I hate November.
For me, November is the cruellest month. The gloriously coloured leaves have fallen from the trees like tears. We’re all a bit hypoglycemic after tumbling from our Hallowe’en sugar high. The joy of one extra hour of sleep has been replaced by the depression that comes from realizing that darkness descends before work is done.
It’s dark when I wake up, dark when I go to work – where I spend the day in my windowless office – and dark when I go home. November is the month where the year is made or lost. Where bonuses are determined based on whether actions met plans. Where budget building for the next year is under scrutiny and organizational structures are tested for fitness for the future. Employees are tense, knowing this is going on, and their personal lives are tense as they gear up for shopping, entertaining and bill creating. November is about spinning plates and juggling balls to try and get projects wrapped up by the end of the year – and dealing with endless demands from colleagues who’ve suddenly realized they need your help to get their projects done before the end of the year.
I hate November.
On the home front, it’s no better November is about parcelling out the meagre daylight hours to errands and the beginning of the panic that Christmas is mere weeks away and you haven’t even thought about it yet.
But right in the middle of November, there’s a bright spot. There’s one special day that is full of light and magic. It’s the day I became a mother for the first time. And while that little baby is now a fully-fledged grown up with an education, a job an and apartment (too many) miles away, that day reminds me that November is only a month long and that I’m half way through already.
But slowly, as the days wear on, we sink back into the gray, wet, windy days and the lethargy that comes with them.
I hate November.
I know I should get out more on weekends, should walk more, should explore more. But in November, I’m like a fat old black bear who wants nothing more than to start hibernation. My brain shuts down and doesn’t even want to read. I spend too many evenings watching TV and eating comfort food.
Each year, November feels like it will never end, and getting to the end is a marathon. But finally the end creeps near, and with it, a little more hope. As we turn the calendar, we start to see colourful lights appearing on houses to brighten the drive home, and sometimes, if we’re lucky, a fresh blanket of snow to brighten the ground. Work craziness is equalled by Christmas lunches and holiday receptions. People’s moods brighten and a sense of happiness and excitement fills the air. I’m longing for that this year.
So let the countdown begin – one week left until December!
