It’s here! The most maligned month of the year is upon us. Always a fan of this cute little 28 day calendar page, I was shocked to learn that many people, most people, don’t share my joy about the month of my birth. Think about it, friends–someone tells you that in the next 28 days you will still be paid as much as you are for a 31 day month, there will be a holiday involving love and chocolate and flowers, AND!, there will be a paid holiday thrown in for good measure! Don’t you think that should make your skirt flutter? But, no. Sadly, like most others, you will whine and complain and barely hang on just to get through this month.

Here are just a few “how to love February” tips. Try to make your house glittery and sparkly and red, with a little candle glow thrown in for good measure. Get lots of battery operated candles with built-in timers from Restoration Hardware and set them to go on as the shadows get long at 4:30 in the afternoon and go off at your bedtime. As the sun sets, your house will glow, automatically, courtesy of batteries and timers and your wonderful eye for picking up cheap sparkly things. Oh, and don’t forget the disco balls. Disco balls are all that during the month of February.

This is a picture of my Pottery Barn dough bowl filled to the brim with silver and white ornaments and a candle all aglow, with a few disco balls thrown in for good measure. I love this big old bowl and have fun filling it with seasonal joy throughout the year. To see an entire post about dough bowls, visit the fabulous Nesting Place.

Spread the sparkle, eat the chocolate, enjoy the flowers and shower all your pretty ones with love.

So, here are are again. February is National Heart Health Month. It’s a cute tie-in to Valentines Day, I suppose, but that’s about it. There a barrage of talk about living a healthy lifestyle, much of which centers around daily exercise.

Really? Have they looked out my window? I can barely walk down my driveway to get the paper much less take off on a briskly paced jaunt around the block. The ice and snow of this cute little month produce copious amounts of exercise guilt and stress. Then guess what happens? Up shoots that darned old blood pressure again!

Here is a brief brochure that contains warning signs of heart disease in women and issues to consider in our never-enidng attempt to live a long and healthy life.

Friday, February 4 is Wear Red Day, designated as such to draw attention to the heart healthy ways to which we should all adhere. I’ll wear red (if I remember–but that’s another story!), and I’ll be the one in the corner eating ice cream and texting someone about moving this celebration to the month of May.

Will the glorious sound of those two words ever cease being a thrill to hear? Though this upsets the apple cart known as my class syllabus, it’s a beautiful snowy morning and a glorious blank slate of a day. Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal contained a very useful graphic regarding efficient ways to remove snow from the driveway. For your shoveling pleasure:

The cornerstone to keeping my weight under control is exercise. Love it when I’m done, hate it when it looms before me. It’s hard to be accountable for appropriate levels of exercise, though. The scale tells one part of the story, but it goes way beyond that. Arthritis and heart disease run in my family, so cardiovascular exercise is a must for a long, healthy life. The only person who knows how much I really use my treadmill is the technician who comes out every few years to clean and service it. When he gets inside the guts of the thing, he can see how many hours and miles have been used since the last tune-up. In four years, I have only walked 320 miles. Pathetic. I vow to do better in 2011 and made a date with Erik to make sure I follow through. Now, if the kids would just come to town to pad the numbers, I’d be much obliged.

Why is it sometimes so hard to take a first step in the right direction? Every morning, I walk downstairs and have a choice–open the frig, grab a Diet Coke, and sit at the table reading newspapers and working crosswords, or walk one step further, head down to the basement, strap on the walking shoes and hit the treadmill. Once I take that extra step, it’s all good. The iPad occupies the next forty minutes, and time on the treadmill passes quickly. The impact that one step has on my day is fairly significant. Here’s hoping this new year begins with a series of first steps in the right direction for you.

I love faces, especially those of the people I love. This snapshot of my husband kissing Caroline is sweet because neither of them acknowledges the camera which is within inches of them. They are far too busy loving on each other to notice the Nikon.

This picture of Amelia was taken with the camera a bit below her eye level. She was singing a song and not being asked to smile, the request for which seems to immediately zap the natural smile you are trying to capture.

Happy New Year, and thank you for stopping by my little corner of the world. It is my hope that this site will provide a collection of  professional resources, an original thought or two, and a look into the exciting life of a modern-day Nana.