Monday, Monday-Riffday again

For many years I wrote an annual post griping about how much I hate spring in the Northern Rockies.  I think I skipped it last year, though, and the year before I think I just linked to the one from the previous year because nothing had changed.  Winter I don't mind, but "Spring" is hardly deserving of the term.  It's cold and gray and a typical day may include rain, fog, sleet, freezing drizzle, and/or snow.  It would not be unusual to have all of the above.  But it's going to be in the 40s today, and therefore--after months of temps below freezing-- in the minds of the natives, it is Spring.  My sisters in the South are wearing shorts and t-shirts and complaining about the heat, raving over the flowers in bloom, and generally being irritating.  We won't even have green grass here for six weeks or so.

But I must have crossed some magic line over the past couple of years, because although I think "Spring" here will always rank as my least favorite season, it seems right.  This seems like what spring is supposed to be like:  raw and muddy, with everything sloooowly coming back to life.  The good thing is that you appreciate every little nuance.  The crocuses will be blooming soon, and then there will be daffodils and tulips.  This morning when I went out to drive MadMax to school, I could hear birds singing for the first time in months.  By mid April you can plant pansies and peas.  And then eventually it will be so riotously green and gorgeous that it makes up for it.  We just have to hang in.

(Also we are cheating for a week and going South for spring break.  I just got off the phone making shuttle reservations from the airport and I can't tell you how nice it was to hear that Southern drawl.  I felt mine coming right back (comin' raht back)-- it's like having pudding in your mouth, or warmed honey, and your jaw moves differently, like it's loosening up.)

Next up:  We're getting new flooring this week.  We've had the same (awful) mauve carpet in our bedroom for the twelve years we've lived in this house.  I've hated it the entire time, but it was brand new when we moved in, and there were other far more important things to spend money on.  And since I'm not a particularly visual person, I can pretty much ignore it.

hmm, I'm realizing I have to back up a little to finish the new floor story.  How much did I blog about trying to sell the house?  I can't remember what I've told you.  The short version:  as part of my midlife crisis, I really really wanted to move.  I'm kind of a seven-year itch person anyway, and we've been in this house for twelve years.  So we put the house on the market for about six months in 2009, and then for another six months last year.  But the market around here (as in many other places) was pretty dead, and it didn't sell.  So I told dh I would be willing to stay here if we could do a little upgrading.  So we're getting bamboo in the living room, and a sort of basic-tan-ish carpet on the stairs, the upstairs hall, our bedroom, and Nell's bedroom.  MadMax is getting "Granite" colored carpet.  He wanted a dark color, and that was as dark as I was willing to go.

So the floor guys are here this week, and we spent a good part of the weekend clearing out closets, moving furniture etc.  I was planning on staying home to study today, but it is considerably louder than I was expecting.  Considerably.  I may have to go somewhere else to get any studying done, and I have a LOT to do today.  Deconstructionist criticism, which is always the hardest for me to wade through, and lots of work on the Joyce project.  I finished Mansfield Park on Saturday, so that class is done.

Nell is now safely arrived in the Netherlands with her boyfriend and visiting his family there.  She's been there four days now and seems to be recovered from jetlag.  I am jealous, but she is being pretty good about e-mailing (so far).

and:  this is not worth an entire post.  But what is the deal with books that cost exactly the same in their digital version as their print version?  I understand that the physical book is only a part of the cost of producing a book, editing it, marketing it, etc.  But it should be SOME cheaper--they're not paying for paper, ink, glue, shipping, or shelf space.  Obviously there are people who are paying $7.99 for a Kindle "paperback" because they are selling, and some of them are selling pretty well.  I want to tell the people that are buying them, just stop.  You're only encouraging them.  I'm not doing it.  I'm just too cheap.  Especially since I can often get that $7.99 paperback at Target for $5.70 with my Target card, or for $6 (averaged out) on Amazon with their 4-for-3 promotion if I wait a couple of weeks. 

Can't think of anything else.  Y'all have a good Monday.