the winter feels

The thing about winter in South Carolina is that it’s not all that different from fall in South Carolina or spring in South Carolina, weather-wise.

And that makes me sad.

I need some snow. A crisp breeze. A forecast with low temperatures. A chill factor.

I know I have chosen to live in the wrong part of the country to achieve these simple winter goals but I am not able to alter that course currently.

You know what month is not my favorite?

This one.

Or February.

Both. I have two months that are not my favorites.

But here we are anyway.

I like starting things.

But being in the middle is less fun.

And January, even though it pretends to be all new and beginning-y, is really just the middle when you are a teacher.

We’re back to school this week and it seems insane to me that I have another senior on the fast track to graduate in less than six months. How can that be?

My school is for certain shrinking.

In other news, I’ve been halfheartedly searching for a new sofa for our living room for a year. Or more. A pretty long time.

I knew I wanted an L-shaped sofa for the space and I was hoping it could be leather – and in that camel color.

So I periodically looked at websites and Facebook marketplace.

Last weekend I hit the jackpot.

An L-shaped sofa.
Leather.
Camel colored.

And the seller delivered it to my house in his truck!

What a win!

Take THAT, January!

Naturally, this lead to a giant rearranging project. On my way to move the old sofa out of the house, it passed through what we call “the big room”. (What do people with two living spaces call the second living room?)

As it sat there, waiting for me to find a place to ditch the old sofa that is truly past its prime, I noticed that it kind of looked good in the other room. which made me begin rearranging there too. I’m talking, art off the walls sort of rearranging. And the old sofa will stick around a little longer until Facebook Marketplace offers up another gem.

Now two rooms feel like new spaces altogether and I am sort of loving my house right now. Which makes January a bit nicer all around. But seriously. Rearranging and reclaiming house space has that effect!

I think I’ll just sit on this L-shaped sofa in the corner for the next week now.

And since I’m just diary-like writing tonight, how about this bonus?

I checked my email today, on this lukewarm day that feels too temperate to be considered winter, and I saw a name in my inbox from an agent I had pitched my book to before Christmas.

I made myself check a few other emails first before I clicked the message. Either delaying the inevitable or postponing joy.

But the news was as blah as our “winter” weather.

Rejection. No thank you. Not a good fit. Best of luck.

And there you have it for today.

The highs and the lows. The messy middles. The blah. The regular.

January.