It Might As Well Be Spring

"I'm as restless as a willow in a wind storm. I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a striiiiiing!" Ah, State Fair. Haven't seen it in a hot minute. Nonetheless, the lyrics hold true. Who's with me? Would spring just get here already?! No, don't tell me that it'll soon be hot and I'll be wishing for cooler temperatures blah blah blah. I won't be. I'm ready for jacket-less weather and sunny evenings. I want to sit on my front porch after work and wave to passers-by as they walk past 925.

Last weekend was divine. Temperatures were in the mid-70s and all of DC was abuzz. That's one thing about this place - everyone and their dog is super active. I've never seen so many runners and play-in-the-parkers in my life. It's rubbing off on me a little, I must admit. Example: Saturday morning my roommate and I woke up at 9 (I know, I was shocked, too) to go run around the Tidal Basin in DC. The cherry blossoms aren't out yet, but it was nice and the promise of spring was in the air. Plus, it was so cool to run past the FDR memorial, the Jefferson memorial, the George Mason (who is that exactly?) memorial and all the ducks in the water. People were out playing soccer, flag football, ultimate frisbee and generally just running around. I saw bikers, rollerbladers, those couples who run with their streamlined running strollers, and even some people in suits. In a fit of insanity I said to Kristen, "We should do this every Saturday!" In a fit of even greater insanity she said, "Yeah!" Oh great.

Today the high is 50 degrees, and that saddens me greatly. Better than it was two weeks ago, sure, but not better than it was two days ago. Granted, I know that the real winter is over. Technically it's not over till March 20th, but we had that one "big" winter snow last week and now things will only get less snowy from here. No, I didn't get a snow day. I did get a 2 hour delayed arrival, but that's not as exciting as it sounds. It means I got 2 extra hours of sleep but still had to get up and trudge through 4 inches of snow to reach the metro station. Unpleasant, to say the least.

You know what I realized? I'll tell you. Winter is depressing. No, wait, hear me out. There are some real highlights: Christmas, New Year's (debatable), MLK day, my birthday and President's Day (now that I get government holidays). But other than that...nada. It's cold, it's often wet, it's dark, and it's just downright depressing. I'm not just spit balling here, either. It's a sociological thing. It's especially sad when you're spending your first real world winter away from home. Boo! (I wasn't trying to startle you, I was just expressing my displeasure with the situation.) Anyway, I think it's pretty funny that I realized most of the dispiritedness I've been feeling over the past couple months can be 99% attributed to the season. Weird, right?

No more, though. Now I am so excited and spirits are high. I've already made a list of things to do once the weather gets good enough. I'm pumped about the spring and summer and all the fun stuff I'll get to do. For example, as a celebration of spring and the joy I feel at the offing of it, my brother will perform a few well chosen pieces on the piano at his university. Some may call it a "senior recital," but I know the truth. It's a "Happy Spring, Gillian!" concert. Barron, I accept. That will be my first celebration - attending the recital in April. After that, who knows? This will be my first spring in DC and I know there is a lot going on here during those months. (Hmmm, I wonder if there's a cherry blossom festival in Japan, too? Laurel, please confirm.) Interesting. Gotta say, I will miss going to the races in Lexington. Keeneland was a blast last year. That's okay, new place, new things to do. I probably won't win as much money as I did last spring, but I can sacrifice. I wasn't a very good race better anyway. I'm told choosing a horse cause it's pretty isn't exactly scientific. Don't worry, I looked at the odds, too. I digress.

In other news, I can't keep up with all the books I have on hold at the library. Why do I do this? I think I'm out of things to read, so I put 9 books on hold and 4 of them come in at once. Then I have too much to read. Also, the latest season of "Dancing With The Stars" started last night so I'm a happy camper. I think there's a mouse in the house, so I'm counting on one of my roommates to take care of that business. Also, in all my excitement about spring there's one thing I can't seem to work up the will to do: spring cleaning. Oh, and I did my taxes all by myself. Cheers. So things are pretty much steady here. We've already discussed the weather. Other things...work is good. Home is good. Church is good. Miscellaneous items - good. Now all I need to do is get used to this spring forward time and I'll be golden. That's the latest here. Bye bye.