So it’s 5:03 in California and it’s dark outside. I am not happy about this. In fact, it irks the shit out of me. I prefer to be a happy optimist but the coming of winter has me crabby and surly.

Since I prefer to be an optimist and I really need to be happy, I am considering my options for the coming months. The whole surly persona is going to alienate my friends and family, my co-workers will be forced to put up with me but they won’t like it. I’m thinking about how to make my winter sunny, even though I will be loading groceries in the rain. My first thought is that I could kill my dog, who poops in the garage in the winter because she doesn’t like to get wet. There is a chance that I might feel guilty afterwards even if it makes me happy in the short term, and I’m pretty sure my kids would call Child Protective Services on me. I’ll scratch that idea off my list, for now.

Here’s a thought… I could do something fun to a room in my house. I don’t mean fun as in “put a trampoline in the family room” (although that would be fun). I’m thinking I could rearrange some furniture, maybe get some throw pillows in a different color scheme or pattern. I could also do something small and homemade, like paint a little end table. Or maybe put together a cool centerpiece for a coffee table. The change would be refreshing and the time I spend working on the room would distract me from the weather.

I could also learn to cook something new. Maybe I will look up recipes for Cajun food, although I think it’s mostly fried and fattening but whatever, it’s winter. Fat and happy and all that… I’m not a fabulous cook but I can read a recipe and my family is pretty tolerant of my experiments.

Another option for “happy time” might be to institute a game night and force my hubby and kids to participate. If I win I could jump up on the table and do a victory dance (burning a few cajun calories) and if I lose I could bitch and whine so they’ll let me win next time. Even if we never play a game, nagging and bribing them would be fun.

I think I might like to have a “Pink Evening” with some of the girls. I could get pink plates and napkins, serve pink drinks and cupcakes with pink sprinkles. It would be a “NO BOYS ALLOWED” kind of night and we could cuss a lot and maybe invent our own drinking game. Ooh – Pink Pong! We could play beer pong on my fancy dining table using the pink cups I’m gonna buy!

Wow, I’m feeling better already.