Anne @ Modern Mrs. Darcy wrote about how this time of the year can be the hardest for many people, especially February. We’re all knee deep in Winter and Christmas is far behind us – and Spring so far ahead. Sometimes it seems like there is no end in sight. So for the second year in a row she is sharing a list of the things saving her life right now in the throes of these dark days – and asking us to do the same.

I’ve been journaling some of the bright moments to my days – the lifesavers that keep this engine going even when it would rather stay in the shed. Here are the things which made it to my list:

• I finally let myself get a new coffee maker once I had enough Amazon points to justify my purchase and, you guys, it’s the stuff of dreams. I got the Nespresso Inissa with the Aeroccino when it was on sale and it’s kind of like a coffee shop moved into my kitchen.
• A husband who talks my anxiety back down the walls when it starts climbing over random sad news stories or the notion of my soon to be ten year old baby going to sleep away camp by himself this summer. Wah!
• After getting slightly irritated with our 1 DVD at a time Netflix plan which we’ve been using to veeeerrrrry slowly binge watch Game of Thrones with friends (would it kill them to put more than two episdoes on a disc?), we jumped at a three month free upgrade to HBO and downloaded HBO Go so that we now have access to all five seasons immediately anytime we want to binge. That coffee maker is going to come in handy now!
• Claritin D – which makes me human again when my regular allergy pills don’t quite take me there. Claritin D = saving my life right now. Brought to you by my smelly dog.
• The life savers of winter: a handy husband who wakes up early to shovel me out of our driveaway; the snow tires and traction control which allow me to get back up my driveway when I get home. Parking on a hill is serious business, y’all. Honorable mentions to: rock salt for melting the bottom of my driveway and the spray bottle of deicing windshield wiper fluid that I squirt on my windows many mornings to clear my windows of frost at lightning fast speeds. Just don’t use it on the SERIOUSLY cold mornings or it will freeze instantly and leave you with a bigger mess to clean.
• My dog who is crazy and slightly loses his mind over doorbells and mailmen and rouge squirrels, will willingly run into the basement if someone rings the doorbell unexpectedly which allows me to answer the door without trying to hold back a 75 lb barking idiot or try to chase him around the house. I’ll take what I can get with that one.
• Girls Night Out! Good friends who laugh at my jokes and commiserate over the tough times and share their tough times and jokes with me as well. They let me be a person instead of just a mother. Love them.
• My bullet journal which has become a source of relaxation in journaling, a second reminder that seems brilliantly effective in me getting the things done that somehow slip through the cracks without it, and an excellent resource in remembering the funny, sweet, memorable, important moments that I want to share with all of you.

What’s saving your life right now?

-edit- I just thought about the heated mattress pad that my husband got me for my birthday in December and felt I’d be remiss not to include it on this list. Not climbing into a freezing cold bed at night has been a godsend and because it’s dual zone – he doesn’t have to deal with sweating all night to keep me from freezing. Score!