Beating the winter blues

I’ve made my winter blues no secret on this blog. (In fact, I have an entire tag for the subject -- yikes!) Last year, I had a particularly bad case of them, and all of you came to the rescue with encouragement and suggestions for how to turn my frown upside-down.

This year, I’ve decided to stop them in their tracks.

I am decidedly a warm-weather girl, but instead of whining about the cold and – eventually – the snow and ice, I’m going to embrace it in 2010. Cold means sweaters, and I like my sweaters. It also means cuddle time, soup, roasted vegetables, and knitting. I like those things, right?

Right.

Anyway, I am now kicking off three big projects to get me through the beginning of November. I’m hopeful that they will keep the blues away.

1. Learn to bake yeast breads. I will make my first one this Friday.
2. Weed through boxes in the apartment. This will probably carry me well into December, too, and possibly the New Year. I have so much unnecessary stuff left over from childhood, college, and my pre-cohabitating days. It’s time to give or throw a lot of it away.
3. Make an advent calendar. I was raised in an irreligious household, so I’ve never had one before. I’m currently looking at patterns and ideas, and I hope to start the project next week.

What is your favorite way to welcome the cold weather?

Winter blues

I try to keep my boo-hooing out of this blog to focus on crafting and cooking and all those fun things. However, I'm suffering from a bad case of the winter blues this year, and right now, that's the only thing on my mind. Something about the cold snap and the holidays turns my smile upside-down for a month or so. My creativity dries up, my motivation wanes, and all I want to do is watch bad TV while curled up on the couch. I'm pretty good at handling my own stress, but the blues are always a challenge for me. I spend much of the year upbeat. Dealing with the downs is something I'm still figuring out.

I'm incredibly lucky, so being blah makes me feel guilty on top of everything. So, I am appealing to my blog readers to lend me a hand. How do you cheer yourself out of a funk? I'm willing to try almost anything (within reason, of course), so let me have it. I'll post about anything I try.

Thanks, my lovely readers!