I'll just call them Indicators.

Life is full of indicators.

Like finding out that you aren't 18 years old anymore .. and accepting it.

Getting up at 5:15 a.m. and surviving the day works much better if your head hits the pillow a bit earlier. It has been working well. Naps still exist but have become more rare, so it's early to bed and early to rise for this one. It isn't allowing me to get my book read, but it is allowing me to keep my eyes open a little better.

We managed to meet our goals this week. I think. The big things got done. Accident reports filed with the state. Some made it to school. Others made it to work. We actually ate dinner a few times. One night it was nearing 8pm, but it sure was good!

Yesterday the sun was shining. The temps was a wee bit on the chilly side in the morning and then warmed up nicely to a whopping just over 20F degrees. The sun is starting to feel like it has warmth. Or my imagination is really working overtime. Either way, we love it. It rises higher in the sky every day and soon it will be above our heads nearly constantly. The sky was light enough on Friday evening as I was coming home from work that I didn't need head lights. It is coming ... this summer that we love.

That shining sunshine yesterday made me take a deep breath and say ....

okay ... I'll wash you. There is a certain advantage to the darkness of winter. Absence of streaming light lets you live in the delusions that include the absence of dust and dirt.

  

A sad indicator of the amount of snow we've had this year. Even the icicles are miniature in size. It has been a dry winter here, while other places are getting hammered around the nation.

One of my favorite indicators around here is the door that leads from our dining room to the screened porch. The door quite obviously needs replacing, or someone practiced some serious artwork when they put it together. When the temp drops outside, the artwork appears. It is always the same. I have fields of flowers with tall stems that show up in the glass. Some pieces look like flying leaves, others like dandelions about to fly away on a breeze. They really are beautiful. I've tried many times to capture them. This time I caught one with my youngest on the phone in the background.

Then there are the indicators of time. Oh, how it flies. Before I even realize it, another week has gone. Then a month. Then a year. We seem to live by the clock and the calendar. I really don't need this abundance of clocks ... and I have more. I just love them. They never tell the same time. You have to know which clock to look at if you have a schedule to keep. The one on the left is a family treasure. It had been keeping time on Jari's parents' wall for many years before it moved to ours. It seems to have moods. Days where it decides it has kept time long enough and stops for a while. Sort of like me. 

Meanwhile, the clock on the computer is indicating that I really need to start moving. We have services this afternoon and I have a salad to put together, a shower to jump in and a closet to dig through.

In really bright news, I can quit counting scoops and ounces of Tide. Jari will be home Monday evening. Indicators around here have been showing that we really miss him at home. I baked him pulla last night at 11:00 pm.  That, my friends, is a serious indicator.