Signs that it's spring

- Neon-colored sugar residue indicates where a package of Peeps has been devoured.

- An expression of guilt on my face says "I ate half the package of Samoas last night ... and the other half for breakfast this morning." (God bless the Girl Scouts)

- People give me and my dirty car scathing looks of judgement, indicating that it's no longer OK for me to go months at a time without washing it.

- UW students are (already) making plans for Tour de Laramie

- Laramie PD is also making plans for Tour de Laramie

- Sarah opens her windows one gloriously warm, springish day; goes to work; comes home to a freezing-cold apartment later that night, when the temperature has retreated back to the 20s or teens.

- Green "_______ me, I'm Irish" merchandise springs up at every store, causing concerned parents to sheild their children's eyes in Wal-Mart because they don't want to explain why "Erin-Go-Braless" is supposed to be humorous or how St. Patrick's Day is really not about how much green beer you can drink out of a green mug with flashing LED lights in it.

- Discussions about the accuracy and relevance of "The Passion of the Christ" start popping up, including around one tiny table at Third Street late one Saturday night ...

- One sunny Sunday midday, a group of people show up for the 11 a.m. service at noon ... because they forgot to set their clocks forward. Happily, they're just in time for a rousing round of "I am a Friend of God."

- Just in time for a spring snowstorm, Starbucks starts pushing its frozen "summer" drinks, and Wyoming residents laugh ... and order one anyway. We're tough like that.

- Despite a high in the 40s, Wyoming residents desperate for some semblance of a springtime activity put on scanty clothing and lay shivering in a park, pretending to read a book while thinking that this time, they might really have hypothermia.