The best part of waking up

So right now I, like many of you other bloggers, am FREEZING. Fah-ree-zeen. It is COLD out. It is so cold that almost all of the schools in our area are closed today, and for the past three nights, our six-o’clock news has headlined How to Stay Safe in Cold Weather. No joke. And how cold is it, you ask? Well, this morning my car told me that it was 16-degrees, but with the wind-chill, I’m betting we’re in the negatives. And here is where all of my Midwestern readers rolls their eyes and say, Ha! You think THAT’S cold? And I say, Y-E-S. THAT’S COLD. We’re are freezing down here. Show me the updated stats on Global Warming NOW, tree-huggers.

And with the bone-chilling wind whipping around outside, we’ve managed to stay pretty warm the past few days, mostly through a fire in the fireplace, lots of snuggling and eating numerous big, hearty meals. Which means our New Year’s diet will start as soon as the thermometer rises past 40, because the last thing I want to eat right now is a bowl of leafy greens. And we’ve pretty much barricaded ourselves inside our house as well. Yesterday, when I bundled up Miss T to get in the car and go to the gym, I realized that it was the first time she had been outside since the previous Thursday. That’s what we do when it’s cold – Stay home, take naps under the covers and eat chili.

But it wasn’t like we were completely secluded over the weekend. We had friends over on Friday night, and then Chris and I each took our separate turns leaving the house over the next few days. And do you want to know what I did with my Brooke-time? I ran a few errands and made some Christmas exchanges and purchases ALL BY MYSELF. It was heavenly. I even bought a cup of coffee to hold as I was strolling the aisles. Take advantage of solo-shopping while you can, childless-ladies. Because grocery shopping is far less relaxing when you are constantly shoving treats into your kids mouth in order to divert their attention from all the random foods that have Dora the Explorer on their boxes.

And even though she was stuck inside for four straight days, Taylor didn’t mind one bit as she is STILL preoccupied with the numbers of toys she opened over Christmas. In fact, each morning when we come downstairs she shrieks in delight over the fact that all of her toys are still here. As if she was nervous that in the middle of the night, Santa might just fly right back down the chimney and take everything back. And it’s such an ordeal, as she scampers around to all her different stations and picks up each thing and screams out its name – BAY-BEE (baby), CUH-LER (colors), CAH-PEE (coffee). And the last one is actually the tea set that Chris’s parents gave her, but she insists that it is a coffee set. Which might have something to do with the fact that her father and I walk around like zombies until we’ve each drank a gallon or so of coffee. So instead of tea parties we have coffee parties, and just so she feels like part of the gang, she actually stuffs some Play-doh into her cup and sips it right along with us. And it’s pretty cute. And even if it’s freezing outside, it makes for a pretty cozy morning - Just us, our princess and our coffee.