{virtual coffee}12

I've been looking forward to today and being a little chatty... Amy is always such a great hostess and I've found a few very special spots through {virtual coffee.}  Stunning photos, touching words, and really beautiful souls.  Grab your favorite mug and head on over...

Today I'm wondering if I am the only one drinking my coffee laced with gingerbread.  Admittedly, I am a holiday hoarder... four bottles of gingerbread syrup lining the top shelf in my pantry and three loaves of cranberry swirl bread left in the freezer.  It makes me happy... and I'm not really hanging onto Christmas, just the trimmings.  But I did finally get all of the decorations put away!

If you were really popping in for a visit, I'd invite you to stay for dinner... pancakes. 

It is Mardi Gras Day, after all! 

Even though we fell in love with New Orleans out of season, we have fun celebrating with the tamer traditions of the city!  So there are beads on the table and King Cake for dessert. I've never made it before and I'm hoping it is good! How did I choose from the zillions of recipes? Oh, this one had me at almond filling! (And when I couldn't find my vanilla, I reached for one of four bottles of almond extract!)

In other news, the boy who has been sick for a full week might be headed back to school tomorrow.  I'm probably more nervous than he is... wondering if he'll be strong enough to make it through the day, or have enough energy to give the instruction his full attention.  If he really goes, I'll need to make him promise, promise, promise to call home if he starts feeling poorly.  Last week when I sent him against my better judgement, I made him promise to call if he didn't feel well... and we didn't hear anything from him until he had ridden his bike home.  That was when we discovered he had a fever.  And when I asked him if he felt bad during the day he said no... only he was really, really tired.  Ahem!  It made for a very quiet weekend...

If we were really meeting for coffee today, I'd hope you would have a good story to share... and that we would laugh together.  I'd ask you if it was warming up in your neck of the woods and hope you'd smile and answer yes!  When March comes tumbling in, I'm ready for the bright colors of spring, but I'm still hanging onto the hope that we might have two or three cool fronts blow though before the summer heat starts to simmer.  For now though, the weather is just about perfection.  I wish you were here!