Oh, what a glorious day! I started off the day by doing something that I recently noted I don't do anymore: sleeping in on Sunday. I rolled out of bed at around 9:00. It was wonderful. Then after getting myself up and out, I headed down to the canal for a run. My original plan was to go for about 14 miles. But it was so warm out (I would say close to 50) that when I got to the end of the canal near the beach, I kicked off my sneakers and walked in the sand. Ok, it was actually a little cold to have my feet in the sand (there were still patches of snow here and there from Monday) but it still was great.

After I dusted my feet off, put my shoes back on, and started to run back, I was reminded of February vacation when I was in 8th grade. It reached 80 degrees by some freak weather turn (we later had a blizzard in March) and my friends and I spent the week reclining in the sun and listening to mixed tapes in the yard. [Remember mixed tapes? I somehow think kids now are luckier with itunes, but will never know the fun of having the tape in the recorder, RECORD and PLAY pushed down along with PAUSE, just waiting for that special song to come on so you could sprint across the room and dive at the radio to un-pause the tape (praying the DJ wouldn't talk over the whole intro and wreck it). ] Remember how important it felt to have YOUR music on, even if it was just doing nothing but laying on the back porch with your friends? That February vacation was just that: enjoying music and sun and friends.

Today was like being transported back to that one moment in time. The gift of an unseasonably warm day in February, my favorite music on the ipod, and a whole afternoon of nothing but enjoying them both.

February may become my favorite month, yet.