Cold weather stops spring fever

Tina Bausinger

Well, supposedly…it’s spring semester at least.  It’s been so cold here I thought I had mistakenly woken up in Wisconsin. I have enjoyed the holidays, but I have to admit I am ready to get back to some sense of routine.

The kids have been home for the lonnnng holiday. No, that’s not a typo. Don’t get me wrong. I love spending time with the fam, but I think it’s time they get back to school, too. Then maybe I can salvage some sense of order in my house.

Lately it’s been resembling the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Not pretty. Can it really be possible nobody else notices the huge amount of debris, soda cans, laundry, dog toys and fast food wrappers all over the place?

They have to notice, because it requires a certain amount of skill to climb over the mess. At one point I felt like Maria in “The Sound of Music,” scaling the Alps to get away from the Nazis. I look over at my family, and nobody notices my distress. That’s because they’ve acclimated to the mess. It’s like the old story of the frog in the frying pan.

Plus, everyone’s brains are starting to turn into gumbo. Too many hours of “ICarly” and “Phineas & Ferb” have begun the rotting process. I also suspect that if my son had spent half the time he used trying to conquer “Mario World” on the Wii, he’d probably have a doctorate degree. I’m only half kidding.

Some days I’d wake up to all the kids lying like slugs in the living room with their eyes dilated, their limbs hanging lifelessly from various couches or recliners and barely active enough to breathe.  In the words of my nurse friends, “Call a code!” We need some life back in this place!

I know I’m ready to go back to school when I’m sitting at work and one of my friends walks up to me and says, “You’re reading Wuthering Heights…for fun?”

I nod, smiling sheepishly. She shakes her head and mutters something under her breath.  It sounded like, “Nerd…” Yep, it’s good to be back.