Poltergeist

January is the poltergeist of months—all shivers and creaks and rattles and filmy-gray. It never snows in our city (though both north and south of us celebrated white Christmases), and we’re now stuck in a stagnant patch of blah until March. It helps if you say it out loud: “BLAH.” It also helps to roll along with the creaky, shivery days, not expect too much from them, and (perpetual moral alert) enjoy the little things.

Like,

Fresh Asiago cheese sliced thin and nibbled compulsively (by me, Dan, and the girls, who would gladly live on cheese alone)

Being in one of my husband’s biomechanics studies and thus having incentive to exercise every day (instead of sitting around feeling exactly like uncooked bacon)

Feist (I especially love climbing up inside “Mushaboom” and daydreaming about spring)

My sexy new microplane zester (Come on, baby, zest those lemons!)

Cheering along (from my bed) with kajillions of people on the Washington Mall for a hopeful, refreshing change

Sweet-smelling laundry hung around the house to dry (too cold outside, but I no longer mind)

Keeping the girls up late because we’re just having too much fun being silly together (is there any better reason?)

It also helps that January’s three-quarters over. May it rest in peace.