It gets cold here too

I know that most of you are currently sitting all bundled up in your house as the cold wind blows outside. Maybe it's snowing...or raining...or both! Maybe you're next to a heater, or even better, listening to the crackling of a warm fire. I miss these things...once in a while. I miss snow, warm fires, cuddling up with the ones I love in a warm blanket, sipping hot cocoa in front of the Christmas tree...and sometimes, I even miss the cold wind that somehow seems to rip through coats and chill you to the bone.

Since we live in Arizona, my kids don't get to experience "Jack Frost nipping at their noses" very often. It's usually around 60 during the day, and only as low as 40 in the morning. Once in a while though, it can dip below the bearable chill, and that's when I get to join the rest of you by bundling the kids up in cute winter apparel.

The kids winter wardrobe consists of jeans, long sleeve shirts, sneakers (vs. sandals), and fleece jackets. No winter coats. No boots. No earmuffs. No scarves. On occasion, I have been known to buy a thin pair of stretch gloves, but they're more of an accessory than necessity. Yes, I miss Old Man Winter. I miss the holiday feeling that accompanies the frosty air. I miss the red cheeks & noses on kids that appear after an hour of snow play. I miss listening to Christmas carols as snow gently covers the ground...

Ah, yes. I do miss those things...but, I do not miss the countless other things that winter brings. I do not miss:

* warming up my car
* shoveling my driveway
*driving in the snow or on black ice
*bundling up the kids to go to the store (and then unbundeling them as soon as we get there because the heat is blaring and they're hot)
* wet jeans from the slushy sidewalks
* salt from the roads
* never seeming to get warm

Yes, I miss the snow & chilly weather...but unlike all of you, when I REALLY miss it, I can drive 2 hours north, fill my winter void...and then drive back home.

But hey...I'm not one to brag.