Wowza–sorry about the hiatus, folks. This school year feels like it entered warp speed as soon as September hit, and now we are in the throes of winter. Not the cute, toss-a-snowball kind of winter, but the “Winter is Coming,” only the strongest survive, lasts 100 years kind of winter. Of course, it’s still January which means winter has only just started around here, but of course it’s also the point in time when winter is interminable and all excitement over snow has faded to a jaded, miserable sigh when the flakes start to fall.

The childrens’ joy has turned into icy tears as one takes a snowball to the face and the other grumbles that her wretched hag of a mother asked her to put socks on before going out when it’s 20 degrees. Either the snow melts or the temperature drops too low before we can actually do something enjoyable, like go sledding, then we get hit over all again just so we can shovel the driveway out once more.

So if you’re out there fantasizing about buying a home in a warmer climate, clinging to your hot cup of coffee or tea, and thanking all that is holy that your children can mostly dress and undress themselves in their snow gear and go outside while you watch from a warm, comfortable seat in the house, I feel ya. We’re still here, plugging along, hoping to get a good chunk of the year’s curriculum done before warm weather finally returns so we can go out and enjoy the crap out of spring. And once my hands thaw, I’ll get some new posts out to keep you company during this stupid season called winter.