I HAD great ideas about how I was going to spend today.

I was going to do lots of work. I was going to get my nails done (they’re in desperate need of a little TLC) and meet a friend for a cuppa. I was going to write a ‘serious’ blog post. I was going to get lots of s**t done.

That was until I looked out of the window this morning and saw that everything was white.

The snow had landed and suddenly I was no longer feeling happy and chirpy about the day.

Suddenly I was in a baaaaaad mood.

The white stuff meant I wouldn’t be able to get Elsie to my Mum, who looks after her on a Wednesday. (She lives in a place where the snow likes to land and grow very deep which makes it tricky).

This meant no childcare and a day stuck at home with Elsie. “But I have so much to bloody do!” I exclaimed. (And often.)

I was annoyed. I snapped at my husband and muttered under my breath. And I huffed and puffed, and maybe even swore a little bit too.

And then I remembered about a book I’ve been reading lately and I gave myself a big ol’ reality check. In the ‘Art of Being Brilliant’ much is said about the importance of being positive, even when the s**t hits the pan. (Or when the snow arrives and screws everything up).

It talks about how the most successful people in life are successful and happy, not because the snow never ruins their plans, but because they deal with unforeseen circumstances better and adjust their plans accordingly.

It talks about how life is short. And precious. And how we’re all too damn busy these days.

As the chapters I’d only just read came back to haunt me, a funny thing happened. I scrolled down my Twitter feed and saw two tweets.

One, from a friend, the lovely Franki from Little Luca & Me, who responded to my whinging tweet about the snow with: “Embrace it my lovely! Get your boots on and gloves and make memories with that gorgeous girl of yours! Work can wait!”

And the other on my timeline, a random tweet which said: “Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.”

Kick up the ass right there folks. Thank you Twitter. Thank you Franki. Thank you book.

I looked again outside and decided that the snow actually looked pretty bloody awesome. I saw the white stuff and thought how lucky I was that I was gonna spend the day with Elsie and that we could play in it!

I thought about my freelancing work and this blog and realised that none of it was an emergency. None of it was that important. And I thought about the fact that I might never have another day, with lots of snow, with my little girl at this age, ever again.

And I realised that all of it – the work, the freelancing, the housework, my nails – could wait. But the snow and Elsie really couldn’t.

And so I chose to ‘motivate myself’. I adjusted my plans and my thinking.

Below is a snapshot in snapshots of how we mostly spent our day and what do ya know? The snowy day didn’t turn out too bad at all. In fact, it was pretty wonderful.

It was cold. It was messy and the snow-woman (you didn’t expect anything less from a proud feminist did you?!) we built now looks like she’s had about two bottles of wine and three shots of tequila. ;-/

But my goodness me, the weather gods didn’t half treat us today.

We slowed down. We played with the white stuff. We created memories and it felt amazing. As for tomorrow? Who knows what’s gonna happen?

Although, between you and I, I’m kinda hoping the snow stays for a little while longer yet.

——-

With love,

Kate