Carmageddon

I’m sure that even if you don’t live in Southern California, you’ve heard about Carmageddon, that panic surrounding the 50+ hour closure of part of the 405 Freeway, a major north/south freeway just west of Los Angeles.  How could you not hear about it?  Not only is it the lead story on the local news, but nationally it’s in the top 10 minutes and front and center in multiple on-line stories!

So just what is causing this Carmageddon?  The 405 Freeway is being widened, and as part of this project, a bridge that spans the freeway is being knocked down and replaced.  While the destruction happens, the freeway is shut down – from 10PM last night until 6AM Monday.

I bet your first thought is that it’s the weekend, so what’s the big deal?  I bet your second thought is “like they’ll have it reopened on time”.

As a Southern California resident, my first thought?

Thank goodness this is more than an hour west of me!!!

My second thought?

HAHAHAHAHAHA for all those locals who think they can outfox the closure, and     for all the tourists caught in the mess.

Back to  your thoughts…

Even though it’s the weekend, this freeway is HEAVILY traveled.  How heavily?  Umm…about 500,000 cars per weekend day!  Imagine all of that traffic trying to get anywhere on side streets!  Seriously!  Any wonder why Carmageddon survival kits have popped up everywhere?  There are the kits for your car (blanket, food, clothes, etc) and then there are the kits that direct you to businesses in the surrounding areas that are offering awesome deals…many of which include the numbers 4, 0 and 5!

As for your second thought?  Think about a fine in the amount of $6,000 for every 1o minutes each side of the freeway is not open after 6AM Monday!  That translates to $72,000 per hour…and no credit for early completion.

Back to my thoughts…

I get to watch all of the chaos from the comfort of my house, and even if I ventured out, I wouldn’t encounter any of the traffic.  Not one single tire of it!  The local TV stations will be airing constant traffic updates throughout the weekend, and since all have helicopters, I’m confident that an aerial view every half hour will be available.

PHEW for me.

If any So. Cal. residents get caught up in the traffic nightmare, well, they DESERVE it!  Carmageddon has been talked about incessantly for months on-air, on-line and in-print, so there’s absolutely no way any local could be oblivious.  As for the tourists, well, YIKES I feel badly for them!

The bad news?

The bridge span that’s being demolished is the south side – we get to go through this again next year for the north side!

The really bad news?

Though the new bridge will be 10 feet wider and more earthquake sturdy, the main focus of this project is to add one carpool lane to Northbound 405 traffic.

Yep, that’s it…just one lane…in one direction only…carpool to boot…  A project that started January 12, 2011 and that is scheduled to be completed in 2013.  An expansion that will not benefit 85% of traffic, and that by the time its complete will be considered obsolete due to traffic volume increases…

I predict this is the first of dozens of Carmageddons.  Hopefully each one is less painful than the previous.

Staycation Day 7

I had a crappy night’s sleep and woke up with a sore back, but once I was dressed and ready to get the day going it turned out to be an awesome day!

Just before I left to go to Home Depot and the food store, a pink/purple/yellow object caught my eye.  I immediately grabbed my Rebel and a step-ladder than stood outside snapping away.

Unfortunately it was taking the balloon driver so long to get going and rise above the block wall that I gave up and went on my merry way.  The balloons launch at the nearby airport (where I did my skydive) and sporadically launch from the fields around my house, but no matter where the launch site is, they launch all the time.  Like 3-5 times a week, and not just this guy, but other brightly colored guys and/or more than one at a time.  I’ll never know why after nearly 6 years they put a stupid grin on my face and cause me to grab my camera, but they do.

After doing my errands I tackled the projects in my front entry.  Not only did the front door need to be painted…

…but upon closer inspection, so did the door handle.

Amongst all of these supplies is a can of Rustoleum Hammered spray paint, color Rosemary.

That’s the paint that I decided would be semi-perfect, totally acceptable, for the door hardware.  The problem was that it came in a spray can.  Oh, there was something similar in a quart-sized can, for double the cost of the spray can, but really, painting such a small area once every 5+ years?  A quart??  The problem with the spray can is that spray-painting and I do NOT get along unless there is a huge area that won’t look crappy if dusted with the paint.

