'Funk'adelic

Has anyone noticed the disease the seems to be making it's way through every heart, soul, and blog on the planet??? They are calling it the 'funk.'

Is there a telethon raising money for the cure?

Maybe a hot line we can all call??

It's horrible. Everyone I talk to, and almost every blog I read, is complaining about it. I wouldn't be surprised if it's surpassed the common cold in the numbers of people affected.

I have been suffering from the 'funk' for a couple weeks now, but last week was the worst!!! This week seems to be better. Thank goodness. My sister is not so lucky....I talked to her this morning, and her whole family is down with the 'funk'. My mom is definitely suffering from it.

I blame it on the doom and gloom evening news. Companies closing, jobs lost, stock market down....blah, blah, blah. They are subliminally killing us with their sky is falling newscasts. And even if you don't watch the news, you are affected by those that do. The 'funk' is highly contagious, even if there is no direct cause in your own life, the unhappiness of others creeps into your blood.

It's going to be 60 degrees here today. I'm going to go to Subway, get my usual 6 inch Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki, on wheat bread....with no veggies and head to the park with my book. There had DARN WELL better be some fun people doing some fun things in that park for me to watch and laugh at (and use as blog fodder). I mean it!!!!!

On top of the doom and gloom news.....here are the normal issues with this time of year.....

1) The holidays are over. There are no more paid days off for......well......until May (Memorial Day). That's over 2 full months of having to work every single weekday!!! Plus, unless you work for a company that gives you Martin Luther King Jr Day or President's Day...you have already gone two months without a paid day off....and now we have TWO MORE to go!!!

2) The sun is staying up later and later into the evening. Normally this is a really good thing...but we've been deprived of sunshine for quite a while now. I, personally, have forgotten what my house looks like in the daylight. So....with more sunshine comes wanting to be out in it, enjoying it. Not watching it THROUGH YOUR WINDOW AT WORK!!!

3) It's ugly out there. I mean it. Mother Nature takes a break this time of year when it comes to beauty. (At least, in this neck of the woods.) Everything is brown, grey and sleeping. Piles of dirty snow in the corners of parking lots....sand and gravel along the sides of roads and on sidewalks. Ick! Even though people are sick of winter, a good coating of snow does wonders. Snow is happy. It's clean, white, and fresh.

4) All stores have put out their spring and summer clothing. We can't wear that!!! Are they crazy?? There's nothing more depressing than buying new clothes, that you can't wear. It's like buying a heavy sweatshirt at a garage sale...in July. Ugh!

5) Speaking of spring and summer clothes. Even if the weather was nice enough, we've all put on holiday and winter pounds. If we buy the clothes now, we have to buy a bigger size to accommodate the thanksgiving pumpkin pie we ate...whole. We've all realized we need to start working out in preparation of spring and summer.

6) Speaking of working out....we have had a nice day here and there along the way....but for most people, it's still too cold to get outside and get active. So....woman (and men) across the world are dragging out the home gym equipment that hasn't been used since this time last year...and is currently functioning as a second closet. Either that, or they have to go to the gym. And what kind of people are at the gym right now? I'll tell you. a) those that live there, year round, running on the treadmills like hamsters on a wheel...and while you may smirk and make fun of their enthusiasm, you're actually quite jealous of them b) the people who are unhappy to be there, they won't make eye contact with you, they won't smile, they don't want to be there, and by gum, they are NOT going to try to be happy!!!

I think the solution to this funk is smiling. LAUGHING! Try it out today, on a complete stranger, and see what happens.