February Recess is upon us.

February Recess, where we save up all those days that the public schools take off (Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Casimir Pulaski Day) and take a week off of school.

Ostensibly, it breaks the flu contagion cycle. I’d like to think that it also breaks up the negativity contagion cycle that can set in during Febru-weary.

I am delighted. And I have plans.

Plan 1 – to clean house today. Best to do it today and then I can enjoy the week without the nagging thoughts of “I should clean the bathrooms” stalking me. So far –  on plan.

Plan 2 – clean a closet.  Now it us usually April Recess where I get the really serious throw-away-crap crazies, but it’s there – lurking about the edges of my consciousness.  I will clean a closet. Maybe two.

Plan 3 – read books that I want to read.  I’ve already started and almost finished The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King (a Mary Russell / Sherlock Holmes mystery) and I am heading to the library later in the week.  I have two Sarah Dessen books and the new Ally Carter on my To Be Read pile.

Plan 4 – catch up with a friend or two. Date made. Wednesday morning. Excellent plan.

Plan 5 – go shopping for costume amendments.  I am helping with costumes for the spring show at the Actors Gymnasium, Science Fiction.  I’m going to American Science and Surplus. Never been, but it’s a destination shopping trip for my cousin Tim, the King of Adaptive Reuse, when he is here from Iowa City.

Plan 6 – watch a whole bunch of films that I have never seen but should have.  I am putting this experience in the hands of a good friend and fellow cinema fan. I trust that he will deliver on the plan.

Plan 7 – Read the second drafts of my students’ short stories. I’ve started these, but if there were 500 pages of student writing in the first drafts, there are 750 pages in these second drafts.

Okay – blogging was not on the plan, but I hope to do some of that, too.

Happy Valentine’s Day – by the way. Image by CarbonNYC