Why spring break is nothing of the kind

I remember spring break in elementary school. It meant that I would spend the whole week going to the pool with my mom and my friends and then we would go and run around the neighborhood until we got too tired. In junior high it meant that we would watch the Princess Bride every day and make milkshakes in the blender and paint our toenails. High school spring break was a different story - when most of your friends live a few hours away and you don't have a car, it means that you get on the phone and try to figure out where you can possibly meet and how long you can stay out of your parents' house. Underage drinking is a given, as well as causing ruckus in a public place. By the time you get to graduate school, spring break takes on a different form.

I'm on spring break right now. It doesn't feel like spring break, namely because it doesn't feel like spring. On the first day of 'spring' here in Boston, it was somewhere around 25 degrees with the wind chill and even though the crocuses are starting to peek out of the flowerbed in front of the house, I'm not convinced. If I still have to wear a sweater and wool socks, it's not spring.
I'm also spending a great deal of time practicing and doing research for my papers that are due in a few weeks. Again, not feeling very much like spring break. You don't do work on spring break - you watch Days of our Lives and bake cookies and sunbathe and go see movies.

In protest, I have decided to paint my toenails and wear sandals around the house. I don't know how long this will last - I might have to put a blanket over my feet because the thermostat says it's 51 in the house - but come hell or high water, I'm going to have some sort of a spring break, even if it means that I have to go and get bronzing gel to give myself the impression that I've been in the sun. Is it possible to actually get paler as time goes by?

To everyone in a warmer climate, I am terribly terribly jealous. And by the way, we get the wedding photos back today so be on the lookout for the online photo album!!