Today is one of those “false Spring” days when the sun is just a tad brighter, the air just a bit warmer than it’s been in weeks. Not that the temperatures actually qualify as warm, mind you: it’s still just 34°F outside, but that’s a good 20 degrees higher than it was a week ago.

On days like this I tend to start thinking about gardening: planting spinach, lettuce, sweet peas and other cool-weather crops. It looks like it would be a good day to do just that, but I know better. I’ve dug in a bit too early for three years in a row now, only to lose my tender plants to a late snowstorm that no one saw coming.

This year, instead of getting ready for Spring by meddling in the garden, I decided I’d do something a little less labor-intensive… like shopping. I’m in dire need of something to wear besides sweatshirts and sweatpants, and the Big-Eyed Boy has grown so much over the winter that his jeans now look like he’s wearing capris.

Unfortunately, despite nearly two hours at the local mall, I still haven’t found anything suitable. It seems that clothing manufacturers figure that all women with bulging bellies are either in the market for maternity clothes or unnaturally drawn to cute cartoon characters.

Oh, there are plenty of roomy muffin-top disguising swing blouses available… in pastels normally suited to a newborn’s nursery. And there are oodles of sweatshirts featuring bunnies and duckies, some even with sequins. I’d rather be shot before wearing something that cutesy.

Which is why I suppose I’m glad this is a false Spring; I have that much more time to shed a bit of belly weight before trying to squeeze into a blouse that doesn’t make me look like I’m ready to give birth any moment.