It's the Little Things

Sometimes it really is the little things that matter.  I'm so excited to use my new journal.

I finally used up the old one (I think this is number 6 lifetime).  Yes, it's a little lame to get this excited about a new journal, but it's got a beautiful Celtic design on the front and it's green, and leather!  This is my first leather journal and it just feels good to hold it.

One of the other little things that I really love is this tea infuser that my in-laws got me for Christmas a couple of years ago.

I LOVE tea, and loose leaf tea really does taste better.  I can't use it all the time since I just don't have time in the morning before work to heat the water in the tea kettle and then allow the tea to steep in the infuser.  But I always use it when I'm working from home and on the weekends.

Part of why I like these "little" things so much is that they help me get through the "big" things.  This year is going to have several big things to get through.  I'm turning 40 this month.  My daughter is turning 13 next month, I'm officially going to have a teenager.  My son is turning 10 this summer (or "a decade" as he calls it).  My husband and I will be celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary this summer.  We'll also be sending our newly minted teenager to Europe on a school trip.  I'm definitely going to need tea (maybe spiked) and a place to record my feelings to get through that time.  I'm very excited for her and proud of her and know that the trip will be good for her.  But I'm going to have major Momma anxiety while she's across the Atlantic ocean for 2 weeks.  Sometimes it really is the little things that can make the difference between stress and coping!

On another note, it's cold here.  I mean, bone-chilling.  I've lived in Colorado since I was 9 months old and most winters we've had a really cold snap.  But this is the third time this winter we've received a weather warning because of the windchill urging us to limit out time outdoors to avoid hypothermia and frostbite.  I think I saw the thermometer reach 1 degree (Fahrenheit) today, but with the windchill it still feels like 14 below.  I guess I'm a wimp, because I don't like this any longer.  Although it is quite lovely.