It took mere seconds for me to decide on the spray paint.  Why?  I could spray into a container then paint it on the door handle hardware!!! 

The plan worked perfectly!!!  Two coats of Hammered Rosemary on the hardware and two coats of the reddish color on the door that I used on the shutters last year and one more item was scratched off my to-do list!!!

What do you think of the new hardware??  Pretty awesome huh?

Well…I was so energized by that success that I tackled the privacy film on the entry window.  This pattern is different from the one I used in my master bath.  I thought it most appropriate to use Etched Leaves in the front entry since it looks out on the front garden.  Putting this up was a piece of cake — and it showed me the secret.  Spray LOTS of water/soap mixture on the window before applying the film!  Lots – like enough to take a bath in!  It words wonders – honest…all bubbles are gone!!

This is how awesome my front entry looks from the outside…

…and here’s a closeup of the entry window from outside…

…and from inside!

If you noticed in the “before” picture that viewed the entry from the outside, vertical blinds were hanging in the entry window.  I’ve opted to remove them and let the privacy film do its work.  I’m not sure if this is a permanent removal or just temporary, only time will tell.

I took a lunch break then removed and washed the three windows I hadn’t already done (check off #1) before surfing for that 2012 vacation that my sister and I are going to take in celebration of our 50th birthdays (I turn 50 eleven months before she does).  The  verdict??  It looks like a late August or September 2012 cruise to Alaska!!!!!   Hopefully we can more firm this up in the next week or two 

The balance of the day was spent working on one of my Dad’s Christmas presents.  I can’t go into any details on this ‘cuz he reads my blog posts 

There are big doings the morning of Staycation Day 8 — I’m so excited about them that I foresee a sleepless night in my immediate future!  Check back Sunday morning for all the details!!!

The Longest Day

Before I regale you with my Longest Day tale of woe, a quick note about Monday.  I spent an hour puttering in my absolutely favorite Barnes & Noble then met my friend Lois at the mall next door.  We spent a couple of hours shopping before enjoying a yummy lunch at Pizzeria Uno.

Once back at Dad’s house I tackled a few more chores on my list, one of which was securing some of the insulation in the garage ceiling that had sagged.

Since Dad doesn’t do his own lawn care anymore, I decided I’d put some of the large roll of weed whacker cord to good use.  The cord plus a few strategically placed nails and problem solved! 

Dad and I hung out all afternoon and evening, but it was early to bed for me in preparation for my journey back to CA.  It was going to be a long day, and the only way I could mentally get through it was to divide it into 6 steps:

1.  Morning at Dad’s house before heading to the airport
2. Waiting at the airport for flight to Newark
3. Flying to Newark
4. Waiting at Newark for flight to San Diego
5. Flying to San Diego
6. Driving home from San Diego

Well, Step 1 was hard – as much as I wanted to get home I really didn’t want to leave my Dad.  And he definitely did not want me to leave.  He was so choked up when he said good-bye, and watching him standing and waving in the doorway as my friend Tracy’s car pulled away was horrible.  It always is.

Step 2 was fine and dandy.  I spent a peaceful wait time at the airport and enjoyed a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and bagel.

Step 3 was, ummm, interesting.  The flight attendant greeted me with a “Welcome aboard, ma’am”.  The first thought that crossed my mind was that she was either retired military or from a military family.  After we all boarded the prop commuter flight and the pre-flight instructions were given, our trusty flight attendant sat in her jumpseat and proceeded to munch on her fingernails.  While taxiing she appeared to be saying a prayer, or two, or talking with an imaginary friend.  Once airborne it didn’t take me long to figure out why she appeared stressed before take-off.  I also had an instant flash as to why I hate flying the east coast in the spring.  Can you say bumpy?  OY – talk about turbulence!!

Step 4 was a bit long but not unbearable.  I spent a solid hour working on my YA (young adult) story while charging both the Netbook and my cell phone.  I stretched my legs and wandered through the airport to a diner where I enjoyed a Reuben.  For “dessert” I bought another coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts before heading to my gate and boarding the plane.

