Signs of Spring

Weather in Chicago has finally turned towards spring.

I know you're probably thinking, She has nothing to talk about besides the weather? Really? But for our family, the warmer weather affects huge portions of our lives. At least three times a day, I bundle up Tye to put her in the carrier and take her out to walk Mico. When it's cold, the breeze takes her breath away and she takes quick gasps of air and her nose turns pink. We don't stay out for longer than we need to (fortunately, Mico is quick about doing his business), so Mico has loads of puppy energy that he then attempts to unleash inside- and we end up with a 110 pound wrecking ball sprinting from one end of our tiny place to the other and back again.

With the highs near 50 the past 3 days, things are finally changing. Sunday, I went for a run outside for the first time since my first trimester, almost a year ago. It was fabulous. I even brought Mico, who made an excellent running companion now that he can heel. Monday and Tuesday mornings, Tye and I took Mico on hour-long walks around our neighborhood. Mico had his exercise for the day (no more wrecking ball runs!), Tye took her morning nap in the Kozy Carrier, and I enjoyed being outside- and a calm dog for the rest of the day. It's such a wonderful way to start the day. If the rain holds off the rest of the week, we'll keep up our new routine.

This afternoon as I folded and put away Tye's fleece, I thought about how we won't likely see any super-frigid temperatures again this season. We'll probably still receive more snow, but not temps down in the single or negative digits- so the hardest part is over for this year (not that rain will be easy, but at least we have an umbrella for that). We did it- Tye and I survived taking Mico out through the worst of winter. Oh, sweet, warm relief.

(I really hope I'm not jinxing Chicago's weather and preparing us for record-breaking lows next week...)