This winter has been rough on a lot of people for serious reasons: Feet of snow, lack of power, sickness from being trapped inside with looming treacherous weather outdoors. We’ve had none of those things here. However, that’s why I like to live in the South. I can NOT handle extreme cold or clouds or snow. I like my winters mild and dry. And that’s usually how they are. But this winter? Has been rough for Alabama. While we’ve not had the feet of snow, we’ve had enough cold and ice that our state has been shut down on several occasions. Our kids have already missed so much school that the big talk around town is how far the year will now have to be extended to make up for it. And the extended school year aside? My mood has been CRAPPY. I hate gray skies and I hate jackets. I hate cold muddy ground or frozen pavement. It all makes me beyond grumpy as I’ll take the hot, humid summers of Alabama and day of the week over any sort of cold or snow. MISERABLE. That has been me. With a capital MISERABLE.

(Yes. I know. You with the real winters are rolling your eyes. Just like I do when you say that 85 degrees is hot.)

This weekend, however, was BEAUTIFUL. With a capital BEAUTIFUL. Sunny and 70. I did as much outside between Friday morning and Sunday afternoon as humanly possible. We went to parks, we played with chalk, we dug in the dirt and we hung out at the Botanical Gardens. I feel rejuvenated. I feel like I can handle weeks of gray and cold now. Which is a good thing because the forecast for this week? GRAY AND COLD.

How about you? What type of climate is the best for your emotional state? The South is really great for me, but Tucson would probably be perfect. I love being hot and sweaty. I love the sun. I hate the rain and the clouds. And the winter? Can totally kiss my booty. What about you? What’s your perfect climate? Are you living in it? If you’re not…how much does this affect your mood?

If you click the photo you can see the notes I added in flickr. Or see every title here

One of the things I’ll miss about living in a smaller home, is the fact that it forces you to sift through your belongings on a regular basis. Before Christmas and birthdays I take loads of toys to Goodwill in order to make room for the inevitable new items. AndyZ and NikkiZ share a room. If I left every toy in there that anyone had ever purchased for them, there would be no room for beds, cribs, or dressers. It’s already a tight squeeze as it is, and it’s a large room. Clothes also have to be weeded out when new items are purchased. I very rarely put a new item in my drawers or on the rack until an old item has been thrown in the donation bin. We are at capacity in this home. At least at a capacity I’m comfortable with – because I still am a fan of empty spaces. Our attic is full. There are no cars in our garage because it is used for things like kayaks and canoes and bikes and lawnmowers. This limited space means that if something isn’t used or cherished, it is sent off to be used or cherished by someone else. THIS IS A GOOD THING. We should all do this because the things that are sitting untouched in your kitchen, in your child’s toybox, or in your husband’s dresser – those things could be used and loved by someone less fortunate than you.

So – these are the only bookshelves in our home designated for MrZ and I. (Each child has their own bookshelf in their room.) As MrZ and I both really like owning our favorite books, we often buy more books to add to these shelves. There’s several books from a matching set from my grandparent’s home and I also kept a substantial stack of my Dad’s books. (The rest were donated). These factors had our bookshelves overflowing up until last week. I finally went through every book on every shelf and kept those which are truly our favorites. Either because we love the words, or because we’re sentimentally attached to the books themselves. I took pictures of the shelves as I feel like they say so much about us. We’re obviously Geographers by study as we can’t part with many of our old college textbooks. Someone is a huge fan of the Young Adult Fiction section. There’s many spiritual, health, and political books – separated by more poetry than the law should allow. We even have an old-school Plane Trigonometry text book. (Can you guess who that belonged to?) I just love these shelves. I love that there’s random kitschy items on there as well as puzzle boxes. It’s just a great snapshot of who we are as a family, and I love it.

We hope to be moving into a bigger home soon. One that will probably allow us more room for books. While part of me giggles with excitement over this possibility, another part will be sad to see the condensed reflections of our personalities that only a small home can create. I’d like to think I’ll still be diligent about weeding out stuff other people can make better use of, but will I really be if I’m not forced to by limited space? Probably not. Lord knows I’ve lived in much smaller places in the past yet I had no problem filling this house to capacity in five years.

In my defense, we’ve also added two humans to the mix in those five years. That’s gotta give me some sort of an excuse, right?

So. Our shelves. Aren’t they nice? Now…I’ve shown you mine. Will you show me yours?

I don’t subscribe to websites set up mainly to find humor in making fun of average Joes or Janes. Especially ones that post pictures of the innocent victims and create a community out of mocking them for being fat, or dressing poorly. However, almost everyone I know does so they either get emailed to me or I see them show up in my Feed Reader when other people share them out. But I try to ignore them because those things just make me uncomfortable.

