I don’t mean to scare anybody, but guys, I’m pretty sure we’ve slipped into some kind of time vortex. Because January has lasted at least five years.

And there’s still a week (plus a couple of days!?!) left. Can you even remember Christmas? Because I honestly can’t. It has been January as long as I can currently remember. And let’s face it, January is just the worst. (I’m sorry if January is your birth month, it’s nothing  personal. Feel free to hate November in return. I only really love a few days of it myself.)

This particular  January may not have been too cold, for the most part, but I swear it’s rained every damn day. Even on the rare sunny ones. It’s just been a gray month. If you have never know what seasonal affective disorder felt like before, I bet this has been the month that’s taught you. It’s dreadful.

Maybe it’s the weather, that most of us don’t get another holiday until May (!!!), that whole election thing (whichever side you fall on, you have to admit it’s been rough) or that Christmas and holiday traveling drained the entertainment fund, but the January blues have set it and I’m ready to be done with them. Plus, it seems like someone always comes down with the plague right after the holidays and sure enough, the husband brought it home from school on Friday.

In order to try to shoo away the blahs I’ve tried baking (tea biscuits, cookies, pies…), exercise, reading, coloring, wine, coffee, writing, coffee with Bailey’s, petting the cat and dog, etc… Hell, I’ve even tried cleaning. Sure, they’ve all helped a little in their own ways, but when I get done I swear time has gone in reverse. (And,fine, I’ll admit the baking and exercise have been a little counter productive.)

I’m really trying to start the year out right with an enlightened outlook, but it just started raining again so I’m not sure how much longer this new chipper (yes, this is my version of chipper) Emily is going to wait it out. So, am I alone or do we all dread this part of the season? Any go-to tips for getting through January or just winter in general? At this point I’m starting to think I need to carry a sun lamp in my purse.