Spring has Sprung . . . and made me WORTHLESS

I'm an academic, which means I've never NOT been in school. Plus, my parents are teachers, so I've always lived on an academic calendar. I get very confused when people talk about the New Year as the new year . . . because, obviously, the new year starts in late August or early September, depending on your school.

So right now, it's the end of my working year. And I'm done. I'm not actually done, I have two more weeks of teaching and a week of finals, but I am DONE, as in stick a fork in me. My students are even MORE done. They are so done they might mutiny. We all want to stab each other, at some antideluvian level of our brains, despite the fact we are rather fond of each other by this point in the semester.

For me, spring is more than just flowers and bumble bees and hormones. Spring makes me WORTHLESS as a human being. I just want to nap. I do not want to grade any more papers, or fill out any more forms, or discuss any more ideas. I want to drink a Guinness, read a dirty book, and call it a dizzle-izzle-ay.

How do you feel about spring? Are you one of those people (like my mother) who feels energized and starts washing walls? Or do you slip into the narcoleptic coma which is my current state, too?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I remember the mutiny feeling!

I think Spring is good for me. Living in the north (PA), that little bit of warmth and sunshine we get really gives me a boost.

Imagine Super Mario getting one of those Invincibility Stars. That's me.

Paul
Vickie said…
I live in Boulder CO area....we don't see full spring until mid May or so. Getting ready to have a couple of feet of snow starting tonight. We get tastes of spring, warm weather and such...then much needed snow.
I like spring to get back to the garden, till the soil, plant some seeds of veggies and flowers, mow the lawn.
I definitely don't feel a need to wash the walls, hate housework in all its forms.
Nicole Peeler said…
I totally WANT to be like, "Oh, spring, let's rock it, sistah!"

But instead I'm seriously just done. I do think, however, that I'm more done with school, and less done with spring.
kim wells said…
I totally feel your pain, sistah. This is why the last two weeks of class, for my students, are ORAL PRESENTATIONS!! That way, they can suffer through performance anxiety while I nap in the uncomfortable desks & grade three papers a day. Woo Hoo!
Sabrina Favors said…
It actually only hit me a few days ago that there are three weeks left of classes. And in the MA program here, classes are once a week, so for each of my two courses, I really only have to attend three classes before I graduate. That blows my mind.
Nicole Peeler said…
Kim: That is a GOOD PLAN. I likey lots.

Sabrina: Congrats on getting your MA! That's great. And it's crazy how fast it goes, no?
Qwill said…
Love spring. I can get back into my gardens (I have 7), I don't (usually) have to shovel more snow, the small humans are outside more (which means somewhat less chaos in the house), and I can play golf. I'm a spring baby so maybe my love of spring is encoded?
GB said…
Spring. Pah! Autumn is so much better. Crystal bright days with nary a cloud in the sky. Nights are cooler for better sleep. moderately cooler days makes great picnicking weather. Wearing jeans and jackets so you don't have to go through the process of deforestation in order to wear your favourite skirts and tops.

Yup, Autumn is a much nicer season.

And my opinion has nothing to do with my having to convince myself that Autumn is a great season just so I don't get jealous of the other half of the planet heading into longer days and lazy summers. Nope. Not at all.
Nicole Peeler said…
Qwill: You are like my mother. You scare me. ;-)

JD: DEFORESTATION!!!! I am dying over here. That's soooo true.
Kait Nolan said…
Nicole, I'm right there with you. The end is near, final grades are due in 2 or 3 weeks, and my students seem ready to burst out of their skins like some kind of manic caterpillars. As a professor, I hit burn out just as much now as I did at this point in the semester when I was a student. Even when I was in the "real world" working (before grad school), my brain never adjusted from an academic calendar and I always felt the urge to buy school supplies come August (still do...look at the pretty clean notebook and fancy pens...)
Nicole Peeler said…
Kait: You are SO right!!! I know exactly what you mean, as far as being on an internal academic calendar. I can never understand why other people don't have weeks off around Xmas, etc. Which is when I remember how lucky I am to be in this biz. As an English prof, I get paid peanuts, but I get a lot of them when you figure I only work for 2/3 of the year.

Anyway, my students are definitely about to burst into something. I'm thinking it's more into swearing, than butterflies, but I like your simile nonetheless. ;-)
Kait Nolan said…
Ha, yeah, well they haven't taken my final yet, so I'm sure the swearing will commence. One student emailed me earlier this week and asked "how many chapters will be on the final?" (now we're talking a class that had several unit tests but no midterm). "Um, all of them. That's what makes it a final."

:headdesk: Yeah it's time for a vacation.
Unknown said…
We had 9 inches of snow yesterday which killed my daffodils and broke my flowering dogwood in half. What is this spring you speak of?

Jana
Nicole Peeler said…
Kait: Love it! I know. I hear your pain. It will be all be over soon. Either summer comes or we all shoot each other. ;-)

Jana: AAGH!!! That's horrible! Where are you???? I'm in Louisiana so I haven't worn a coat in 2 months. Should I not be telling you that?
Qwill said…
Nicole, is being like your mom a bad thing? (I'm quite possibly old enough to be your mom, I think.) You got me thinking, and I blogged about why I like spring: http://tinyurl.com/crx8s2 . I'm not sure that you should read it because it's sort of cheerful. ;)
Nicole Peeler said…
Qwill: Being like my mom is a VERY good thing. She's an awesome lady. I'll go check out your blog. :-)
Anonymous said…
In Southern California, a mild winter is like a dewy spring, so I feel like I've been in the season for weeks already. Lots of rain, beautiful flowers, and bees everywhere. For me, it's refreshing to take a break from work and step outside to enjoy a soft breeze thick with new smells.
Nicole Peeler said…
talshannon: That sounds lovely! Louisiana smells like heat and skunk. OH, and there's a swamp behind me. That smells like poop. Soooooooooo . . . . . . . . .thanks for rubbing that in. ;-)

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