The Hard Part

February is the hard part of the year in the midwest. Sure, it's cold in other places and at other times of the year but in the heart of the Heartland the wind blows right through you. The below zero temperatures are so cold that salt won't melt the ice on the road. The sky is pale grey and it's hard to tell where the snow ends.

There's something about this time of year that can really bring you down. Your joints ache. You feel sun "deficient". Unless you are tanning, your skin takes on a greenish hue and you feel like the Earth, in its death like slumber has chosen you as its energy source and with Matrix like translucency has drained you of all will to do anything but sleep.

Thankfully, this usually lasts only a few weeks.

Hannah completed her last short course swim meet this weekend. She did fantastic, finishing in the top 10 for her age group in each event. Swimmers must qualify for regionals with 10 and under times and Hannah is 8 so she was not ready this year. But we are very proud of her progress. They take a little break now (if you call practicing 5 days a week a break) from meets and then in April they will start long course meets.

Hannah is also gearing up for Destination Imagination which is a creativity competition in the area. Her team of six will do a "theatre in the round" production in March. I'll post pictures.

Madi is now in Gymnastics, Cheerleading, and swimming but is still bouncing off the walls to go outside. We started some seeds together recently and are enjoying watching them sprout: a preview of spring!