St?  ep 5, the longest and most dreaded part of the entire day ended up being AWESOME!!!  Why?  I had an aisle seat, a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, a flawless takeoff, a fully charged Netbook that lasted the entire flight AND I ran my cc through the TV thingy in the back of the seat in front of me and watch Law & Order SVU episodes the entire flight!!!

Yes, I spent $7.99 so I could watch whatever I wanted on DirecTV, and I wanted Law & Order, SVU!  I also wrote blog posts and played computer games, so before I knew it we were landing in San Diego.

One half-hour EARLY!

I’ve never been on an east to west coast flight that has landed more than 5 minutes early.  Needless to say I was NOT complaining since it was 11PM for my east-coast based mind and body and it would still be at least another 1-1/2 hours before I pulled into my garage!  You do remember me, right?  I’m the person who joyfully hops into bed by 8PM even in the summer when it’s still light outside. 

Fortunately for me, my luggage came out quickly, the shuttle for the parking lot arrived moments after I called and the traffic on the freeways was non-existent (by CA standards that is), so Step 6 was over before I fully realized it had begun!  Of course, I got home and was wired even though it was 10:10PM CA time, 1:10AM body time.

I fed kitties, scooped litter boxes, played with kitties, sorted through mail and e-gads, UNPACKED!  I never unpack right away…I procrastinate on that chore for days, I guess in part to still feel connected to the trip.

Wednesday was a bit of an adjustment day, but not as bad as it could have been.

My trip was awesome – filled with lots of family, friends and fun, but as always, it’s good to be home!

The Busiest Day

The Sunday of my extended Memorial Day Weekend trip back east dawned sunny and humid, the only difference between it and the previous two days was the sun.  The humidity was a repeat component.

I left the house at 8:30AM and headed to Subway to pick up a meatball sub for Dad.  I stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts for a coffee and two 50-count boxes of munchkins (all flavors but plain).  I dropped the sub off at Dad’s house then headed out for the day.

The first part of the day was a drive past my old house.  During the 12 years I lived in that house I worked very hard in the yard, creating gardens that made my house known for all the right reasons.  I was disheartened but not surprised when I saw the house again for the first time in a couple of years.  Now it’s know for all the wrong reasons.

I was a bit surprised that I didn’t feel any anger or disappointment bubbling to the surface.  Instead what I felt was sympathy for my former neighbor who still lives next door.  He and I used to play a game we dubbed “annoying neighbor”.  It was all about who could tend their yard first every week so they looked like the leader rather than the follower.  His yard is still in tip-top shape but my old yard?  Ick.

Who could have predicted that just 4 days later this house would be the envy of many in the neighborhood as it was one of a small percentage that were left undamaged by a tornado’s direct hit.

From there I took the back roads to Walmart and picked up a new tablecloth for Dad before heading off to my friend Ali’s house.  We worked together years ago and had lost track of each other until Facebook brought us back together.  The years melted away and for two hours Ali and I had a blast – fantastic conversation, lots of laughter and of course, Munchkin nibbling by the two of us and Ali’s son Jake.

Ali and I hugged goodbye then I picked up my friend Anita’s son, grandson and parents, and the five of us headed to Anita’s house for a Memorial Day picnic.  This was my first opportunity to see Anita and George’s new house and I can’t tell you how impressed I was!  Not only was the house lovely, but the yard is an awesome expanse waiting for George’s gardening and deck-building skills to transform the space.  There were 30+ people there, including lots of kids, yet it didn’t feel crowded, loud or overly busy.

Just over 4-1/2 hours after I arrived I was backing out of Anita’s driveway and pointing the Blazer east as I headed to Tracy and Mike’s log cabin.  I so enjoyed the drive along  New England’s scenic back roads!  I’d forgotten how incredible it is to drive along very green and very lush roads!

As I crested their driveway I discovered that Tracy’s sister Diana and her husband Patrick were still there – all four were sitting on the porch and chatting away.

