February Blues

 Wow. No, I did not fall off the face of the earth. I did not abandon the blog, either. Maybe I just hit a slump - writer's block, if you will. At any rate, the last few weeks have been....hard. Let's recap:

After 60 or so consecutive days of 5"+ snow on the ground, there is no end in sight. It seems Iowa simply cannot go more than a week without a massive snowstorm. Now, we Iowans are no weaklings when it comes to snow. But this winter has got to be the snowiest I've ever experienced. It's just all the time snow. And it blows EVERYWHERE. My office has closed multiple times because of the traveling hazards. BIG SIGH....spring, where are you? I know several other areas of the country are feeling our pain. Stupid Puxatony Phil, just close your eyes and then you won't see the shadow - end of story!

So, to defrost from the frozen tundra that has become Iowa, or the midwest in general, Joel and I took a vacation to southern California the last week of January. While it wasn't exactly beach weather, it was sunny, it was warm, and it was gorgeous. We flew to L.A. Monday night in the middle of a blizzard, did the Hollywood thing all day Tuesday, drove to Laguna Beach Tuesday night, and stayed there checking out places nearby like Newport Beach and Dana Point until our flight out of L.A. Friday afternoon. I love Allegiant Air - we flew roundtrip with taxes and fees and everything for right around $300 TOTAL. FOR BOTH OF US. Getting out of the cold Iowa weather has become a must for me, and I think southern California was a perfect place to go. Oh, and we found Lauren Conrad's parents' house. We don't watch the show at all, but thought if there was a show about this town, we should try to find some of the famous places, right? I guess the house is on the market for $17 million! Geesh....

I am pretty sure....no, completely convinced, that I have seasonal depression. I hate the months of January - March. There are no major holidays to celebrate or get off from work, the days are short, cold, and dark, and I'm usually a good five pounds overweight thanks to all the holiday goodies. I also read that credit card bills from the holidays also come in in January and make people extra stressed/cranky, too. Thankfully we don't have that issue! So combine the bleak weather, the long work days (I know, you don't think I should complain since I just work part-time, but I am!), and the low self-image, and you get twelve weeks of agony. ANOTHER BIG SIGH.

I think February is the worst. The holiday high gets you into mid-January. Then if you are truly lucky, there can be some warm, semi-spring like days in March (three years ago we had a week of 80 degree temps in March. Yes, a snowstorm followed at the beginning of April, but I hold out hope every year that March brings the same kind of spring teaser....) At the very least, it's usually not single-digit temps in March, and the days are significantly longer. So that leaves February....but what about Valentine's Day, you say? I say NAY!! I mean, did you not just read how I feel during this time of year? All of the above makes for a grumpy, irritated, annoyed, stressed, flabby, white, unhappy person. Does any of that sound like a person who wants to do anything related to Valentine's Day?

Not to be Debbie Downer, but the icing on the cake is that before the winter began, I heard a national weather reporter say that due to El Nino or La Nina or some such winds, we could expect an unseasonably warm winter with fewer than normal snowflakes this year. Don't you love irony?

I think I will go back into hibernation mode, so if my posts are fewer and farther between than usual, it's probably because I haven't yet shaken the blues and have nothing positive to contribute quite yet. But don't worry, a few short weeks and we'll turn the corner....I think!