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OK maybe it’s not quite another ice age, but it feels like an ice age in my brain and my soul, and everywhere else that counts for me. I want warm weather so badly I can taste it, it tastes like desperation and that really doesn’t taste very good. Every day, in my closet, I stare longingly at my cute sandals and peep-toe shoes, my light summery tops in pastel colors, my adorable cotton batik-print skirts, my of-the-moment (but not for much longer) maxi dresses. Then I sigh, and put on jeans and boots and a sweater, or heavy tights and boots and a skirt and a sweater, or yoga pants and a fleece sweatshirt, or…well, you get the idea.

I’ve definitely gotten spoiled since moving to Virginia from Ohio. Back in the good ol’ Midwest, it was winter until after Tax Day. Hell, the year we moved down here (1999), I believe it was right around April 15, and there was still snow on the ground in Ohio. Suddenly we crossed the border into Virginia and it was GREEN, oh so GREEN everywhere, and that’s when I knew I’d probably never move back to Ohio. Now that I’ve lived here for 10 freaking years, I’m used to Spring arriving in March. We’ve had the odd 70-some degree day, and they’re horrible teases, just getting me excited for nothing. Naturally there was a blizzard on March 1 this year, but that’s not really typical. At all.

My longing for warmth is complicated by the way my biological clock seems to be completely f***ed ever since Daylight Savings Time arrived. Lately, I can’t sleep at all. I go to bed at 11pm, 10pm, sometimes as early as 9, and I lay there, completely unable to sleep. I usually lie awake until 2am or 3am, then I finally doze off just to wake at 7:30, thanks to our toddler alarm clock. Or sometimes I fall asleep some time after midnight, only to wake up at 4:30, unable to go back to sleep. This has only been happening severely since DST started, so that’s what I’m blaming, though to be honest my sleep hasn’t been very satisfying for the last few months.

I think I have decided, after WebMD-diagnosing myself, that my problems are thus:

1. A mean case of cabin fever that has escalated into Seasonal Affective Disorder.

2. Fibromyalgia, which I used to suffer from regularly, but had improved in the last few years, making a comeback thanks to poor sleep patterns.

3. Body clock and sleep cycle somewhat screwed over by switch to DST, but also complicated by the above, and also by…

4. Peri-menopause. In other words, I’m only 41, but my body has decided to get a head start on menopausal symptoms, specifically night sweats, hot flashes, and insomnia.

Or maybe I have an anxiety disorder. Hey! Who knows? I have resolved to address these problems by:

1. Ordering a light therapy device which will hopefully help with the SAD and the internal clock problem.

2. Making an appointment with my doctor to yell at her for telling me I was too young to be having hot flashes already, and for God’s sake shouldn’t being on The Pill help with this and if not, for the love of all that is good and holy can she please give me something to help?!?!?

Like maybe Prozac.