It’s March 3.  It was about 50 degrees outside today — we kept the door to our terrace, and the skylight, open almost all day.  The sunlight comes in to our apartment in the morning AND the afternoon.  The birds are out and singing (loudly).  It was light until almost 6:00 today.  And, I finally put our Christmas decorations away.

I guess that means it’s nearly time for spring!  It’s been warm the last few days here in Vienna, but I’m not fooled — there’s still snow in our forecast for later in the week.  (And, really, I could use one more really good snow.)  But the days are undoubtedly getting longer (and warmer — our toilet hasn’t frozen in a few weeks, at least).  Benjamin got to play outside at school the other day — it’s one of his favorite things about school, and I think his overall enjoyment of attendance may increase significantly once outside play time once again becomes a daily occurrence — and going to the park will soon become a regular staple of our schedule.  The farmers markets were open this morning, and Dan has seen some of the restaurants and cafes setting up their outdoor seating areas again (which is extra exciting for us because we find it so much easier to eat out with the kids when we’re sitting outside — they’re entertained by the activity of the city and no one notices when they get loud).  In a few short weeks, the Easter markets will be going again.  (They were up when we arrived last spring.  Which reminds me, too, that we’ll shortly hit our one year anniversary of living in Europe.)

I’m glad I got the Christmas decorations put away — it would be weird to have them up for Easter . . . even weirder than it was to have them up for Valentine’s Day.