Wednesday, April 01, 2009

March Madness

March Madness strikes again. No. I'm not talking about the NCAA tournament. I'm talking about the weather, of course. And my frame of mind. 'Mad' didn't even come close to what I felt when I looked out my window Saturday to find big, fat, fluffy, cold flakes falling on one of the last days of March--and this despite four weather forecasters assuring me that the snow would track south of us.

Right.

It's the Winter of My Discontent--The Sequel. And it sucks.

I want spring! And sunshine! And temperatures that let me wear T-shirts and capri pants and make me want to shave my legs again. I want to plant tomato plants upside down in my topsy turvy planters, grill a nice thick steak outside on the patio, take the chain saw to the dead tree in the back yard, and yes, even rake and bag leaves. But spring refuses to, well, spring!

I whined about the weather all day Saturday and into Sunday when I had to kick the thermostat up a notch to keep warm. It was either that or call and order one of those old lady snuggies from TV to wrap up in.

I whined Monday and Tuesday when I had to pull out the winter coat again.

And yesterday when the temperature was a balmy 32 degrees as I left for work, I whined some more. Things couldn't get worse.

Mid morning my cell phone began to vibrate. I checked my voice mail at lunch.

"I'm going to Tahiti. You want to go to Tahiti? Call me. We need to go to Tahiti."

Now, normally if I received a message like this on April Fool's Day I'd bet the farm it was a joke, but since the caller was a good friend of mine who's going through some challenging times--and who has been known to fly off somewhere fun and diverting on a moment's notice, I figured it was legit.

I stared outside the window at the wind whipping hats off men's heads and turning umbrellas inside out and sighed.

"Friggin' Tahiti." I muttered. "Tahiti. Can you believe it?"

"Excuse me?" The gentlemen next to me gave me a quizzical look.

I gave him a weak smile.

"My friend. She's going to Tahiti. Tahiti. Warm sand. Divine beaches. Drinks with tiny umbrellas that aren't inside out stuck in them. That Tahiti."

He suddenly developed a freakish interest in his tuna fish sandwich.

As I chewed my rabbit food lunch I pondered what it would feel like to be that spontaneous. To just decide you're flying off to some exotic locale (heck, flying off anywhere) and just doing it. But that's just not me. 'Spontaneous' is about the last word anyone would use to describe me. I'm somewhat anal about schedules and routines and planning ahead. Don't get me wrong. I've often wished I was one of those 'spur of the moment' people who pick up and pile out the door without prior planning. But I'm not.

If I was, I'd be on the phone to my friend telling her to 'count me in'. No April foolin'.

But I'm me. Good ol' predictable, (translate as boring) structured, level-headed, Bullet Hole. Someday I'm gonna surprise you all. Someday when there are no classes to finish coursework for, no lawmakers and judges to protect, no kids at home to ride herd on, no deadlines to ignore, er, meet--someday I'm going to do it. I'm going to unfold a map, close my eyes, and point to a spot, pack, and go.

What?

You don't believe me?

You think I'm deluding myself?

You just wait. One Thursday you'll click on the Killer Fiction blog to find a new (and less uptight) Bullet Hole blogging from some surprise destination. Just you wait.

Of course, with my luck I'll end up in some place like Podunk City, USA.

Oh well. At least I'll have broken my cycle of 'Stick in the Muditis' when it comes to spontaneity.

So, tell me. When was the last time you picked up and went someplace or did something on impulse? What did you do or where did you go? How'd it work out? Or, if you're like me, what do you wish you could do totally out of the blue?

Maybe I should start today and decide to do something today out of character and unexpected.
Something that deviates from my norm.

Hmmm. What could I do?

I've got it! Maybe I'll brush my teeth BEFORE I take my shower rather than afterwards.

Oh, brudder. I'm in worse shape than I thought.

Now where the heck IS that map????

~Bullet Hole~

23 comments:

♥ Dawn said...

I want to go to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. One of my LIRW group members recently blogged about it.

(See March 20th blog post: http://www.biancadarc.com/blog/

Terri Osburn said...

Are you a Capricorn? Because you just described practical Capricorn me in this blog. A friend even mentioned the other day that she can't imagine I'd ever do anything slightly off the wall or whimsical. No whimsy can't be good. *sigh*

I'm actually flying from VA to AR next weekend to take my kiddo to her dad for spring break. It's a flight to a place I don't really like and I won't even be there for more than 14 hours before I come back, but the idea of making the trip still sounds good to me. I REALLY need to get out. LOL!

In six weeks I'll be hanging in the Outer Banks with kiddo and a friend and we kind of planned it on a whim. So that gets me whimsy points, right?

I have faith that you'll find that map and make it someplace warm and sunny and relaxing. With lots of little umbrella drinks and cute surfer dudes to watch. And I won't even tell you that spring has sprung here in VA with sun and temps in the 60s to 70s.

Keri Ford said...

I'd love to take off somewhere. But, you know, there is the issue of the kid and husband. They probably wouldn't enjoy my disappearing on a whim.

A while back I was looking into islands. There's several islands off the coast of Florida that you can rent. Get that? Rent the whole friggin island. Not that expensive if you go as a group. THAT'S where I want to go.

Gillian Layne said...

It's cold, wet and dreary here too. My body hasn't figured out it's spring yet, I'm still craving comfort food--none of my spring clothes are going to fit, if spring ever gets here.

Keri, I could not believe the island thing, so I started googling--and good grief! There are so many islands for rent--and some of them are actually reasonable! There's one in Maine that's calling my name...

Wendy Roberts said...

