C'mon spring

Dear Rowan,
It's such a beautiful day here in Northwest Louisiana. We had highs in the mid-60s and lots of sun -- not a cloud in the sky. It's been a long "winter" for us here. By that, I'm not necessarily talking about the weather even though my co-workers declare it's not normally this cold and wet here and that I must have brought this crazy weather with me. I told them we didn't have tornadoes and torrential rains in Italy -- though in reality we did have these horrible straight winds from time to time and our first October there I thought I would float away because it rained day and night. But, I'm rambling.
My point is that we've had a lot of crap to deal with since we moved here. Our only friends deployed back in September and we've been pretty lonely. My parents had to cancel their visit when my mother was hospitalized and we had to make an emergency trip back home. While we were back home in N.C., a tornado hit our neighborhood here in Louisiana and our house was damaged -- not severe damange, thankfully. But it was enough that we had to fight with our insurance company to get it all repaired. I was in not one but two car accidents that were my fault (I'm not a great driver and Louisiana's roads are absolutely rediculous as are the crazy drivers). My work hours have been cut to about two days a week (not even worth my time to drive over there, except I might go insane if I don't have a job). Greg hit a car in the parking lot at work and now we have to pay for the damages. And, of course, we had hoped to be pregnant and we're not. Mama always said, "when it rains, it pours." And, like always, she was right.
So, overall it hasn't been the greatest few months. And, I realize that I'm being terribly negative. But, that wasn't really the point when I started this. My point is that spring is on the way!!! The sun is shining, tulips are popping up from the ground and I even saw a red breasted Robin in our front yard. Spring always brings the promise of new life and renewal and I actually feel hopeful today for the first time in a while. I'm ready to put this long "winter" behind us and I'm hoping all that crappy luck is a thing of the past.
Our friends will be back next week if all goes according to plan and I'm sure we're in for warmer days and happier times. Spring will certainly be a breath of fresh air for us as we try to put down some roots in this new place. So, I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new season, some old friends and some good luck.