures are going to drop again. So find what warms your heart and make it happen. Most likely it includes spending time with those you love which is so important, because as we all know, none of us is promised tomorrow.
Warmly,
Leslie
SOLO at SIXTY 