Yeah, it starts setting in about now, doesn’t it? I have a bookmark on my phone for a “Countdown to Spring” timer (It’s 30 days, by the way!). I want to look at it ten times a day…you know, just in case I discover I have been in some sort of time warp and it’s actually next week instead of next month. Sigh.

I did go through my pictures yesterday and paid close attention to this time last year. There were plenty of pictures of snow (Remember “Fifty Shades of White?”) and lots of screenshots of my weather app with negative and single digit temps. And, who can forget my weekend of bubble baths and breakfast in bed at the Historic Blennerhassett Hotel after the -25 wind chills froze up my refrigerator and I lost all my food? Yikes!

It doesn’t seem like this winter is as bad. I don’t believe we have had as much snow here, nor have we had the same prolonged period of sub-freezing temps. Of course, part of that could be because I’m living indoors this year. The luxury of hot running water and a flush toilet are not lost on me and it has made it much easier to bear these dreary months. I DO love my bubble baths!

I’m sure the biggest influence in getting through winter with less difficulty is my continued healing and growth since losing Mr. Virgo. I’m not as lost. I’m not as devastatingly sad. I’m much more awake and alive and aware. This leaves me with an uneasy feeling, like…I’m coming out of a coma or amnesia. It leaves me wondering “What did I DO while I was ‘gone’? What kind of mistakes did I make? And if they’re big, can I fix them?”

I’ve already had to come to terms with some of the bigger mistakes. I spent WAY too much money the first year. In my interview with the New York Times (which I have been told will be available online tomorrow and in print Saturday!!!) I tell Kelly that I have regrets making some major purchases in that first year to year and a half. The problem is, when you get to the shallower half of the money pool, you look back and can remember specific purchases and wonder what on EARTH you were thinking. You think of what you could be doing with that money NOW. But, there is no use in crying over spilled milk. It’s done…I learned…move on. The biggest lesson I got from that was to be sure to tell you to think about getting any life insurance payout in monthly payments instead of one lump sum to keep you from having a false sense of abundance. Retail therapy is not as good in the long run as say…grief counseling.

I’m taking a break from the book for a few days. I was actually writing in my dreams! Instead, I am working on my brand and networking. I created the spiffy new header you see up at the top of the page here and added a tag line. “Navigating Grief…One Campfire at a Time”. I like it. It speaks of discovery and the journey and the hope I have found from it. It speaks of truth.

❤️

“The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.”

Proverbs 21:20 NIV