Winter:1, Discontent:0

I'm not sure how it happened. I guess it must have been a gradual process, but it seems so sudden.

I am in love with winter.

I have never liked winter. I was born Down South! I've spent cumulative years walking all hunched over and muttering under my foggy breath! Okay, so winter and I had a sort of a truce going last year, but this year it's all-out adoration. I'm not even bothered by the wind. And I tell you what, I hate me some wind. I am in love with my sweaters, my down duvet, the boho furry collar on my brown coat, the grey skies, the early pink sunsets, the icy lakes, the frosty grass, the cold stars, the hot coffee.

The Boy's school is participating in a February "fitness challenge", and we're supposed to keep a record of how many minutes a day he spends in physical activity outside of school. I've set aside an hour after he gets off the bus (at 4:00) to spend doing some sort of activity--mostly running around in one of the nearby parks. We've chased each other up and down the crisp hills, laughed at the noisy flocks of geese, muddied up several pairs of Crocs, and warmed up frozen hands in the car on the way home. And I've loved it. And I honestly can't say why this sudden change of heart.

I'm going off the Lexapro. I'm going slow. I cut down to 3/4 of a pill when I refilled my script last week. The first few days were interesting--lots of night sweats, dry mouth, nausea, and this interesting shouldn'ta-had-that-5th-cuppa-coffee feeling. But emotionally, I felt fine, even with all the juggling going on around here and some Ex-related drama that I don't feel like detailing. In a few weeks, I'll go to 1/2 a pill. I close on the new house on the 17th, and start the new job on Monday. I think it's going to be fine. I'm optimistic. You know how it is when you're in love.