There is something about coming back from a warm, summer climate to a sad, cold, and dreary winter climate that is so depressing. I just spent about three weeks in warmth and sun, and I am returning to 20-25-degree-Fahrenheit weather, snow, and big waterproof boots. Nothing is exciting about this. All these people in my Facebook and Instagram feed, complaining that they grew up in warm climates like California and never got to experience a snowy Christmas — you guys are so short-sighted and delusional. I have no idea why you think you were deprived. In fact, I feel sorry for people who had to deal with snow and all the disgusting aspects that come with it. It isn’t all fun and games and sledding and snow ball fights when you have to deal with snow chains, salting and shoveling snow out of a driveway, and flight delays and cancellations because of low visibility due to snow. Stop trying to romanticize snow. It’s not romantic. It’s sad.

So, you can imagine how excited I sounded to talk to my parents. Talking to them regularly means I am back in New York, as negative as that sounds. Today, my mom asked me, “So, are you expecting?” WHAT? No, I am not expecting. I am not pregnant. I will not be pregnant this year. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with expecting or getting pregnant. You are married and at the age!” she exclaimed. Why do you think I am expecting? I asked her. I heard you may be, she said, oddly. “Who in the world would you ‘hear’ that from?!”

In fact, she heard it from no one. She was just hoping. And she also said I sounded so grumpy that she thought I was getting mood swings from pregnancy. Great.