Stupid Groundhog, Stupid Winter, Stupid Meteorologists

It's Groundhog Day. Every year on this day, thousands of people gather at Gobblers Knob, Pennsylvania to see if a rodent named Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not to know if we will have six more weeks of winter or if spring is on the way. This is supposed to be based on hibernation and if the groundhog is ready to get out of bed or not for the year. Heck, if I could be a weather predictor in winter, I'd never get out of bed just for the extra sleep, so it's no wonder he sees his shadow. Really, it's more of a tradition than a weather indicator and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (sounds like a pretty important government faction to be commenting on a groundhog, doesn't it??) even says that Punxsutawney Phil has "no predictive skill". Really? Are people not smart enough to figure this out about a groundhog that you felt the need to come out with an official comment??

Of course I don't think that Punxsutawney Phil has much more predictive ability than the meteorologists on the news. I think I had it all wrong as a little kid when I said I either wanted to be a mommy or a teacher - I should have said I wanted to be a meteorologist. They can be wrong at their jobs CONSISTENTLY and still make good money - what other career can boast about that??

I really wanted to write this post so I could repeatedly type "Punxsutawney" (say it a few times, it rolls off the tongue nicely) but here are a few fun facts about Phil:

• Phil made his first appearance in 1887.
• His official website says he is over 100 years old...righttttt.
• The average life of a groundhog is 6-9 years.

Let's think about that for a minute... It's 2010 now.

2010 - 1887 = 123

If we give Punxsutawney Phil a decent groundhog lifespan, considering he's probably better taken care of than the average wild groundhog at 8 years:

123/8 = 15.375

Seems to me, we're on our 16th or so (give or take a few groundhog mishaps) Punxsutawney Phil. It could probably be more than that - maybe the townsfolk of Gobblers Knob start to go crazy after a particular rodent has seen his shadow a certain number of times and send him off to groundhog heaven to try their luck with a new one?

My take on this is F you Punxsutawney Phil, F you winter and F you meteorologists!

Winter blahs...

It's warmed up here from a high of about 7 degrees last week to about 29 degrees this week, whoohoo! Get out the sunscreen, it's time to go sunbathing! Rrrright....

Unfortunately I still pretty much feel stuck in the house because there is still snow all over the ground and it's still too cold to get out and do much of anything. Looking at these same walls day in and day out is making me hate this house. lol Granted when we bought this house, we knew it wasn't our "forever home" and I'm thankful I have a roof over my head. I find myself looking at real estate websites and dreaming about the next house, wherever that may be. I just know it isn't going to be here. It almost makes me motivated enough to start packing. :)

I'd like to say I'm really motivated about cleaning and laundry and getting things done in the house; however, this weather really has me in a rut and the kids are bouncing off the walls (and coloring on them too, geesh) and it's about all I can do to keep up.

I started reading the first book on my book list for 2010 - "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson and while it's beautifully written, it's kind of depressing too. It's basically about a man who married a younger woman and has a young son and he is dying and the book is basically a letter of things that he wants his son to know about him, life, etc. I'm hoping when I get to the end there will be something uplifting about it or I will have wasted a few nights on it...not that there haven't been things to ponder in it, because there are several parts that have been very thought provoking for me. I guess in this winter season that has me in a blah mood anyway it probably wasn't the best choice of reading material for the time of year. I'll let you know how it comes out, one way or another.

Now I'm just going to stop and be a bitch for a minute, so pardon me ahead of time if this offends or pisses you off at all. I've never been known for my social graces and I'm sure not going to start now... Apparently there was another blogger out in blogland that committed suicide (today or yesterday?). First off, I didn't know her personally or even on the internet so I have no personal connection to this whatsoever. My heart goes out to her family and the ones left behind, but on a purely personal note - suicide is seriously the most selfish, crappy thing anyone could ever do to their loved ones and there is absolutely no excuse for it. In this day and age of mental health awareness and availability, there is always, always a different alternative.

Oh and one more thing? I get that we live in a world of online social networking, I do. However, rather than put the circumstances of someone's death all over the internet, wouldn't it be better to let the family grieve in peace? Notify people? Sure. But I don't think we need to know every personal or miniscule social networking connection to the person that you had or thought you had. If something happens to me, there will be no follow up on my blog, nor will there be anyone "tweeting" it. And before anyone gets their panties in a wad over this, get over yourself already. I named no names in this blog and am making a general observation and voicing my own opinion, it's not a personalized attack on anyone. Stepping off my bitchy soapbox now....

Sorry, I'm not known for always saying the "right thing" - in fact, I'm very rarely known for saying the right thing but I will tell you the truth and what's on my mind and never leave you wondering how I feel about it. So my thoughts and feelings for today in a nutshell are:
1. I hate winter.
2. I'm not wild about this book I'm reading right now.
3. I think suicide is a selfish coward's way out.
4. I hate that this woman's family is having to go through this hurt and heartbreak because of her cowardice.
5. I'm unmotivated.
6. I'm sick of this house.
7. No one is allowed to tweet about me after I'm dead.
8. Did I say I hate winter already? Because I do...

COME ON, SPRING!!

And as an aside...I blog for myself and myself only - it's not a publicity thing for me. If it happens to entertain anyone reading, that's cool too. Consider this my "personal public diary" if you will. I don't do sponsorships, giveaways or review things (except books that I get for myself) and probably never will. I can offend you without worry of what my advertisers or corporate sponsors think and with the exception of a very few, I probably don't care what you think either. Just thought I'd put that out there for anyone ready to type their little hands off to flame me for this post that "I don't give a shit" in advance. ;)