It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

While Spring doesn't officially start until the 2oth of March, it's already beginning to feel less wintry in Amsterdam. I visited Alex in Haarlem today (to look at lace patterns) and on my way there, I passed a little house whose front yarn was filled with purple crocuses. I wish I'd had my camera. It was one of those ridiculously cute moments that I come across living here. This snap is from last year.

I love seeing crocuses because it means that winter is almost over. It seems like all of the crocuses that I've seen so far this year have been purple, with the exception of a couple of little white ones that obviously don't know their place. I think there's an order to it all. (There must be, if Intelligent Design is to be believed.) I didn't even notice the color order thing until a couple of years ago when it was brought to my attention. Love that.

Two night ago, I was woken up no less than fifteen times by Fred pushing on my shoulder. I had no idea what he was doing until I got up the next morning and I realized that I must have been snoring. I do that when it's allergy time. The next day, I bought some pills (Allegra) and took one. I'm a big proponent of medication to ease life's little troubles. This allergy thing comes and goes. Some years it's terrible and some years I don't even notice it. Right now, I'm a little congested, my ears are a little itchy, and I have a sore throat from post nasal drip and all the crap that keeps collecting back there. I'll be glad when the pills kick in.

So it's good that winter is almost over. I guess a sore throat and itchy ears is a small price to pay for the promise of some sun.
In other news, Cybèle at One Stitch at a Time has nominated me for a Kreativ Blogger Award. Cybèle is a Dutch woman living in the UK, and she's a knitter. Go check her out. (She's obviously got good taste.) I know I'm supposed to give this to someone(s), but I can't do that right now. I'll do it later. However, I wanted to thank Cybèle. That was very nice of her to mention me. It's always nice to hear that my opinions/observtions are appreciated.

I'm looking forward to more flowers in the coming months. And I'm looking forward to quitting sniping about the gray weather. I used to love the gray. I've just been really feeling it this year. And then I read about a book called Spent on Gwenyth Paltrow's new website. (That's what clicking link after link will get you.) In one issue of her newsletter, she writes about what it means to be/have "spent." I think I've got The Spent. (Since it's not a real disease, I figure I can self-diagnose.)

I think I might go to bed early this evening. Tomorrow is my first day back at work and those students of mine spend me without even trying. And with all this snot production, I'm already running less efficiently than I would like.