I'm with you! Where the hell is spring?! We have a baseball practice today and there was a dusting of snow last night grrrrr.

Keri Ford said...

I know, Gillian. Isn't that awesome? You get a boat at some of them so you can go ashore and get things should you need them.

Wish I had known about these when I was planning my honeymoon. So would have seriously considered those. All the ones I looked at had beautiful homes that came with the rent and unbelievable views.

Bookmobiler said...

"'Spontaneous' is about the last word anyone would use to describe me."

I suppose rebelling against that sorta explains Calamity.

Except perhaps for the original idea there seems to be little that is spontaneous about writing. Just a lot of hard work.

Spontaneous for me usually translates into taking a wrong turn, getting lost and enjoying the voyage.

Either that or picking up an author I haven't read before. Which is how I discovered you. That really turned out well.

Anonymous said...

My sister is an editor for a travel magazine. Last year I met her in Burmingham, Alabama and we drove to Huntsville, Muscle Shoals, Montgomery and Selma. It was sping and the countryside was beautiful. It only cost me airfare because I stayed with her and many of our meals were also taken care of. It was a great spur of the moment get away.
Now I want to get away again. I think I'll call her to see where she's going next...

Christie Craig said...

I got an email from my editor at a lifestyle magazine that said. "Sorry, to take so long getting back to you, but I'm in Costa Rica and this morning I was just so busy watching the monkeys in the trees."

I thought...darn, I wanna watch monkeys, too!

So I know what you mean. While we have spring here and it's really nice, a vacation would be nice.

CC

Kathy Bacus said...

Wow! Just checked out Wieliczka Salt Mine on the blog. That place looks amazing, Dawn! I can see why that ranks high on your fantasy getaways.

~Bullet Hole~

Kathy Bacus said...

I'm an Aries, Terrio, so no Zodiak excuses for my uber practicality.

And YES! You absolutely get points for whimsy initiative for your upcoming excursions.

Me? I'm working on loosening up a bit. Baby steps and all that, you know.

~Bullet Hole~

Kathy Bacus said...

A island inhabited only by writers, right Keri?

Just imagine the stories that would come out of that weekend.

~Bullet Hole~

Kathy Bacus said...

I totally hear you about comfort food, Gillian. I'm nursing a Coke (no diet stuff here) and nibbling on dark chocolate. I tell myself I'll go back to my no-soda regimen and lose the extra LBs when the weather warms up and I'm walking more.

Meanwhile, I just bought gray work slacks in two different sizes, one for winter (fat pants) and one for summer (skinny pants). Where the heck is spring anyway?

~Bullet Hole~

Kathy Bacus said...

Man, I remember freezing my fanny off at spring soccer practices, Wendy. And football games. And band competitions.

Oh, the good old days...

~Bullet Hole~

Kathy Bacus said...

'Either that or picking up an author I haven't read before. Which is how I discovered you. That really turned out well.'

Ah, thanks, Bookmobiler.

And I'm most likely to be impulsive in a bookstore, too. Which I suppose can be considered spontaneous escapism...

~Bullet Hole~

Kathy Bacus said...

If I had a sister similarly employed, I think I'd probably be more inclined towards impromptu travel plans. Especially if someone who knew the ins and outs of traveling was doing the heavy lifting.

And I'm all about economy.

Sounds like a win-win to me, Beth! Go for it!

~Bullet Hole~

Kathy Bacus said...

Okay, Christie, while Costa Rica is lovely I hear, the idea of watching monkeys is probably not tempting enough to lure me into dropping everything and running off somewhere on a whim.

On the other hand, if say, Gerard Butler issued me a 'Monkey Watch' invite, I might be convinced to drop everything and indulge in some 'monkey business'.

;)

~Bullet Hole~

Refhater said...

I'd love to escape to Club Med. I once won a trip to the one in Sandpiper, Florida and it was awesome! The food was incredible, there was entertainment every night, and they had hot rock massages.

We went in Febuary which was the perfect time to escape a Michigan winter. (17 inches of snow the day after we left.) Us Michiganders got a good laugh when a "cold front" came though and everyone was complaining that it dropped down into the upper 70's. Everyone was in pants and jackets and we were wearing shorts and t shirts.

Terry S said...

I got an email newsletter this morning "Island Hopping in Scotland" that I immediately flashed on while reading your blog today. I, too, am a plan everything type of person but that really caught my attention. Now if I only had the money, I might be more spontaneous.

Thoughts of warmer weather and sunshine coming your way (and sooner rather than later).

Kathy Bacus said...

Okay, that has to be one of the most appealing winter escape stories I've heard, Refhater. Sounds like heaven!

And I can so relate to the matter of 'warm' weather attire. When it gets up into the mid 60s, it seems like a heatwave.

~Bullet Hole~

Kathy Bacus said...

Thanks for the warm, sunny weather vibes, Terry S. And I am determined to save my pennies and make a trip across the pond to the UK and Scotland where, it appears, some of Bullet Hole's ancestors hail from.

Now that will lots of planning...

~Bullet Hole~

Delia DeLeest said...

I'm very non-impulsive, but am married to Mr. Impulse. On December 27, 2005, he said "Let's move to Hawaii." We sold/gave away everything we owned, packed up our 4 kids and the maximum amount of luggage United would let us take, and moved to Hawaii on Feb. 2, 2006. How's that for impulsive? I think my husband is going to give me an ulcer.

Heather said...

I feel your pain, Kathy. We awoke to snow here and are under a winter weather advisory until Monday morning. I've never been very spontaneous, but like you, I wish I could be more impulsive and fly off to someplace warm right now. Like Tahiti.