Let us get one thing clear. I do love winter. Absolutely without a question in my mind. So much so that I almost don’t like summer… other than baking in the sun around the pool out back.

While winter is a joy for me, there are a few things about it that I don’t like about it.

I don’t necessarily enjoy those frigid days if there is not any snow on the ground. Nothing is worse than freezing your tail off when it doesn’t look like a winter wonderland outdoors. I mean if it is going to be cold, let’s have some snow with it. It was explained to me once that it was too cold to snow. Nonsense! Really. What is that about? Too cold? You mean to tell me it has to warm up to snow. Wow! Oxymoron if I ever heard one.

Since I am on the subject cold temperatures, another thing I don’t like is walking to the office from the garage a full 8 blocks in this weather.  By the time I get halfway to the building the lower portion of my thighs are numb to the point where they are tingling and the feel of any material rubbing against them is even more irritating. I don’t care how many layers I put on… pants, skirt, tights, under slip, etc. for whatever reason nothing protects that spot on my legs from freezing.

Winter also brings all the extra personal maintenance that I normally skip any other time of year. Lip balm: I do not like the taste of it. Do not like when crumbs from what I am eating get stuck to it then your lips feel gritty. Don’t like the fat that in order to apply more you have to clean off the previous application because of the aforementioned. Don’t like that the best lip balms cost too much for them to be lost in the bottom of my purse, pants pocket, or frozen from sitting in the console of my car. And lotion: Man do I hate putting that stuff on more than once a day. Really, isn’t once enough? After a shower is plenty, but if I want my hands to stay soft and my skin not to feel like it’s crawling then I had better keep an economy size bottle on me. My goodness!

Of course, with winter people use their ovens more for whatever reason. I mean we have central air so turning the oven on in the summer should be no different from winter, but it is. Anyway this bothers me because I usually run out of casserole meal ideas pretty quickly and since I don’t bake I still don’t get the benefit of using my oven… whatever that benefit is.

I still have a few thoughts floating around in my head about the bad part of winter. The more I think about it the more I’m wondering if I really do LIKE winter anymore…

I love you Mom, I love you Dad!

I am venturing into new seas.  Ok, maybe not completely new, but still something outside of the norm for me.  I have decided to join the “real” world and leave a piece of me out there periodically.  I started this somewhere else, another time for another reason, but it did not go as planned.  As a matter of fact, after reading and silently viewing other welcome mats I decided I wanted to change mine around a little bit.  So here I am.  Not perfect by any means or necessarily decorated yet, but a work in progress.

I am challenging myself to stay committed to this… unlike the last time.  Though I think I have more to share now… unlike before.  Besides there are three sides to every story… mine, yours, and the truth.

This is mine…

I grew up in a loving family.  Dysfunctional like most but loving.  I am the oldest of four natural children, one legally adopted and several surrogates.  There is almost four and half years between me and the “stair steps.”  My parents had me in their teen years before they got married, but tied the knot shortly after I was born.  They have stood the test of time and their years of marriage equals my age.  My cousin and I resided with my paternal grandparents for most of my early years and were able to see their love as it aged.

During my childhood, my parents surrendered to God’s call and became faithful Christians.  My grandparents are believers as well so my upbringing was reflective of Pentecostal Apostolic beliefs.  (More on that at another time.)  I am now a member of my dad’s growing church where my grandfather is a member as well.  The “stair steps” all live their own lives, but my youngest sister does actively membership at my dad’s church as well.

I was recently married (2 years ago) in a very meaningful ceremony and I now share a home with Dear, (my husband,) and his clone.  These are the thoughts, afflictions, sacrifices, triumphs, memoirs, celebrations, occasions, conquers, and depressions of my life…

...or least how I see it.

After all, this is My Rendition(s)…