A month for winter break is a bit excessive.

I love my family, and I love spending time with them. That said, "home" isn't home anymore. I've come to firmly believe that a month off between semesters is just too long to spend with the family. I'm just not as comfortable here as I am in my own apartment. The 'adults' don't quite accept that I've reached the point where I have to be allowed to go your my way. Not only that, but a month without a car, when I'm used to being able to get up and go at the drop of the hat, is causing a terrible case of stir-crazy. Compiled with that is the bone-jarring halt to my general pace of life. At school, I have 18-20 -hour days. I get up, have classes, meetings with professors or faculty, interviews, organizational meetings, study groups, and homework to keep me ridiculously busy. During break, on the other hand, I don't really have anything to keep me occupied. This is fantastic for the first week. I enjoy the ability to indulge in some slothful behavior, curl up with books for hours on end, and watch bad, yet entertaining, movies. Now, I want to be active. And I think I'm slowly going insane. I'm tired of working on someone else's schedule. I think this is the last month long break I'll be taking. I know it's the last month long winter break I'll have. You don't get that much time in graduate school. Now I just have to think of a way to avoid spending all summer here. Good thing that many programs let you start over the summer.

Please don't misinterpret this post. Don't think that I'm having a truly miserable time. I've had a lot of fun, but this much time without being productive is tough.