The boy was willing to try ski jumping on Saturday and then on Sunday he hooked a brown trout (for three seconds) in Wisconsin. I can't express how proud I am of the guy.

(Third Annual Art Sled Rally, Powderhorn Park, MN)
(This is one way that Minnesotans combat the winter blues)

The winter hath overtaken us, to the point where anything over 10° seems reasonable. The days are short, the nights are long, and I try not to think about everyone in Canada because it would mean that I have to stop feeling sorry for myself and I am not interested in seeing this particular cup of self-pity as half-full.

I have a history of depression and have, in the past, taken anti-depressants on and off to help get through the rough spots. I stopped taking them altogether when I was pregnant with the Creep because it turns out that I am one of those super-glowy pregnant women who is extremely content and happy for the entire 9 months of gestation. We were on super-watch for postpartum depression, but it seems that I am one of the lucky percentage of women that can joke about eating my children without actually following through with it. I never went back on medication, deciding that as long as I could keep my depressive tendencies in check though diet and lifestyle choices I would try to avoid the hassle of the side effects and what-have-you.

This means that several times a year I really struggle with awful soul-crushing (eh, maybe just instep-crushing...I am too sleep deprived and busy for the really dramatic stuff anymore) sadness and feelings of inadequacies - usually manifesting around my relationships with people. Luckily, over the years, I have learned that that feelings of "nobody likes me, everybody hates me" are mainly in my head, which keeps the public displays of crazy in check, but no matter how many times I tell myself "this feeling isn't real, it is all in your head"...the end result is that I still feel sad and lonely and friendless and exhausted from trying to keep it in check until April. At this time of I am particularly sympathetic to the schizophrenics who see tentacles growing out of people's noses because, man, even if you know it isn't real that has to be just disturbing as hell.

So when I turned to the EP the other day and asked if I could go visit my friend Frank* in California, he lovingly replied "For the love of God, go!"

I am off to California, with a mere 5 days notice. It is not the sunny "toes in the sand" part of California - San Francisco/Sacramento - but it is the part of the world that is 50° warmer than where I am at the moment. Frank has found us a room at the (I kid you not) Hotel Frank, then we will bum around San Fransisco for a day before going to Sacramento hang out with her two adorable children and sweetie-pie husband for a day. I will then promptly turn around and come home. But it is enough. Enough that suddenly the (very cold) birds are singing and the (extremely bright due to the incredibly low temperature) sun is shining and everything seems just that much better.

And I am the hell out of here.

-MG

*no worries of infidelity here my dear readers, this is simply a nickname for my girlfriend...it is a long story which culminates in her calling me "Mary"
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In Other News: In light of the recent Tiger Woods fiasco, we are considering grooming the kids for a career in Rock and Roll instead. The Twerp tries her hand at a minute and a half into the video (for those of you who may not appreciate the finer points of the electric guitar and find you need to fast-forward).

Check it:

She takes after her momma.

The Twerp loves some Sesame Street Feist. She will ask for it by rocking back and forth and saying "Un, tu, tee, ma," and then giving a good "whoaaaaa" sustained note, just in case we weren't entirely clear on the concept.