I have to tell you that this month's column has been difficult to write.

First, I sat at my desk pretty much in a coma for a good 15 to 20 minutes, wondering what to write about. Really, once Christmas is past and we enter a new year, I usually find myself in the midst of some sort of post-holiday funk.

I hate to call it depression, but that's probably what it is.

The living room sure looks dull since the tree has been disassembled (while wearing hand and lower arm protection this time, thank you very much), and the holiday decorations are put away into their storage boxes, banished to the attic for another 11 months.

The neighborhood is looking pretty dull as well; I miss driving down the street and seeing all the beautiful twinkling bulbs lighting my way. While I did talk my husband into keeping the front door wreath lit - just a while longer - the rest of the outdoor lights have been extinguished, and it makes me a little sad. While I'm on the subject, I also miss all that great Christmas music.

Singing along to “Feliz Navidad” while trolling the aisles at Wal-Mart always put me in a happy holiday frame of mind.

But, alas, 2008 has bid “adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu,” and I'm looking at just plain ol' January. Sigh.

So enough about my writer's block. When I was finally ready to start typing and see what I could come up with, my computer decided to throw out all sorts of virus alerts and security threats, which prevented me from typing more than a sentence at a time before another pop-up warning came up.

You know that book “Computers for Dummies?” I'm pretty sure my picture's on the cover. I have no idea what to do with all of the various threats, scans, sweeps, etc.

So, I did what any self-respecting columnist with writer's block and a security problem does: I turned off the computer and went to bed (mad).

I guess one good thing about January for most parents is that the kids go back to school. I think my kids would have been happy just to stay home for another month, and I must admit there was a lot less running around on my end during vacation.

There are plenty of events happening at the schools to keep everyone busy.

The APT (Association of Parents and Teachers) meets at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 13 in the high school board room. The Circus Committee meets at 6 p.m. Jan. 14 in the elementary school library (all fourth and fifth grade parents are encouraged to attend). The National Honor Society induction ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. Jan. 15 in the high school auditorium, and there are various basketball and volleyball games and swim meets thrown in for good measure.

Speaking of basketball, congratulations to our Varsity boys' team for earning championship status at the Cayuga County Holiday Tournament, defeating long-time champion Union Springs, and to tournament MVP Craig Mietz.

Congratulations also go out to Kaitlyn Hammersley, who became a member of the elite 1,000 point club during the Varsity girls' tournament.

Our athletes aren't the only busy ones in the Weedsport school district. Looking ahead a bit, Weedsport has five vocalists heading to Ithaca College Feb. 6 and 7 for Area All-State: Junior Nicole Slauson will perform with the women's chorus; seniors Megan Wager and Jim Putvin and juniors Lauryn Bates and Logan Thompson will perform with the mixed chorus.

Weedsport also has five Odyssey of the Mind teams busily preparing for the upcoming regional competition in Auburn, and the cast of this year's high school musical, “The Sound of Music,” is in rehearsals.

All of these programs require tremendous time and dedication from students, teachers, directors and parents. It's so great to see the support our schools get from the Weedsport community, whether sports, music, theater or scholastics. Get that 2009 calendar out and start filling in those spaces.

Wendy Bates has lived in Weedsport all her life and loves to write about her community