I Hate February
And not even because it’s hard to say the name of the month.
Hello, my name is Liz and I hate February.
Yes, this is a hater post…I’m totally being a negative Nancy.
Okay, just to get it out of the way, I will admit I don’t hate all parts of February. For instance, I like Mardi Gras. Beads, parades and fattening king cake? Uh, yeah. That’s all good. And I like Valentine’s Day. Chocolate, flowers, out to dinner to a favorite restaurant? Bring it. But the rest of February?
Meh.
For one thing, it’s all gray and dirty outside. Oh, sure, Mother Nature brushes the occasional tulip tree with color, but for the most part, all the green we get is clover or weeds (how do they always survive?). And the weather is gray, too. All rain spitting, gloomy, cool and damp. Blah. And then there’s gathering up all the tax stuff. Ugh. I hate wading back through our past year, seeing all the spending we did, looking at all the money we wasted, and then looking at the bank statement….and sighing. My job is to gather all the receipts, not just for my writing, but for the personal and business. It takes forever to go through all the credit card statements, double-checking to make sure I have everythign straight and placed in the right spot. The calculator and I become BFFs. Can you tell I’m in the middle of this right now?
Other things I hate about February:
Christmas bills come due
Dead grass is tracked through the house (and in my car)
It’s too cool and wet for the kids to play outside (most days)
Christmas treats show up on your thighs (and butt and hips and tummy)
No more football (with exception of one Super Bowl game)
Baseball season is still a month away
The only yard work I can do is pruning (not fun)
The only good things about February:
It’s a short month
So I’m sure after all that, you can get the idea that I don’t really like February? LOL. So now I’m willing to be convinced about the month honoring Presidents and over-priced cards shaped like a heart. What do you LIKE about February? And do you have a favorite month? I’m pretty partial to April myself.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 06:45:04
I was telling my husband just this, about Feb. the other day! Not about where we live right now (So. Ca) but growing up in Michigan. Summer seems a mirage on the horizon. You swing between the last ice storm of the winter, and optimistic crocuses.
We’ve got a spare bedroom, Liz!
Feb 20, 2013 @ 10:59:02
This past summer when I visited SOCAL, I found it such a lovely climate. Little humidity, light winds, sunny. I see why so many flock to live there. I love living in Louisiana most of the year – August and Sept are the worst months because of the heat and humidity. February is fair in comparison. I don’t know why I feel this way every year. I think it’s more a financial thing because I curtail myself due to Christmas spending and taxes. But looking outside at ugliness still gets me down. I’m a freakin’ Carpenters’ song. LOL
Liz Talley recently posted..The Nerd Who Loved Me
Feb 20, 2013 @ 06:45:14
Okay,
You set me up.
I hate Feb-YOO-ary. I have stopped watching news programs and The Doctors because their announcers say it wrong. I fine my children a quarter if they leave out that R. It’s a slippery slope from that pronunciation abomination to li-berry and you do NOT WANT to say that to be. At least not before I’ve had bourbon (REAL bourbon–not that watered-down Maker’s Mark crap) and am feeling forgiven.
Don’t water down my bourbon. Don’t water down my pronunciations. The American R is a linguistic feat almost no one on the planet can duplicate.
Happy February.
Keri Stevens recently posted..Keri Not Keri
Feb 20, 2013 @ 11:00:29
LOL. I say Feb-YOU-ary, too. It’s lazy, but I will blame being Southern on that. Can I do that? Heck, I may even start saying Liberry. JK.
Liz Talley recently posted..The Nerd Who Loved Me
Feb 20, 2013 @ 06:46:26
“Forgiving”. Nothing like having to correct your own word police comment. Where is that bourbon?
Feb 20, 2013 @ 06:47:22
And “me”. Not “be.”
Hmph.
Keri Stevens recently posted..Keri Not Keri
Feb 20, 2013 @ 11:01:38
It’s totally karma’s way of knocking you down a few notches
Karma likes to say “Feb-you-ary” too.
