Despite waking up to a couple inches of snow this morning, spring is so close you can practically taste it. With the approach of spring, there are several things I’m looking forward to.

1. The time change. Next weekend, the time will spring forward and we’ll be back on Daylight Savings Time. I prefer more daylight in the evenings. When it’s dark, I’d prefer to just stay home and not go anywhere. When it’s daylight, I don’t mind being out and about. My personal preference would be for the time to stay on Daylight Savings Time, especially since I don’t know of a practical purpose for changing it in the fall, other than that extra hour to sleep, but you know, we just end up staying up another hour so we don’t really get an extra hour of sleep. Therefore, we may as well just leave the time alone, after we change it next weekend.

2. Senior Trip. We’ve been fundraising all year, and the concession stand is finally closed. We’re almost ready to make that final payment to the tour company, finish up some paperwork, and be on our way. I’ve been to New York several times, and it’s a great place to visit. I would never want to live there, but I can handle a visit every year or two. I’ve not been to Boston, so I’m really looking forward to seeing that area, in particular the Old North Church. In addition to getting to visit some new places myself, it’s also rewarding to watch the kids have a good time on the trip. It’s really fun for the kids who don’t have many opportunities to travel. Even though most of these kids have known each other since preschool, there’s nothing quite like spending a week together to get to know each other even better. As they’re getting ready to graduate and go their separate ways, it’s a really good experience for them.

3. A long summer. Right now, I’m told we’re scheduled to get out of school by the end of April, which I don’t think has ever happened. If it has, it was before I started going to school because I don’t remember it ever happening. We start back the first of August. For the first time, we’re going to have a really long summer break, three months. I’m very excited about this. There are so many books I want to read, movies to watch, other things to do, and to actually have three months to do it will be wonderful.

4. My grandbaby. With the baby’s due date, it appears most of my summer will be spent getting ready for his/her birth (we find out next week which it is). The baby is due July 25, which happens to be my birthday, so I won’t get to spend too much time with him/her before school starts, but that’s OK. I’m looking forward to meeting and spoiling this new addition to our family. Life is a beautiful gift we have been blessed with. I know a lot of people who dread becoming grandparents, and I can’t figure out why. The circle of life will go on whether they become grandparents or not, and if these people enjoyed their children, why would they not want those children to have the same experience? We age and get old regardless of whether we become grandparents, and I think the getting old will be more bearable with grandchildren.

In five short days, March has been an interesting month here in Kentucky – a mild day, a day of destructive tornadoes, another mild day, a cold day, and a snowy day. We may not know what the weather will do the rest of the month, but we do know that spring and summer are waiting for us, and I’m more than ready.