Thinking spring...

Do you ever find that "positive thinking" works to change anything more than your attitude? I've always been of the opinion that acting or thinking a certain way can change things external to you. For example, if it is cold, wet, and grey outside, but you decide to go out wearing strappy sandals, a colorful blouse, and (ok...) a springy jacket, you will actually feel like it's warm and spring-like. I call this "positive dressing" and it has about a 30% success rate. The other 70% of the time, I catch a cold or have to borrow Josh's huge, leather aviator jacket. And that kills any style I might have been trying to pull off other than the "stupid-freezing-wife-wrapped-in-man-coat" look. Wait for it. It will soon be all over the cover of InStyle. Yeah right... in about a hundred years!

But that rare 30%!! I'm of the opinion that what you wear in a given day does much to determine what kind of a day you are going to have. On my "stable" days, I'll wander around the house until about lunch time in pj's. After all, I'm doing my normal chores - that is, chores that require little thought, imagination, or effort. As my pj's indicate, I could be asleep and doing chores for as much thought as I give doing dishes, sweeping the floors, washing laundry, changing diapers, etc. But there are other chores that require a particular uniform. Gardening is one such. I don't mind dirt and getting dirty, but I have to be dressed for it. I have a particularly awesome, paint-stained pair of capris that were made for kneeling in the dirt. Certain forms of house cleaning - bathrooms, for example - require dressing up, even if it is just wearing Josh's white tees matched with a smashing pair of purple gloves. However, none of these dress-ups are more than functional. There is also the kind of dressing up that puts one in better spirits. On the aforementioned "grey days," the surest way to counteract the inevitable blues is to start your day out by putting on makeup, brushing your hair, and wearing something cute. Probably no one apart from me appreciates it, but try it some time. Cute clothes = better moods.

So what has this all to do with spring? Not much, except that it's getting here! Along with the short sleeves, tank tops, skirts, sandals and shorts that go with it. The wonderful thing about living 7,000 feet up in the air is that you are that much closer to the sun and that much more likely to tan quickly. And do I tan!! Thank you, dear Philipino mother for the ability to tan well. Nevermind that I go through the winter looking some sickly shade of yellow. In the summer, (after one or two nasty episodes without sunscreen) I bake to a lovely brown. The combination of working in my wannabe garden, on sunny days, in a tank top has produced some interesting tan lines on my back and shoulders. Don't worry, sooner or later those zebra stripes will all even out into something resembling a good tan.

In an effort to hurry spring along, I shall continue to done tees, skirts and sandals despite the gale-like winds and occasional snowfalls. When spring finally gets here, you can thank me by coming to my funeral, as I will probably soon succumb to pneumonia.