Ha, ha! See? Now I’m feeling better.
Liz Talley recently posted..The Nerd Who Loved Me
Feb 20, 2013 @ 16:10:24
I think you owe me a shot of bourbon for that, Missy!
Keri Stevens recently posted..Keri Not Keri
Feb 20, 2013 @ 09:12:19
I’m not a big fan of February either. Once that first daffodil pops up, and pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, I am so done with winter. Except for that snow storm that hit during the middle of school yesterday, prompting the kids to go bonkers. You know how snow falling in the woods is soft and quiet? Well, snow falling on an elementary school playground is about as noisy as the Superdome. It took me an hour to get my kids home, and much longer than that for my shoulders to return to their normal position.
But at least I’m no longer working at the accounting office, where January through April 15 is one big stress pit.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 11:02:41
I am looking forward to having baseball on at night. I’m even looking forward to watching my boys play this year…for at least now. Ask me a month in of every night at the ball park and the story may change.
Liz Talley recently posted..The Nerd Who Loved Me
Feb 20, 2013 @ 09:45:54
Yeah, bleh. I love spring and fall and nothing else in between much.
That’s why I miss the California coast. Spring/fall all year long.
And, Keri, thanks for the laugh. Love the part about the “r” sound. So true. I should pro’ly be better about pronouncing all the letters in words.
Now get thee to some bourbon. It’s afternoon somewhere…
Gwen Hernandez recently posted..Scrivener for plotters with Hope Ramsay
Feb 20, 2013 @ 11:05:41
I’m guessing adding coke is out on the diluting…I like a little coke with mine.
Liz Talley recently posted..The Nerd Who Loved Me
Feb 20, 2013 @ 16:11:27
Coke can be added. But not Pepsi.
Keri Stevens recently posted..Keri Not Keri
Feb 20, 2013 @ 09:46:44
The best thing about February is that it is not August and 115 degrees.
That’s all I got.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 11:08:20
That’ll work.
Liz Talley recently posted..The Nerd Who Loved Me
Feb 20, 2013 @ 09:50:04
I’m not a fan either, but I have to admit I like it much better now that I have migrated south. You want a depressing February, spend it in Chicago freezing your tuchas off in the gray. *shudders* Don’t miss that one bit.
Cheer up! It’s almost over!
Margaret Ethridge recently posted..Monday Mayhem – Yay!
Feb 20, 2013 @ 11:09:47
Yeah, see? Now I feel bad about complaining. But at least snow is pretty…until it’s slush, of course.
I’m looking at dead stuff – nothing to cover it up but the leaves I didn’t rake up in the fal. But you make a good point. I should stop hating on February in Louisiana. I’ll save it for Aug and Sept.
Liz Talley recently posted..The Nerd Who Loved Me
Feb 20, 2013 @ 10:27:18
Back in the day when I had a day job (other than writing), I used to HAVE to take a vacation in February. One of my bosses insisted I go home and not come back until Monday! LOL I think I suffered from SADD. I would literally cry for no reason. I was hard to be around. Unreasonable. Flaky. A real Debbie Downer.
Now? I get lots of sunshine in February. It helps more than you can imagine.
And yeah…I screw up the pronunciation of Feb-e-airy. hee hee (I can hear Keri S screaming right now!)
Feb 20, 2013 @ 11:10:54
LOL. Keri’s going to get us all.
Yes, the sun. I miss it. Which is why any time I can get out and walk and bask, I do. I always feel better after some time in the sunshine. Maybe I’ll go take that walk before the front arrives and dumps more rain on us.
Liz Talley recently posted..The Nerd Who Loved Me
Feb 20, 2013 @ 12:44:11
I just looked at your new revamped website…yes yes, I know it’s been up a while. I just hadn’t gotten there. LOVE IT! Very pretty!
Feb 20, 2013 @ 16:12:48
Lalala! Drinking now. Cannot SEE you!
