Vacation is officially over. It’s time to head back to work, school and other standard occupations.

After we’ve fully enjoyed the holidays, we are curtly shoved out into the dark, dour epoch that stretches on until the next official holiday. We must endure a cold, bleak existence until February, when we come skidding up to Valentine’s Day and collapse on its doorstep, thankful for an excuse to celebrate something.

That, and if the stores are any indication, we also spend this time packing stuff up in Rubbermaid containers and weighing ourselves.

Another rainy day in Portland – a redundancy if ever there was one – and it started with a bit of disagreement as to whether Sister S had school or not. The school district calendar didn’t state emphatically that there was school, but there wasn’t any indication that there wasn’t school. We decided to drive her there, thus if there wasn’t school we could just turn around and drive home.

There was. She wasn’t pleased.

As I pulled back onto the road amidst lines of buses and throngs of parents dropping their kids off, I remembered how much I dislike this particular stretch of road – especially in the dark, and even more so in the rain. It’s hard to see anything at all unless it’s emitting its own source of light, with the headlights stabbing the eyes and obliterating most objects, and the rain obscuring everything else. While looking one direction and just about ready to turn, I suddenly caught sight of a group of morose-looking teenagers shuffling along the sidewalk. I was glad they weren’t shuffling along in front of my car as I turned, or I would have squashed every one of them.

It’s the clothes they wear these days. Don’t get me wrong, I know every generation of teens clings to its own fashion code and ours was no better… except that our was visible. The goth/emo trend today sports dark colors which renders the wearer, as a pedestrian, nearly invisible. Say what you will about the garish, loud, tie-dyed fashion sense of the 1970’s, but you have to give it this: you couldn’t help but notice it.

I would wager big money that there is a direct correlation to fashion trends and pedestrian versus automobile accidents.

Michael of course went back to his school today, and was entirely ambivalent about it, to the point of being blasé. He was excited about the fact that his mom would be picking him up extra early today, to take him along with his Cousin A to the train station. Cousin A had been staying with us throughout the holiday season, and Michael greatly enjoyed having another boy in the house to help even the odds. His mom and I enjoyed having Cousin A in the house because he’s polite, helpful and grateful – three traits we hope will rub off on our kids.

So with Cousin A heading home, the kids going back to school and me going back to work, it’s life as usual again.

Not much to say about it other than it’s life, and I really can’t complain. I’m thankful we have a roof over our heads, food in the cupboard, solid employment and kids who get along well for the most part.

Wishing you all the best in 2010.