I’m sure that everyone enjoyed the holidays. People went somewhere, or saw family, or relaxed at home. Or they just chilled. Then the vacation ended, and people came back looking exhausted.

Wait, back up there. We just got back from an 11-day break, and people are tired? Some kids with black circles around their eyes, talking about how they “just hung out” over vacation. I just looked at them and thought, Go on, I want to hear about the part where you were turned into a raccoon.

In my last post, I whined about the cold weather, but failed to mention the other annoying part of winter: waking up each morning. It’s a struggle – maybe it’s why we’re so tired. Most mammals are smart. They eat a lot of food and slip into a comatose state for winter, but humans get up each morning and deal with the cold and darkness for three months.

Yeah, we’re the smartest species on Earth.

So, I came up with a plan. I think we should omit February and April break and the school should let us out for two months to hibernate. I know I could do it. My sisters have been telling me for years that I sound like a bear when I sleep.

Besides being tired all the time, people are starting to get sick again. We’re not at the level when I wrote ‘Swine Flu – That Joyous Time of Year”, but we may just get there yet. This time I might wrap my head in a handkerchief and take my chances looking like a 1930’s gangster. Maybe I’ll wear a suit and carry a violin case also.

Okay, I’ve been whiny and negative this whole post. But if you think about it, it’s really not that bad. We have this week, then next week is mainly spent going over materials for midterms, and then we have midterms themselves. Afterward it’s Winter Week, and then two weeks later it’s February break.

By then, it’ll definitely be lighter outside, and if the groundhog doesn’t see its shadow, we have warmer weather. Two months later, we’ll have made it April break, and after, there’s only six weeks left. So you add it all up, and you’ve got…only 19 weeks left of school.

OK, I still made it sound whiny and negative. But it’s not that bad.

Andy.