Mike was thrilled to discover that my sense of humor and quick wit had not been dulled by too much Southern California sunshine.  In fact I was firing on all cylinders.  At one point the conversation had turned to our ages and Diana said that after hitting 50 she now subtracts a year at each birthday instead of adding one.  Since her husband is several years younger than her, 13 I think, I said “So, what started out as cradle-robbing by Diana will eventually turn out to be statutory rape by Patrick”.  Diana  seemed a bit flustered, then kept saying “no, no, no”.  I just raised my eyebrows and watched her face.  I could see her brain working this one through and knew the instant she realized that I was right.

The conversation continued on the age theme, finding its way to menopause.  I made some crack about that time of life being such a problem because the men paused, to which Mike made a comment defending his sex.  Not willing to let him have the final word, I said “We women take our share of blame too ya know.  After all, there are hurricanes not himacanes.”

I love making people stop in their tracks, turn to look at me then burst out laughing while shaking their heads.

Three hours after arriving I left Tracy’s house then headed home to Dad’s.  I pulled into the garage around 9:15PM, briefed Dad on my day then apologized for heading straight to bed.

I was exhausted…but happily so!

Memorial Day Weekend Vacation – The First Couple Days

As with most red-eye flights, sleep was fleeting for me.  I might have gotten 3 hours, and that’s a big might.  Thanks to all the storms battering the Midwest, the pilot’s efforts to scoot around the majority of the turbulence still resulted in me being jolted awake shortly after falling asleep…every time.

There was very good news during my pit-stop at Dulles…the first of many!

After a short flight, my friend Ursula picked me up at the airport in Hartford, we pit stopped at my Dad’s house then headed up to Vermont to spend the night with our friend Joan and her husband Earl.  I’d been to Joan’s other Vermont house but not this new one.  This 198 year old farmhouse is spectacular!  It sits on 33 acres, has a babbling brook, gardens, fruit trees, woods, fields and an amazing interior.  Not to mention awesome owners.

After touring the grounds and chatting, I took off with my camera for a bit and took some pictures.

Mid-afternoon found we ladies relaxing on the porch with a bottle of wine.  Needless to say it didn’t take long before my eyes were refusing to stay open.  A short nap later and the four of us were sitting around the table enjoying an awesome salmon dinner and more wine.

The nap was just enough to give me a second wind, one that found me wide awake reading in bed until midnight.  When I shut off the overhead light a light show of another kind flashed through the window.  I walked across the room, moved the lace curtain aside and looked out the window.

The sleep Gods were lining up against me.  First it was the airplane and now?  A thunderstorm.  I hate thunderstorms even when I’m in my own home, never mind when I’m in someone else’s.

I closed the window then picked my way back to bed where I watched out the window as the storm approached.  The thunder wasn’t loud but the lightning combined with all the tree branches made for a very spooky light show – a perfect horror movie kind of light show.  When the storm was overhead the thunder was mild compared to how it can be, but the noise from the wind-rattled old window more than made up for the lack of earth-shaking booms.

The storm blew through quickly which allowed me to sleep soundly until 7:30AM-ish.  I trucked downstairs where the four of us enjoyed breakfast on the porch while looking out over beautiful raindrop soaked gardens sparkling in the morning sun.

Ursula and I left late morning and I was hanging with my Dad shortly after noon.  I had a sandwich for lunch then Dad and I headed out on a bunch of errands before I tackled some of the chores on the to-do list that had been made for me:

awnings were lowered,

lightbulbs replaced, kielbasas purchased, one kielbasa cooked.

Dad and I went to dinner with his cardiologist/friend Joan and once back home, the cooked kielbasa was sliced, placed into baggies 5 slices at a time, then put in the freezer for future nibbling by Dad.

Saturday morning we headed up to Bernie’s Dining Depot for breakfast then on the way home filled up the Blazer and picked up a birthday card for Dad to give to his granddaughter.  He filled it out, added a check then placed the envelope in the mailbox before we headed north to my cousin’s house.

