Monthly Archive

I was pulling into the parking lot of a local department store recently and there was an open parking space fairly close that I was headed towards.  But first I stopped while a woman walked around the side of nearby parked car.  She was pushing a shopping cart.  And do you know what she did with that shopping cart?  She pushed it into the middle of the empty parking space!  Not the front, not the edge, but the middle!  Then got in her car and drove off… What is up with that?  Why would she think it was ok to block a parking spot because she was too damn lazy to walk an extra 5 feet or so to put it where it belonged?  Hm?  Ok, one of those things I’ll just never get an answer to.  I can live with that…

This story I’m about to tell is very funny from an adult’s point of view.  I can laugh at it now and how silly it was.  But let me tell you, at the time my face was very red and I was humiliated.  There are some details in this story my sister may want to elaborate on or correct… Feel free to do that, sis, since the story involves you, too.

Cindra and I shared a bedroom at the time and had this great set of bunk beds.  They had a metal bar just below the top bunk that we would hold onto and do flips off the top bunk… at least until dad yelled at us to stop it before one of us broke our head open, or however he worded it.  But I digress…

I think Cindra was about 12 or 13 so I would have been about 9 or 10.  (This is one of those details she may wish to correct.)  We were lieing in our beds, her on the top bunk and me on the bottom.  It was a fairly balmy fall evening in very early September, the night before we were to start the new school year.  We had the window to our bedroom open to let the fresh air in (we’re both outdoors kinda girls and always have been) and we were up what felt like very late but was in reality probably only 10 pm or so talking about the promise of the new school year.  We were talking quite seriously and deeply about first kisses and crushes and boys and first bras…  all kinds of very personal things.  By today’s standards it was all very innocent stuff, but still private and personal.  Little did we know at the moment but were soon to find out our neighbor B. and his cousin J. were sitting on the ground outside our bedroom window listening to every single word!  They were near us in age and we hung out with them riding dirt bikes and things often.  But being typical boys, they couldn’t resist the chance to embarrass us.

The next morning we left the house and ran across the street to the bus stop to get on the bus to school.  There were at least 6, maybe 8 or 10 kids from our neighborhood there waiting for the bus and B. and J. started mimicking Cindra and I and repeating verbatim our conversation from the night before!  We were both humiliated and our faces were red.  It was all very traumatic, as you can tell since I still remember it almost 30 years later!   

Sylvester the cat and I really do like the new apartment we moved into in early November.  It’s bright, clean, in a great location, good sized, quiet, and the apartment managers have acted promptly both times I’ve had to call them for problems in my apartment.  (See my previous post.)  But… there is just one thing I don’t like.  There are approximately 120 apartments in the complex.  And the last I heard just a few weeks ago, 95% of those apartments are occupied right now.  So at a very low estimate that’s at least 125 or so people, right?  (Adding in the fact at least some of those apartments have more than 1 person living in them.)  There is only one… yes, one… laundry room for all of these people.  In that laundry room are six washers and eight dryers.  Out of those three of the washers work and two of the dryers.  All of the rest are out of order and have been as long as I’ve lived here… going on almost three months now.  There are out of order signs on them so I think I can safely assume that the apartment mangers are aware of the problem.  As prompt as they are about other things, they aren’s so prompt at fixing these.   Not a big issue, of course, just a minor inconvenience to have to lug my laundry to the car then drive a few miles to the laundromat to do it.  But at least the laundromat is fairly close by, clean, well lit, cheap, and open 24 hours a day. 

Financially I know it is smarter to be a home owner than  to rent.  But today I was reminded of an advantage to renting.  Last night just as I was on my way out the door to work I noticed a fairly large puddle of water under the bathroom sink.  I grabbed some old towels I have saved to take camping with me and mopped up the mess quickly and ran out the door.  Then I called the apartment manager’s office first thing this morning when I got home from work.  I didn’t have to mess with the work to fix it or the time to look up a phone number for a plumber and have to pay the plumber’s large bill.  All I had to do was make a phone call.  The maintenance man was here within an hour and had the problem solved within another hour.  All I got left with was the wet towels to throw in the laundry.  I can handle that.

I work nights, 7 pm to 7:30am.  And I’ve discovered over the past almost nine years of a night shift schedule that there are some advantages to not working a “normal” 9 to 5 schedule.  Sure, it can sometimes be difficult to schedule 9 to 5 appointments like doctor and dentist appointments.  But there are advantages, too.  I miss rush hour traffic.  I leave for work after it’s over and head home in the morning before it gets heavy.  I can go to the gym at 1 in the afternoon when teenagers and college aged young adults are in class and most adults are at work.  And I can go to the grocery store at odd hours when it’s fairly empty and be in and out quickly.  Tonight I went to the grocery store at 10pm.  (Yes, mom, I went out after dark.)  That’s when I was fully awake and had the most energy.  It was a breeze to get in there, get a cart full of groceries for the next week or so, and get home.  So I really don’t mind my odd night-owl schedule.

