Midwinter malaise

Well, it took us a little over a week to kick this winter crud, but we finally managed to do it. Sort of. I mean, the fevers and the all-night coughing episodes were gone but something akin to winter malaise was still hanging around. Where was my energy? Why couldn't I clear my head to plan a day's outing? What would we all enjoy doing after a morning of nothingness? Well, for the long MLK weekend we didn't really have anything going on. On Saturday our big event was a preschool birthday party for one of Carolina's classmates at a party place in Astoria. Since it was a little kids only affair, I needed something for Elisa to do while we were there. Feeling inspired, I asked Nacho if he would take her to see "Into the Woods" which she'd been begging to see but was probably too mature for Carolina. I dropped them off at the movies as Carolina and I motored over to the party and it felt like we were all going to enjoy our evening. A nice low-key score if I do say so myself. And then finally on Sunday I perked up enough to round us up for lunch at Bareburger followed by some ice cream sundaes at Eddie's Sweet Shop in Forest Hills. It's a spot I'd been meaning to visit for a while now, and on a cold and rainy afternoon in January wasn't too crowded. The girls couldn't believe how much whipped cream covered their sundaes and after a good five minutes of digging in, they insisted we scrape it off so they could start eating the ice cream. Okay, it might have been overkill, but man, was it good and fresh. Nacho and I split a chocolate shake and after all the ice cream indulgences, we let the girls pick out some candy from the old cases lining the shop. Carolina picked out a candy toilet, complete with "plunger" lollipops. Ugh. What a disgusting treat. But she loved it. And Elisa took care of a gummy pizza with no problem. On MLK day itself we hung out at home baking chocolate chip cookies and resting up for the week ahead.  Yes, it was a sweet end to a somewhat dreary midwinter weekend. Here's to hoping that the days getting brighter and longer will make February somewhat better. Even without much snow to speak of, it's just the grayness that seems to drag on and on. Which might be why whispers of a weekend Nor'easter have me almost giddy. At least a little snow would brighten things up, no?