Dad and I spent an enjoyable afternoon hanging with family and catching up on all the news.  We headed home in the early evening.  After making sure Dad was all set, I walked down the street and spent a couple of hours visiting with an elderly neighbor who was a fifth grade teacher at the neighborhood elementary school I attended.  Fortunately for both of us, I didn’t have her as a teacher and she didn’t have me as a student.  I’m very creative and she was more of a black & white kind of teacher.  I’m not sure if either of us would have survived a year together.

Just think…these were nearly the quietest two days of my trip!

I’ve Been Rebellious

I don’t know what’s been up with me lately, but since returning from my vacation I’ve been very rebellious.  If a sentence started with “I have to” or “I should”, I’ve run screaming to the safety and comfort of the “I want to” sentences.

There have been three exceptions — I have to go to work, I  have to pay bills and I have to do laundry.  Other than that?  It’s been all about I want to…

Unfortunately, blogging started with the words of avoidance… 

The really sad thing is that I wrote my vacation blog posts while winging my way back to CA from MA…all they need is the pictures.  But there is the crux of that problem.  I have to sort through and label all the pictures so I can insert them into the posts.

While I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my playtime with the I want to list, it has left me very tired.  Over the past couple weeks I have spent more hours than I care to count playing in the backyard.  You know…it’s that part of my property that has been severely ignored while I focused my attention on the front yard.  This has further heightened my avoidance of the “I have to” sentences because I’m just too tired.

Fortunately my blogging rebellion is short-lived.  Beginning tomorrow the balance of my vacation posts will appear followed by one about all my backyard fun.

And this switch to some I have to items has absolutely nothing to do with the Avoidance Gods getting even with me this morning.  Nope, nothing at all to do with a finger full of spikes/thorns from my morning weeding.  Unfortunately, weeds here in my area of Southern California have the same protection that cacti do…and this time I didn’t see them before they attached themselves to my finger.

There are larger forces at work, and right now they’re telling me to get out of my rebellious stage…and I’m listening!!!

First Impressions Can Be Right…

…but not necessarily for the reason they were first made!  I speak from experience on this one.  People watching can be so much fun sometimes!

Here’s what happened as I began my travels to the east coast:

She was a first class passenger, not as in she’s an a-okay person, but as in her ticket cost a lot more than mine so she could be waited on hand and foot.

I noticed her because she was first in-line in the first-class security check while I was second in-line for the rest of the flyers.

I was right behind her when we came to the screening portion of our airport entrance processes.  I was getting frustrated with her as she juggled to unload everything into the buckets that carry our goodies through the x-ray machine.  She needed four…PLUS she had a carry-on that road the belt unprotected.

I placed items in two buckets, laid my briefcase on the belt then stood right next to this lady as the TSA redirected everyone to the body scanners.  The scanning takes longer than walking through a metal detector so I was able really look at this lady.

Thin, average height, shoulder length hair with just a touch of gray, mid-50’s, dressed to the nines in black pants and an orange sweater set, the outfit topped off with large, bangly and obviously expensive jewelry.  And she carried herself with the air of an upper-class snob.

She and I?  We’d never even chat, she just wasn’t my kind of person, and I obviously wasn’t hers, as not once had she even looked my way.  I secretly dubbed her a Snot.  Childish I know, but I’d been up for 19 hours and was about to take a red-eye flight so maturity was not my strong suit

She cleared the scanner, gathered her belongings and headed on her way.  After successfully passing the scanner test, I was gathering my belongings when a TSA agent asked whose watch was still in a bowl.  I looked at it and recognized it as the wrist adornment from the Snot.  I pointed her out as she disappeared at the top of the escalator, then I told the TSA agent that I would catch her upstairs and let her know.

I spotted her instantly and asked if she had forgotten her watch.  Snot said she never has to take it off for security screening so she forgot all about it.  Snot thanked me profusely then headed back down the escalator while I wandered to the little store to purchase a bottle of water.

A few minutes later she came into the same store and handed me a thank you gift.  It was a very nice red, white and black luggage tag from Vera Bradley, the company where she works as a marketing executive.