Keri Stevens recently posted..Keri Not Keri
Feb 20, 2013 @ 17:03:58
I’d answer, but it’s hard to write while I’m holding a cold beer in my left and a plate of nachos in my right
Feb 20, 2013 @ 13:34:03
Cyndi, you suffered from Students Against Drunk Driving? LOL
(I know. Sorry. This is why my husband hates me.)
Natalie J. Damschroder recently posted..I Hate Webmail…and Hey! Supernatural Sisters is Back! Kind Of.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 17:05:15
Yes, Nat. This is correct. I suffered from Students Against Drunk Drivers, which is helped by sunshine. Good thing I’m not a vampire!
Feb 20, 2013 @ 13:33:02
Well, my son was born in February and so was my favorite (and only) aunt. February is when I plant my sweet peas, peas, lettuce and all those cold weather crops that hate my climate. Sweet violets and narcissus bloom throughout February. The trees start to bud. February is when I plan my garden; it’s when I finally take a breath and realize holidays and birthdays are behind me until April. Its the last month I can layer and pretend it makes me look thinner…This year book one of my new series was released in February…
You know, I was totally agreeing with you until I started thinking about it. Trust me, I’m the last one to be confused with little Mary sunshine, but I guess I don’t mind February that much after all. Except the difficulty in pronouncing it. Yup, that sucks.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 15:41:37
Well, I’m glad someone is kind to February
Those are all good reasons to like the month.
Liz Talley recently posted..The Nerd Who Loved Me
Feb 20, 2013 @ 13:34:07
PS: And I think bourbon, the good kind, all around. It’s been that kind of week. : )
Feb 20, 2013 @ 13:40:15
I hate February, too!
Here in Pennsylvania, we have days like yesterday, where every 5 minutes it changed from sleet to big puffy snowflakes to freezing rain and back through again. Then it melted and left everything muddy and icky. It’s cloudy all the time. I think I suffer from SAD, too (or, as Cyndi likes to call it, Seasonal Affective Disorder Disorder
). It’s not so bad now that I’m working part time and not driving to work in the dark and home in the dark with very little exposure to sunlight in between.
Why else do I hate it? There are no good movies released in February. No days off from work for holidays (which is why I hate March, too). My husband, brother, and father all have birthdays in February, and we can’t do them justice because of the Christmas bills thing you referenced. And my mother died in February (on my poor brother’s birthday).
But there are things to like. Ratings sweeps mean TV is at its best. The days are incrementally longer. And it’s only 3 months until my annual retreat!
Natalie J. Damschroder recently posted..I Hate Webmail…and Hey! Supernatural Sisters is Back! Kind Of.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 15:44:08
You’re bright side cannont measure up to the things wrong with February, but I appreciate that you tried. Yes, good TV. Thanks heavens for that!
Sorry about your mama – that never gets easier.
Liz Talley recently posted..The Nerd Who Loved Me
Feb 20, 2013 @ 19:00:08
Yeah, pretty weak “things to like” list.
Thanks for the condolences. It’s been 10 years, so consciously it’s okay. But I always find myself getting weird at the beginning of February and not knowing why until I remember.
Natalie J. Damschroder recently posted..I Hate Webmail…and Hey! Supernatural Sisters is Back! Kind Of.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 13:56:05
Oh, thanks a lot Liz, I never knew it until you brought it up. I hate February too. You should see the inside of my mud-caked garage, and there’s no point cleaning it because it’s meh… February! But I admire how you found a few bright sides about the month… And, yes, it’s short. Cute post!
Donnell recently posted..Help! I’ve Lost My Noodle
Feb 20, 2013 @ 15:45:11
Thanks, Donnell. I think focusing on the month as being the problem helps me deal with the fact my life feels meh right now. It’s all the month’s fault. I’m sticking to it. LOL
Liz Talley recently posted..The Nerd Who Loved Me
Feb 24, 2013 @ 16:21:46
I wish February had only 1 day.