Anywhere but here

"Anywhere but here" is how I'm feeling these days. The weather in Iowa in January is just plain awful this year. We're not far enough north that we get pretty much snow-only... this year, we're getting iced over EVERY STINKIN' DAY. This miserable drizzle just keeps coming and coming, coating everything and freezing on contact with pavement and windshield. Cold is tolerable, truly it is. I hate being cold, but I can turn on a space heater as well as anyone. ICE is what I hate. Snow that melts just the tiniest smidge then re-freezes into a crust is what I hate. Sloppy roads with salt and sand, gray to match the low-hanging sky, is what I hate. NOW is when I'm the most thankful that my school classroom has no windows. Why would I want to look outside and be reminded that I live here?

It's okay in the spring and summer, really, and the autumn can be decent as well. The interminable and unpleasant winter looms larger every year that I live here, though. I'm so jealous of SarahK because she's moved to Florida. Florida would be nice. Texas would be nice. Zihuatanejo would be nice.

Okay, enough complaining. I'm spending the night at my best friend's house for the second night in a row. Rick has a nasty nasty cold and he's not the kind of husband who demands that I dote on him when he's sick; on the contrary, he much prefers to be left alone. So the kids and I packed up and went visitin'. Now they're all in bed, and she and I are going to indulge ourselves in some Brad Pitt (Troy is out, and she got it for a late Christmas present) and chocolate.