Now, I’m no saint. I admit that I laugh at people sometimes. But I always feel like crap afterward. Maybe it’s because I’m getting old, like I say in my twitter, because I think I used to be more relaxed about such things. Or maybe it’s because I’ve been the Momma Cougar as Sarah put it, and seeing my kids get made fun of has made me less tolerant. And my family cracks up at those things all the time, I don’t judge them. And I know they’re not evil. Yet when I see the stuff? I simply cringe.

For example, when I saw this? I got defensive in my head. Because when I heard they were bringing the trophy to that Wal-Mart? I was jealous they weren’t coming closer to Huntsville. I would have totally been in that Wal-Mart seeing that trophy if it had not been so far away. And I’m not even an Alabama fan! Yes…I would have looked a little cuter than the people in line in that photo (maybe) but still…why make fun of those people? I saw that entry and I totally wanted to justify their excitement. (I can’t necessarily justify their appearance, sorry!) They’ve been waiting for their team to win the championship since 1992, they’re allowed to be goofy and excited. Why mock them for that? Most people have some sort of team they’ve been rooting for their whole lives. What if the Braves won the world series? Or the Browns won the Superbowl? Why is it wrong to be so excited about that?

But that’s not the point, is it. Websites like that make fun of everyone. And I’m just a fragile little flower that finds it very hard to laugh at people when I’ve been laughed at myself. Or when my kids have been and they’ve cried in my arms about it. So, tell me…is it just me? Am I just overly sensitive? (My husband is screaming, “YES!”) Or do you struggle with these websites too? I can’t even watch the audition weeks of American Idol because I’m too sensitive to the feelings of the ones that don’t make it. And if the judges actually laugh at the auditioners? I leave the room. CAN’T WATCH IT!

I’m topless and wearing monkey shoes. If you’re going to mock anyone, mock my mother. She dresses me funny.

I got out of the house a bit yesterday to get the big kids to school and then out again pick them up early due to the snow. I also ran a few errands for the football party last night. And then, around 3pm or so, the roads started getting kinda icy. And school was canceled today. And I have officially been stuck in this house for less than 24 hours – yet I still feel like I’m already losing my mind.

I am a homebody in terms of socializing, I don’t like to leave my house or my family. I just enjoy the company of my kids in my living room and that’s about it. I have social anxiety that keeps me at home most evenings, or in the comfort of the home of family. I just don’t get out much to socialize. But when it comes to errands and such? I love to get out of the house. I try to schedule errands throughout the day to keep me from going stir crazy in my home. We go to the recycling center, to Goodwill, to the car wash. We go to Target, or Publix, or Wal-Mart. We pick up milk or drop off old beer bottles. Anything and everything I can think of to give me periodic breaks away from the house. So…today? After almost 24 hours stuck in my house? I’m suddenly losing my mind.

Many people (my husband included) think of this as a wonderful thing. Not needing to leave the house for long periods of time. But me? I think because I do most of the chores in the house, I often consider this like my office. NOT a place I want to be non-stop for 24 hours. I work here. Even when I play here a mess is being made that I’m responsible for. So I have to spread out excuses to leave during the day or by the time evening rolls around? I’m punching faces I’m so stressed out. Tonight is going to be one of those nights if I don’t get an opportunity to sneak out at some point without risky death on the roads. SEND ME A HOVERCRAFT. STAT!

What about you? Do you look at 24 hours stuck in your home as a blessing or a curse? Obviously we all have our cabin fever limits, no one wants to be stuck at home all week. But can you at least make it a day without wanting to jump off your roof? Because obviously – I can’t.

Today is LilZ’s first day of exams. EXAMS. Do you know the dark and dreary flashbacks the word EXAMS brings me? DARK AND DREARY.

I spent seven years in college, I studied for a lot of exams. Then, the four years in high school prior to that? ELEVEN YEARS OF EXAMS. Just watching him studying last night I broke out in cold sweats and felt the urge to make a pot of coffee and smoke a pack of cigarettes. How does he do it without caffeine or nicotine?

(Please don’t tell him I asked that question.)

LilZ and I have discussed what he is learning to be his best study methods. They seem to be completely opposite from mine. He reads a lot out loud, he says. Slowly and deliberately, like a script. He seems to respond to the audio and the vocal triggers in his memory. Me? I was a writer. I had to write and re-write things to allow them to solidify a spot in my brain. I would re-write my notes before tests…sometimes several times. MrZ, on the other hand, was one of those bastards who had photographic memory. He re-read everything once and it was solid. And while my memory was often short-term, his always stuck. Which is why when I scored higher than he did on any exams, I felt like a rockstar.

What about you? How did you study for exams?

Random Picture Of a Seriously Cute Couple For Your Enjoyment