Grab Winter by the Balls

** fore note: a little beagle is laying her little head on my laptop, and it's adorable.

I have, up to this point, remained fairly optimistic about this rainy Winter. Everyone warned me. Everyone skeptically smirked as I gabbed about moving to Oregon. My response was always "I lived in Houston for six months. I can deal with near-hurricane rainstorms, so I'm *sure* I can handle some drizzle."

ha.

My good friend Candice told me (this summer, when it was beyond gorgeous everyday) just to stay positive. I'm finding that more and more difficult to do. I have been wired to expect a few sunny, warm days come February. Yes, it might snow a week after being 80 degrees, but by damn, there will be heat and sun. I have patiently waited, and I am now impatiently despairing. Oftentimes this despair strikes me in the form of Restless Leg Syndrome (a farce of a medical condition as far as I'm concerned -- go outside and play) as I gaze out my gray window and envision myself frolicking through allergen-free fields. I stopped putting mousse in my hair 4 months ago. And I'm beyond tired of wiping the dogs' muddy paws. and then mopping anyway.

Terrifyingly, this year we've gotten 70% less rain than other years. Seriously? But I have never liked Winter. It has nothing to offer me. Well that has to change. I'm not gonna go have a talk with God and ask God to change the course of seasons, so I can go lake swimming in January. I'm going to take up Winter hobbies -- other than reading the Twilight series in less than two weeks.

So far snowboarding is all I can think of. And that's gonna have to require some serious mind bending to get over my fear of sliding down a mountain.

** Having typed all of this out, I feel much better and have regained some optimism.