2014 february fun

It is February again tomorrow, that least favorite month of mine, and I'm attempting once again to force it to be enjoyable with a February Fun list: 28 small things in 28 days that will bring a little delight to every one of those days.

I am not unaware of the fact that 28 days is the typical length of an addiction-breaking cycle. Perhaps I am trying to break the winter doldrums, not that I'm addicted to doldrums. But this is the rut time of winter, and you either need to break out of it—or it will break you.

For this year, I modified previous years' February Fun lists based on some brainstorming session with friends. {That's another thing about this Fun: Everyone is invited to participate, but some of the days are pretty specific to me. Run 10 miles, for example. If that doesn't sound fun to you, I won't make you do it, shouting at you the whole time like a maniacal drill sergeant: "Are you having fun now?!??"}

Other people came up with ideas like: go to a movie, go to a new place for brunch, go to the Art Institute.

Meanwhile, I came up with ideas like: buy a new book, make sure all your pictures are up to date, bake brioche, clean out your closet {and donate what you don't need anymore}, and buy new underwear.

Broadly speaking, I'd say that other people have fun ideas of things to do together, while all I want to do is be alone with my food, books, and organizational tendencies.

In an effort to "grow as a person," though, I've incorporated some of those non-solitude activities {a less awkward way to say that: social activities, although that does sound like I'm on a cruise and the purser has planned fun things for us on the Lido Deck}.

Here's to a fun-filled February. Please report back and tell me, on a scale of 1 to 28, how fun your February was.

2014 February Fun

1. retreat far, far away (and off the grid): I'm going on a partially silent retreat with my church. Doesn't quiet sound fun?
2. wear fun earrings
3. buy a new CD
4. find a Zooniverse project to work on: I read about this in the Tribune the other day. You can help! With science! Just by using your computer! Look at the projects—I'm most intrigued by the one to help catalog soldiers' diaries from World War I.
5. make something out of my new Downton Abbey cookbook: Or since you probably don't have this same cookbook, you can just make a new recipe.
6. schedule coffee with a friend {or dinner or whatever—basically, schedule quality time with someone. Good friends don't count—this need to be someone you don't see much.}
7. buy flowers
8. bake brioche
9. clean out your clothes and donate the ones you don't need anymore
10. re-organize your books {or whatever else you want to organize}
11. read a short story
12. buy new underwear
13. eat dark chocolate {good for the brain, you know}
14. write a postcard to Java: I read about this in Oprah while I was at the gym one day. To help students in Java learn English, you can send them a postcard telling them a little bit about who you are and where you come from. If you include your address, they may even write you back. Learn more about it.
15. go to a movie
16. write to your nieces and nephews, if applicable: Otherwise, just write a card to someone, anyone.
17. bake for your neighbors {or a friend}
18. re-read a favorite childhood book
19. write a poem
20. host a craft night {or go to one, preferably the one I'm hosting}
21. school spirit day: Remember back in high school when you got to have different Spirit Days, such as Wear Your Pajamas to School Day or 70s Day? We don't get Spirit Days in the Grown-up World, so I'm declaring a personal Spirit Day. For me, this means I could wear something purple and gray in support of my high school team, the Grayhounds—Fight, Purple! Fight, Gray! Fight, fight today! Yes, I still remember my cheerleading chants.}
22. Glen Ellyn Style with friends: I'm sure you have no idea what this is, but all it means is "hang out with your friends in downtown Glen Ellyn and wander through a bunch of shops. Getting coffee is also a good idea."
23. run 10 miles
24. make something out of my new Simply in Season cookbook: I'm sure you're thrilled that I've gotten two new cookbooks just before this February Fun began.
25. go to Starbucks and pay for a random person's stuff
26. paint your nails
27. be a wine-o {or just have a glass of wine}
28. make hot cocoa. Like real hot cocoa, not Swiss Miss

the snow this morning

The snow this morning, it glistened and glittered.

And have you ever thought about how so many words we associate with light and shining begin with that gl-? It's a guttural gulp for expressing something so airy and bright, but English is a funny language. I can say that because I once took a class on morphology—how we put words together—and my mind glowed with excitement when I learned this gl- thing.

It's a sound, a building block of language, that English speakers, mostly unwittingly, associate with light. Given a very unfamiliar word beginning in gl-, most of us, without thinking about it too much, would very likely define it along the lines of glisten, glitter, gleam, glint.

We would hear this unfamiliar word, and if we were from a certain part of the country and it was a certain time of the year, we might think about the snow glistening and glittering.

I did the morning. I had slept much later than normal, but I justified the skipped morning workout by saying to myself {s I lay a-bed}: You swam a mile yesterday. The distance stretched out in front of me, and I stretched my legs, resettling into my flannel sheets and down comforter.

Sometimes, you have to cut yourself some slack; I'm trying to learn this.

