Winter Break

Today is Monday, anywhere in the USA. But the anywhere happens to be where I am right now. It's finally Winter Break! Last week was, to say the least, chaotic. I had the unique opportunity of sitting my midterms while I had the flu. If any of you reading this have had to sit an exam while ill, as I'm sure many of you have, you'll know what a harrowing experience it can be. For those of you that haven't, I sincerely hope you never have the experience.

So, after a week like that, it feels wonderful to be on Winter Break. I accidentally forgot to reset my alarm, so it goes off at the wholly ridiculous hour of five-thirty. As I reach over and flick it off, the ringing of my alarm reminds me of school, and in the habit of associative thinking, the thought of school leads me to thoughts of midterms. Before I can begin to obsess over just how well I did on what particular tests, I rein in my thoughts sharply. My inner voice hits me with, “You've got two weeks before you know anything, and you are not ruining your winter break by worrying about something you can't control anymore!” I wrap myself in the scratchy fabric of the blankets and fall back asleep.

When I finally do wake up for the second time, around eight o'clock, I drag myself, with extreme reluctance, from the warmth of the covers. I pad across the carpet in my bare feet, feeling the roughness of the fibers against my skin.

After my morning ablutions, I stumble to the kitchen for a cup of French vanilla coffee. As I sip the hot, sweet liquid, I think about the party I recently attended where I obtained it.

The party was held at the home of a couple we recently became acquainted with. There weren’t very many young people there, though an acquaintance from my old school did attend. I had an interesting time catching up with her.

The party was quite enjoyable. There was an array of excellent food spread before us when we arrived. It was wonderful to feel the skin of a grape pop and have an effusion of sweet, cool juice fill my mouth. There was a cheese ball, with mild cheddar on the outside, and a sharper on the inside that could be spread on crackers. I partook quite enthusiastically of that, though my main enjoyment came from the fruit on the buffet. Besides the grapes, there were strawberries, wonderfully large and sweet, despite the fact they weren't in season. And there was star fruit; star fruit is definitely an acquired taste, so much so that I was the only one at the party who liked it.

After we finished our meal, there was a gift exchange. Instead of a traditional gift exchange with everyone drawing names and buying a gift for a specific person, we were each given a number and told to bring a gift worth at least ten dollars. There were two options for obtaining gifts. When your number was called, you could either pick a gift from under the tree, or steal a gift that had already been picked by someone else. The only rule was that each gift could only be stolen three times. The person who stole the gift on the third time was its permanent possessor. I happened to steal an excellent assortment of coffees from my old school chum, which is why I'm sitting at the table drinking a cup of French vanilla.

We left the event after the gift exchange. There were more activities planned, but it was getting late. I, for one, wished to return home so I could have one of my twice weekly chats with a friend from Las Vegas. Not that my mother was particularly pleased at being dragged from a party so I could chatter on the phone, but luckily I won that round. When we exited the party, the air was so crisp and cold it hurt to breathe. We were delighted to get to the car, and when we arrived home, we practically ran for the house.

I finish my French Vanilla as I finish my reminiscing, and go to sit in my favorite armchair. It will be good to relax for a couple of weeks. Soon, I'll be back in school. I'll have work, and all the worries about grades. But for now, I'm enjoying my leisure time up to the hilt.

There are lots of special people in the world and I’m one. You probably arrived into the world at close to a normal birth weight of 6 pounds and up, I came in at 1lb.13 ounces. I’m extraordinarily special and full of life at 16. I want to share my experiences with you – help you with a view that you may not be familiar with – walk with you through territory that you may never have had the option to explore…until now. Share Nicki’s View with me, I’ll be here on a regular basis.