First Day of Spring. Ha.

Okay, first day of spring. 32 degrees, snow and 40 mph wind gusts. My poor crocuses, that just put their heads up last week, are frozen solid, as is my poor garden. Well, radishes and lettuce are "cold weather" plants, anyway, right? Hopefully they'll weather the weather.

I just came in from tossing a few handfuls of sunflower seeds and millet around for the rather disgruntled-looking birds. Poor things, they're more in shock than I am. Looks like the rest of the day is probably a round of reading books, drinking coffee and staring out the window. Not that I had any involved plans otherwise, of course. Grayson is back at his dad's as of last night.

I'm in the doghouse a bit at work. The museum closed for weather today, which I find astonishing. The roads are clear and dry, and there is no precipitation whatsoever. But apparently at 8:30 this morning it didn't look so good, so the associate director made the call to close for the day. Unfortunately, my phone was turned off and I didn't get the message to let the media know, so there were several people inconvenienced by my unavailability, and ultimately my supervisor was obliged to call the tv stations herself and get the closing posted. My assistant was also unavailable (i.e. ASLEEP. It was 8:30 on a Saturday, after all), so the phones were ringing all over town. Sigh. I hate it when something like that happens and it looks like I'm not doing my job. (partly because... I wasn't) No doubt I'll hear about it on Monday and there will be a major discussion about the "break-down of communication." Wish I'd just turned my dern phone back on.

So I'm a bit out of sorts, myself today. No way to make it up to anyone. So I'm just stewing.

I can take comfort in the likelihood that this is the last time this season for the museum to close on account of weather. Surely this is the last freeze and the last snow and it's all spring spring spring from here on.

On Thursday it was sunny and warm and Grayson and I went to the zoo. So did everyone else in Central Oklahoma, unfortunately. I've never seen the place more packed. It was a nerve-wracking experience. There was a slow-moving, stroller-clogged line for everything. Grouchy moms and whiny kids waiting at every exhibit. But we dutifully made our way through the main areas and then headed home to sit in the sun. It was even warm enough to take Mambo out to catch some rays. We measured him, too. He is 16 inches long, nose to tail.

I have spent two afternoons this week with a glass of wine and a book in a lawn chair in the back yard, just soaking in the warmth and light. So I can't complain too much about this cold, cruddy weekend.

Yesterday Grayson and I headed to the park. We had no intention of taking Kobi with us, but she climbed the fence as we were driving away and was very nearly hit by a car in front of our house, so we gathered her up and brought her with us to keep her out of danger. I don't know how I'm going to keep her in the yard. Once she has figured out how to climb the fence, she can do it anytime she wants. I put some wire up over the corner where she initially began getting out, but she only started climbing over at a different spot. Looks like I may be investing in an electric wire. Cause, you know, I'm made of money.

Anyway, we ended up taking Kobi to the park with us, where she was a big hit with all the little kids. Everyone came over to pet her and talk to her. She did very well, considering the numbers of little people rushing toward her with their hands out. I was proud of her. I know these damn dogs are a huge pain in the ass sometimes, but I wouldn't trade them in for anything. They have been my true blue family, through thick and thin. And I count on that unconditional love greeting me at the door every evening and curling up behind my knees as I fall asleep every night.

Grayson had a nice afternoon. I sat on a bench with Kobi and a book and watched him play. For a while he played by himself, drifting around the playground, clearly engaged with some fantasy going on in his head. Then he took up with this little girl. She was only about 4 or 5. He brought her over and introduced her to me as J.C. Then she grabbed him by the hand and said "let's go play!" And off they went again. He seemed perfectly content to play with this little girl who was at least 4 years younger than him. It's tough for him sometimes because he doesn't like to play the type of rough and tumble games so many boys his age play. Earlier this week he went out to play with some boys in the neighborhood and he was back in 15 minutes. I think they just played too rough for him.

But after we got home from the park yesterday, a boy from across the street, Jacob, came over and they went to Jacob's house to play and were gone for a good hour. They probably would have played into the evening together except I had to gather Grayson up to take him to his dad. I was so glad that he has finally made friends in the neighborhood. As the weather warms up, he can spend his afternoons with other kids, not just holed up in the house watching TV or YouTube.

I hope he's out playing with friends in OKC today.