I was thinking today about overreacting to things.  And to holding emotions in and not expressing them.   Both can cause all sorts of problems and damage relationships.  Neither are healthy ways of dealing with emotions.  But many people don’t learn healthy ways of expressing emotions during their childhood, which is when they should.  Some are able to learn them later as adults.  And some people never do learn healthy ways to express themselves.  Being very stoic and bottling emotions in causes ulcers, all kinds of undue stress, and isn’t an honest way of dealing with feelings.  Overreacting to things and reacting over dramatically to feelings isn’t healthy, either.  It’s draining on those around you, and it can lead to all sorts of things being said in the heat of the moment that you may later regret having said.  As with many things, I guess moderation is the key.  Learning how to react to things in a healthy, reasonable way.  Learning how to express your emotions in a rational, honest way.  Easier said than done, of course. 

I’m joining my family in defecting from blogger and moving to another blog host. I chose wordpress and have my new blog set up. So feel free to come visit me here and drop me a note to let me know you made the trip there.

Ok, so I’m trying out a new blog host, following in the footsteps of my other family members who blog.  I’m the last one to make the move from the previous host we were using that will remain nameless.  Anyway, I hope to make the time to get back to posting a little more regularly.  I enjoy so much reading my family member’s blogs and seeing what everyone is up to.  It’s a fun way for us to stay together.  We’re having fun proving that the family that blogs together stays together. 

This one came from both my Aunt Quilly and Nessa…

1. Do you have any nicknames? My sis calls me Boo, mom calls me Brookie
2. What is your favorite drink? water, Cherry Coke
3. Tattoos? Yep… Asian symbol meaning “continuation” on my lower back… long story behind why I chose that.
4. Any piercing? Ears twice and navel. When I turned 35 I wanted to do something that no one who knows me would ever believe I would do.
5. How much do you love your job? Most nights I can’t imagine ever doing anything else, so I guess I love it quite a bit.
6. Favorite vacation spot? the Oregon Coast
7. Ever been to Africa? Not yet
8. Ever steal any traffic signs? No
9. Ever been in a car accident? Yes
10. How many doors does your car have? 4
11. Salad dressing? French or Bleu Cheese
12 Favorite number? don’t have one
13. Favorite holiday? Christmas!
4. Favorite food? mom’s shrimp or potato salad
15. Favorite day of the week? Sunday
16. Favorite brand of body soap? Ivory or Serra’s
17. Favorite Tooth Paste? Crest
18. Favorite smell? Vanilla, fresh bread baking
19. What do you do to relax? Read
21. How do you see yourself in 10 years? Hopefully still enjoying my job
22. What do you do when you are bored? read, play on the computer, watch tv

Put an X in front of all the things you have done. Remove the X from the things you have not.
In your life have you ever
(x) Smoked a cigarette
( ) Drank so much you threw up
(x ) Crashed a friend’s car
( ) Stolen a car
(x) Been in love
(x) Been dumped
(x) Been laid off/fired
( ) Been in a fist fight
(x) Been shot at – by a BB gun
( ) Been stabbed
( ) Snuck out of your parent’s house
(x) Had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back.
(x) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school
( x) Seen someone die
(x) Been to Canada
(x) Been to Mexico - well, close… Guatemala
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Felt like dying
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
( ) Played cops and robbers naked?
( ) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Sang karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with only coins
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t
( ) Made prank phone calls
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose - milk and soda, though not at the same time
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Danced in the rain
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sun rise with someone you care about or love
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Made a bonfire on the beach
( ) Crashed a party
(x) Gone roller-skating
(x) Gone ice-skating

Let me preface this by saying… I whine a lot when I’m sick. Just ask my family. And since I’ve been sick for three days now, my mom’s listened to quite a bit of whining. I’m not seriously sick, just have a mild case of the flu. I know there are people who are much more ill. And I am thankful I’m not more seriously ill. I’m also thankful I have my mom to be able to whine to. And at the moment I’m very thankful for hot tea and honey and lemon to soothe my sore throat. But I still feel crummy. Today was the first time in three days that I left the house. I only went to take care of some things that needed to be done. I needed to deposit my paycheck and mail off some bills I’d paid and get some food in the house. So I went to the bank, even went through the drive through so I didn’t have to get out of the car. Then I went to the post office where I was only out of the car for a few minutes. And then to the grocery store to grab just a few staples to last a few days until I’m feeling up to a more complete shopping trip. By the time I got home and got the groceries in the house I felt like my legs were made of jello and my arms of string cheese, I felt so weak. I’m thankful I’m feeling a little better each day, but I sure would like to be feeling completely better real soon now. I miss the gym! Needless to say, I haven’t made it there the past three days and I can’t wait to get there. And now I guess I’m done rambling and whining.