We chatted a little bit while we were checking out, then we both went our separate ways.  I guess I was wrong, she wasn’t a Snot and she did talk with me!  I decided my first impression was wrong and she was a Lady, not a Snot.

Unfortunately, Terminal 1 in San Diego is very small so “our separate ways” meant we were still in the same very small room.  I sat in a bank of chairs and shortly thereafter she took up residence not too far away.

I’m a people watcher and she fascinated me, so I watched.  Surreptitiously of course, but I watched none-the-less.  A quarter of an hour later, my “I don’t like her”, “she’s not so bad” opinion was now waffling between “she’s quirky” and “ewwwww”.

Lady pulled out her smart phone, what kind I don’t know, but she was busy typing away and zipping her finger across the screen.  She sat that toy on the seat next to her then set up her laptop on her lap.  While it was booting up she pulled out her iPad and got that device going.

She alternated her attention between the three for several minutes, then took a break, stared out in space and ran her forefinger and thumb up and down the same bunch of hair many times.  This wasn’t a bunch conveniently located, nope, not for quirky Lady.  The object of her attention was at the back of her head so her right arm was straight up in the air, then bent at the elbow so she could play.  No sly little movements for this Lady, no way,  no how.

Her arm must have gotten tired as she did finally switch to playing with hair that didn’t require her to raise her arm so high.

Now for the “ewwww” part…

Lady went back to her electronic traveling companions then did IT.  She started picking her nose!  Right there in public!  No tissue spear-headed this excavation, just her left index finger!  She didn’t try to hide what she was doing, she just went digging.  Then she didn’t wipe her finger or anything, Lady just started using that finger on her iPad to fly around.

Once I got over the gross factor, I thought it ironic that my first opinion of Lady was that she was a Snot.  Trust me, I never thought my opinion would be so literally accurate!!!

Why My Fingers Have Been Silent

It’s been a crazy couple weeks for me during which something had to be shelved for a bit…and that was my blog.  It’s not that you readers aren’t important to me, but I was very busy with pre-vacation plans and then vacation, and I’m not one who likes to broadcast on the internet that I’m going to be out-of-town.  You never know when someone with little to do will decide to follow an insignificant person like me and clean out my house while I’m gone.

I flew to New England for a 6-day visit with family and friends and had an awesome time!  I wrote one blog post while waiting for my second outbound flight.  Tonight I’ll edit it then post it tomorrow.  It was definitely an interesting way to start the vacation 

During the 5-1/2 hour return flight from east coast to west I wrote more posts telling you all about my vacation.  I have to edit those and add the pix, so those will be posting over the next few days.  Though my Netbook is small, I love the battery life!  I used it the entire flight and there was still some umph in the battery.

I had hoped to upload my first vacation post last night but I spent my post-work hours on the internet, Facebook and Twitter as I soaked up all the info I could about the tornadoes that tore through MA on Wednesday.  They ripped down the streets that I had been traveling on during the previous 6 days in Springfield, Monson and Hampden.

My family is all safe and damage free, ditto for my friends.  Except two friends, I haven’t heard from them yet.  They were my neighbors when I lived in Springfield.  The neighborhood is now inaccessible as the main street that the neighborhood is off, about a mile in length, is closed to traffic.  The high school a block east of the neighborhood, Cathedral High School, sustained heavy damage.  The houses in the neighborhood are shaded by towering oak trees, 60′ or so in height, and since that area appears to have taken a pretty hard hit, if not a direct one, well, you can understand why this blog was shoved aside last night while I scoured the internet for all the info it would cough up.

Since the local TV stations are not airing footage from that area, other than the school, I’m pretty sure that there may be damage but none of the significant kind (unless your house was the damaged one of course).  The electricity and phone lines are probably out as well so my friends may not even be aware I called and left a message – the “machine” that picked up was not a personal one but rather the one that comes with phone service like Verizon, so even if the lines are down my message was recorded.