I took an extra-long walk this morning through the brisk February air, and I stopped and admired the snow. Sometimes, you have to do that.

for sale {a poem} {feb fun #5}

The house which had been empty is now full,
a testament, perhaps, to the recovering housing market.
Months it sat, a shell of a home,
with that red front door that was meant to be welcoming,
but it clashed with the For Sale sign in the flowerless, brown, scraggly front yard.

A family has moved in now.

A cat has appeared in the front bay window, suspiciously eying passers-by.

There's a new blue sled propped up against the garage
bought in anticipation of a real Midwestern winter of snow that has yet to come this year.

Formal portraits have been hung in the formal living room or beige couches and chairs,
but downstairs in the family room,
the big screen TV is showing a football game
and as one, the family jumps up and
cheers.

but i still want to be a hermit {feb fun #1}

February Fun is off to a roaring start, although I may be confusing February with March, aka the "in like a lion and out like a lamb" month.

Regardless, for February 1 {or if I'm feeling especially French pretentious, as I'm known to feel at times, le 1er fevrier}, I was supposed to send a someecard—you know, one of those delightfully snarky and culturally aware eCards.

I chose this:


Because:

• I'm always tempted to become a hermit in the winter. This is partially why I schedule so many activities: to force me to leave my home. And by "home" I mean: couch/bed/reading nook.
• I went to bed at 8:30 last night. I'm either in full winter hibernation mode or I'm an 8-year-old.
• And the night before, I went to bed at 8:00. I think I may have mono. {Considering that I diagnosed myself with tuberculosis the other week—for reasons you probably don't want to hear about—I don't think people should trust my medical advice. If you know what I do for a living, you will find that an incredibly ironic statement.}
• If I ever develop a beard like that, I really will stay in my apartment all the time, regardless of the mild winter. I'll probably spend most of my time shaving and tweezing.

february fun

February is, with all due apologies to TS Eliot and his wasteland, the cruellest month.

It is my least favorite month, odd as it seems to be at odds with an entire month. I think this has something to do with how Christmas is long past and spring is far away.

{I should insert this: USUALLY. Usually spring is far away, but today, I took a walk around my office building without a coat on, not even the light jacket I wore for the day. Birds were singing, and everywhere I went today, people talked with a bounce in their voice as we discussed the weather. Maybe this very confused winter will help me like February more.}

A few years back, a couple of friends and I decided to counteract the blah of February by developing a February Fun List. Every day, we would do something small, just to bring a little lift to the day.

I'm reinstating February Fun, but I need a little help: below is the list Katie, Rachel, and I created before, but some things needed to be taken out because they were so specific to that year {such as: Make that uber-long choir rehearsal fun by bringing treats}.

What would you suggest for February Fun?

Seriously, I'm open to anything. But please keep in mind:

• These should be small things. No "write a novel" or "fly to [wherever] to visit [insert friend's name]."
• Most of these are work days. Please don't make me dress crazy or skip work.
• I guess if I have stipulations, I'm not really open to anything, am I?
• Perhaps one of these should be "work on control issues." Although, well, that counters point 1 in this list of stipulations.
• But really, leave me a comment, and I'll work it into the list.
• And you know, you could totally join me in this February Fun. As you can tell from the name, it will be fun.

February Fun List {updated February 3, 2012, after gathering input from fun friends}

1. send a someecard
2. wear fun earrings
3. write a letter to someone you haven't talked to in awhile
4. read a short story
5. write a poem
6. school spirit day {Remember back in high school when you got to have different Spirit Days, such as Wear Your Pajamas to School Day or 70s Day? We don't get Spirit Days in the Grown-up World, so I'm declaring a personal Spirit Day. For me, this means I could wear something purple and gray in support of my high school team, the Grayhounds—Fight, Purple! Fight, Gray! Fight, fight today! Yes, I still remember my cheerleading chants.}
7. throw out all the socks you don't really like and go get more of the ones you like the most
8. buy flowers
9. eat dark chocolate {good for the brain, you know}
10. organize something you've been wanting to get in order {can be small, bt-dubs}
11. start watching a tv show you haven't ever seen
12. watch an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, perhaps with a friend who's never seen it
13. be crafty: sew a little something
14. go to a gas station and pay for a random person's stuff
15. wear fun underwear
16. paint your nails
17. call friend/family
18. make a new playlist
19. watch the Downton Abbey Christmas special with friends and try not to let your inner fangirl out too, too much
20. do some sort of outdoor activity {walking Miss Daisy doesn't really count}
21. bake for your co-workers
22. Ash Wednesday...um, give up something for Lent day...
23. wear a power outfit {Note #1: shoulder pads not necessary} {Note #2: Especially appropriate this year, since I'll be in Palm Springs at a conference making a video series with a bunch of doctors}
24. re-read a favorite childhood book
25. be a wine-o {or just have a glass of wine}
26. run 10 miles
27. make hot cocoa. Like real hot cocoa, not Swiss Miss
28. try a new recipe
29. schedule coffee with a friend {or dinner or whatever—basically, schedule quality time with someone. Good friends don't count—this need to be someone you don't see much.}