Posts Tagged "seasons"

Summer’s Prank

Posted by Caroline on Sep 21, 2009 in The Backpack | 0 comments

Chapter 3.

All of the evidence was in line so I figured it to be true.  Like the rest of us, I fell for the joke;  I thought Fall had arrived in all its glory.  Oh Mr. Summer—what a prankster.  It is currently very UnFall; it might as well be July.  It’s actually so Summer right now that I took a detour from class just to ride my bike at that peaceful pace— just fast enough to feel the breeze but just slow enough that my heart rate doesn’t quicken.

By the time I made it home, summer was the only thing on my mind.  It was a must: I jumped into the pool.  I tried to talk my roommate into joining me, but she had this thing she had to go to called class.

Today in the ministry staff meeting we had to fill out a questionnaire about ourselves for the website, and it was like one of those tests where your mind races but to no avail.  I genuinely didn’t have answers to questions like—what’s your favorite TV show?  I dare not say John and Kate Plus 8 because everyone’s eyes get big with disbelief and slight sympathy as they ask me if I have heard the news.  I’m oblivious to a lot, but yes, of course I have heard.  I could say the Office but how often is it funny these days?  Should I admit to still loving the Cosby’s?

And my hobbies?  I have a list of hobbies I wish I did like running and learning another language or even being artistic.  And then there are my unspoken hobbies that I don’t exactly want to broadcast like painting little birdhouses from Hobby Lobby and reading blogs about organization.

On the spot, I decided one of my hobbies was going to be pranks, and I wrote it down with confidence.  My freshman year pranks were ongoing and I remember holding my breath to keep my laughs from slipping out and running out of the room giggling.  Furniture was rearranged; cups with fish were placed around rooms; sheets were stolen.  Anyone heard of Askpeter.com?  If you haven’t, I shouldn’t have told you.  There went one of my pranks.

Yesterday I found a cup of worms on my bed and screamed louder than I ever have. And then I laughed.

Pranks bring smiles to any day.  Even if you’re the one screaming or having a guy on stilts think you want your picture taken or wondering why the same number always calls you at midnight.

The only prank not funny is that it’s 95 degrees outside.  At least I got to go swimming though.

Okay fine, I’ll laugh.  Summer, you got me.

Monday.

P.S.  Hey summer, I kind of miss the real you (the one without classes).

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Extending the Christmas Season

Posted by Caroline on Dec 28, 2008 in The Backpack | 0 comments

Today is December 28th.  I had to ask the date today at the gym when I filled out my guest pass registration form.  I found it quite humorous that the lady working the desk had me fill out a form giving consent that I wouldn’t sue them the 6th and final time I could use my pass.  Some people are rule followers, and I guess the 5 ladies sitting at the desk before Ms. Rule were too lazy to get my name.  I’m a fan of the slackers in such cases.

The significance of the 28 is that it’s three days after Christmas meaning I failed.  I genuinely had the intention of writing a Christmas card letter.  Ya know one of those updates from the past year on the random happenings with one’s family sends to both those who were there for the stories and those you only communicate with through the exchange of the annual cards.  Tis the season.

This failure slightly concerns me, because if I cannot get a Christmas card sent at age 20 with 0 husbands and 0 children and not much of a job, how will I ever send one out when I have family and career?  Maybe the domestic lackings I currently hold will magically be fulfilled and updating others via letters will accompany.  Or maybe, I’ll be a mother so enthralled by her children that I’ll desperately look for an opportunity to brag.  Whatever the case, I pray for the miracle.

I was lamenting on the three days equaling a missed chance when it dawned on me.  The realization might be justifying my lateness coupled with my inability to transition out of Christmas season, but here’s my new philosophy nonetheless:  Christmas season can go past Christmas.
Bet you thought the money pouring into my education and the books I read would lead to something a bit more profound.  Sorry to let you down.

Hear me out.  After the Black Friday hype with the lines and tramplings, people find themselves humming along with Christmas tunes and finding excuses to give gifts to the people they swore they were going to kill earlier in November.  Gingerbread houses (which now come preassembled!! Come on) are built, Facebook statuses are cheery, coffee and tea sales skyrocket, and the hideous Christmas ties are busted out.  Tis the season, right?

Come December 18 the season is put on hold and urgent shopping kicks in.  Walmart utilizes every creaking cart they own, horns start honking, lines accumulate, and bare shelves start to appear.  Frustration, aggravation, and not-so-Christmassy behavior escalates.
During that horrid week I was one of the thousands backing up Glenstone Avenue and Battlefield Intersections, tapping my hand, listening to the horns.  I would spend more time looking for a parking spot at Walmart than shopping and more time standing in line than both combined.  I got my gifts bought, but I found that grumpy people surrounded me, dampening this so called season.

So I smiled.  Big.  I was grumpy once… okay, well… more than once, and the most annoying thing someone can do is to look happy.  Smiling is definitely the worst.
Walking around Walmart I’d smile, but no matter how much or how big I smiled or what persona I could show, it was to no avail.  No good attitudes could transcend from me to Mr. Grumpy.  The season was put on hold.
Back to my proposal:  Christmas season can go past Christmas.  I propose that the season lost the week before Christmas be preserved for another time.  Meaning, if I want to send my Christmas card letter on the 28th, I could.  Or maybe April 12th amidst Spring Fever and taxes.  Everyone needs a lift then.

My sister’s birthday is exactly 6 months and one day from mine, so on her birthday, my precious mother would celebrate my half birthday.  Probably to appease a jealous toddler, I’d be sung “Happy half-birthday”(the extra syllable threw off the song a bit), and this increased the celebration.  June 25th, we could celebrate “Half-Christmas.”

For whatever occasion, Tis the Season is not limiting.  My best friends gift is still sitting on my bedside table.  Just because it’s the 28th doesn’t mean I’m not going to send the present with pride with my cheesy Christmas card attached.  I have seven days to use, and I’m going to use them sparingly and purposefully.  The Grinch isn’t stealing the week again.  Tis the Season, which is not bound by date!

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