Vacation posts will start popping up tomorrow and this weekend or early next week a meme post will appear!!!  My blogging friend Terri tagged me in her meme so now it’s my turn to jump into the fray.  I’ve never participated in a meme but as the saying goes, there’s not time like the present.  Or, in my case, the near future!

Author’s note:  I heard from my former neighbor.  The neighborhood took a direct hit.  He, his wife, his cat and their house are fine (if you don’t count 1/2 of a tree from my backyard falling into their back bedroom!). My old house is fine too.  Lots of snapped trees/telephone poles, yards filled with debris, missing roofs/attics, detached garages relocated and houses marked with X’s as uninhabitable because they were blown off their foundations.

Always Look Left

If I hadn’t looked left my life would have changed at 7:23AM, Sunday, February 27, 2011.  At best, the change would have been inconvenient and only temporarily painful.  At worst, the change would have been permanent.  Fortunately I will never know.

I was meeting friends for breakfast yesterday morning and after enjoying a scenic drive full of snow-capped mountains, I found myself sitting at the end of the elevated exit ramp waiting for the green light.  I glanced down at the clock.  The numbers read 7:23.

A few seconds later the light turned green.  My left foot slowly released the clutch while my right foot depressed the gas pedal.  My CRV started rolling forward into the vehicle-free intersection.  I don’t remember any peripheral movement, but something made me look left just as a white F-150 pickup crested the hill, going too fast to react to the red light in his direction.

The driver must have seen me moving into the intersection as I saw him suddenly look up at the light then start slowing down.  There was no way the truck was going to stop in time.  I hit my breaks and stopped with the nose of the CRV in the intersection.  The driver and I locked eyes, and once he knew I had stopped, he kept going.

He gave me a short wave as he drove past, a wave I chose to believe was full of thanks for being more aware of my surroundings than he was.

As I drove the remaining mile or so to the restaurant, my head was full of the images I’d seen on TV of cars being T-boned.  They weren’t pretty, in fact, they were ugly in a metal crunching, brakes screeching, glass breaking, body flopping kind of way.  And they made me so thankful I didn’t experience them first-hand.

So readers, when you’re first in-line at an intersection and it’s time for you to go, remember these three words – ALWAYS LOOK LEFT!

Sunday Will Be Jammies Day

I’ll get up whenever I want, enjoy a huge cup of coffee, take a shower, promptly jump into a fresh pair of jammies, curl up on the sofa and do whatever I want all day long.

Why?

It’s celebration day —- the trio of trade shows will be over!  Well, they officially ended yesterday but the majority of the follow-up should be done by the weekend so it’ll be okay to celebrate on Sunday.

But…there’s always one of those…between now and then there’s some serious juggling going on.

I have unexpected but welcome company.  A designer friend of mine who was exhibiting at the trade show was unable to get back to Rhode Island because of the colossal storm battering much of the country.  She’s now on a flight Thursday but only time will tell if the flight will take off as currently scheduled.

The great news, besides enjoying some catch-up time with her, is that when I get home from work tonight and get back from bringing Skittles to the vet, dinner will be waiting for me!  Can’t beat that! 

Tomorrow morning I was supposed to get a new tire on my car, as well as an oil change and air filter replacement.  Because of the airport trip I’ve rescheduled the service for Saturday morning, but I’m still stopping at the garage tomorrow so they can get the tire info from my CRV to make sure they have a new tire waiting for me.

Thursday night will be food shopping, Lowe’s then home to catch up on housey things…

If friend’s Thursday flight is cancelled and she doesn’t fly home ’til Friday, there will be an airport trip squeezed in sometime during the day.  Airport or no airport, after work I’ll stop and pick up Skittles on my way home then (hopefully) crash the rest of the night.

Saturday I’m shifting my 7AM chat with my Dad (10AM his time) to 6AM so I can get to the nursery by 7:15-7:30AM to pick up the plants they ordered for me.  The plants and I will get to the garage for the aforementioned 8AM appointment.  While the car is being serviced I’ll walk down to Coco’s for a breakfast treat, then retrieve the CRV, head home and get the plants in the ground.

UGH!

Is it Sunday yet??  Anywhere???