10 Must-Haves for Spring (not a fashion post)

Spring is the best season in all the land.  Why, you ask?

Because I said so, that’s why.

There’s something about the end of cold and the beginning of warmth.  It’s the new life that awakens literally overnight – the grass was slumbering just yesterday, a frozen and brown winter blanket.  Then today, it’s tinged with green.  In a week, the grass is ankle-deep.  Buds sprout on tree branches and flowers emerge from the ground, promising color and scents that were missing in the winter.  The world gets more vibrant every day; you can watch it unfold.  I can’t find enough words to describe the beauty and the feeling of awakening, stretching and growing that is spring.

As an aside, I’m quite positive that people find their favorite season to be the one in which their birthday falls.  It’s a little ongoing research project of mine.  Ask anyone their favorite season – quick, without thinking – and it will most likely be the one they were born into.  Mine is spring, my husband’s fall.  Both our birthday seasons.  My kids – both spring chicks – love summer, but they don’t count because they are weirdos, and plus they are kids and everyone knows that kids are dumb.

Sigh.  Just joking.  Calm down.

I do like change.  Any change, really.  I’m open to it, and although I can wear a routine down the nub, I don’t balk at change.  In our house in spring, we change our clothes, our eating habits, even the type of sheets on our bed.  We change our clocks to shift the daylight hours so we can capture one more hour of sunlight.  Spring is a fresh start to a new life, not just new fashion choices.

Even an old life can use a good sprucing up in spring.  Why not?

Here are my top non-fashion must-haves for the season:

1. Less fat.  I mean on my body.  OMG YOU GUYS I ATE SO MUCH OVER THE WINTER.  I am a slave to carbohydrates.  In the form of red wine.  And creamy chowders and breads and cookies.  In spring I don’t feel like I’m dying if I have a salad for lunch, because it’s not freezing outside and my body isn’t screaming WARM ME WITH FOOD.  I always stop eating like a hog in spring, and it shows on my butt waistline.

2. More exposed skin.  I’m not quite shorts-ready in spring, but my ankles are.  And so are my neck and elbows.  In winter I wear knee socks like a Catholic schoolgirl every single day and wear layers upon layers of sweater material from hip to chin.  I know why old ladies wear pantyhose under their slacks and decorative sweatshirts every day.  It’s warmth, people.  Last year the winter was so cold for so long that my skin began to break out from being covered for too long.  Ankles and shoulders need to breathe by springtime.  NEED.

3.  New hair.  I always feel better after a good spring cut.  Now you’re thinking, pssht.  This list is lame.  But a new spring haircut is a must.  As soon as it gets warm outside, I’m in the salon wondering if I should splurge on that $28 can of hairspray.  I fall for it every time like the sucker that I am.

4. Lady medicine.  In the winter I want to die.  At least, I’d not be too sad if I did.  So I rarely go to the regular doc in winter – I take chances with my health that way.  But when it starts getting warmer, I’m in the stirrups like Roy Rogers on Trigger.  Throw in a mammogram and it’s a party.  My birthday’s in the spring, therefore so are my doctor appointments.  I admit – it sort of ruins spring a little.  And maybe this list is a little lame.

5. Pedicures.  Self-inflicted or not, my toes need serious attention in the spring.  I usually get a good one right about now and try to keep up through summer so I can wear sandals without scaring off small children and adults with weak stomachs.

6. Get rid of all the baggage.  Seriously.  Our house collects bags like you wouldn’t believe over the winter.  I think we have 60 bags lying around.  So we get rid of the excess. That and clothing and household items we don’t use anymore.  I always get a rush of spring cleaning right about now and go around the house with a garbage bag and throw stuff in randomly – art right off the walls, knickknacks, half of everything my husband keeps in all of his drawers.  We never miss any of it, ever.

7. A shopping spree.  To replace all the stuff we just got rid of, silly.  Everyone needs at least one new pair of shoes or a new umbrella or something in spring.  Especially me.

8. Schedule for the summer.  Look.  If I didn’t schedule things for the summer starting in the springtime, we would end up at every single existing outside sporting event or suffer campfires every weekend even when it’s 95 degrees.  It’s the man of the house’s way.  It’s much easier to feign disappointment that we can’t go to yet another minor league baseball game because the kids have camp and I was planning on visiting my parents that day.

There you have it – my list of erm… must-haves for spring.  I stopped at eight because most of my other must-haves are fashion-related, and I didn’t want to ruin the integrity of my no-fashion list.  At least two of the things on my list are fashion-related anyway.  Let’s be real here – I was tired of trying to come up with things that I feel like I have to do in springtime.  Honestly, I just really love spring for all of the things that it promises.  Mostly that school will be ending soon and the sun will be shining more and I can go outside and soak it in for a minute or two before the bugs start buzzing me and I’m inside again. 

Not our yard yet, my pretties.  But soon.  Soon!

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This post inspired by:

Prompt #1: Write a list of your top Spring must-haves.