It's been a rainy January day here in Alabama - typical winter weather around these parts.Warmth and respite from the weather provided courtesy of German food for lunch - schnitzel, cabbage and potatoes warm you up from the inside much like the smiling face sitting across the booth!

It's been a day of small tasks and small pleasures; I spent the afternoon drinking tea and listening to music while paying my business taxes and scheduling things here and there for the next week. One of these scheduled items is surgery for our little Chewie - he is suffering from bad knees and you can tell he feels under the weather. The four weeks following surgery will be crate rest only and I feel sorry for him already! Jumping bean that he is, he will probably be quite frustrated. Necessary evil!

I don't think it's just Chewie feeling under the weather - I am definitely feeling the winter blues.  I need a few more days with warm sunshine or a trip somewhere exotic - anything to break me out of my winter ruts! With the dog requiring a good chunk of money and about two months' recovery all told, I am seriously considering just hunkering down and planning a trip for us to get away as soon as we possibly can!