Things that make me go Hmmmm

Admittedly I have a short fuse, and there are things that get my attention and pi$$ me off that really aren't my business, but alas, as Popeye would say "I am what I am" .... I am lucky to work in an interesting city in a really great neighborhood.  The following items are things/people/actions I encounter at least occasionally.

• /begin rant
• Pregnant moms along with a fairly young baby in a stroller smoking and walking to the local health center for their methadone patches.

• Same mom, lit smoldering cigarette hanging out of her mouth yelling at the young baby in stroller that s/he will get skin cancer if s/he doesn't keep their hat on in the sunlight (ironic?)
• Different mom, chinking a cigarette and putting it in the pocket of her baby's stroller for another time.
• People yelling things out of the windows of their cars.  I think driving/moving in traffic gives some people a sense of anonymity.  I have witnessed a car pull past a group of pre-op trannies on the street and yell "get some pu$$y" out the window....really? what good could come of that kind of comment?  It surely riled up the ladies though...they were screaming at the car's occupant to maybe get some D1ck and on and on and on.  TG the car was moving in traffic b/c I felt like we'd perhaps be part of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.....
   
• Homeless man stepping in front of my car as I pull out of a parking garage, accusing me of targeting him and smashing his hand.  He wanted to know what I would give him to keep him from calling the police.  I told him to call the police but he refused, wrote down my license plate instead and said he'd sue me. (for what, I have no idea.  I had barely removed my foot from brake to pull out of a garage onto the side street.....i didn't even roll.)
• People throwing their smoldering cigarette butts out of their car window onto to the street.  I "get" that they don't want the cigarette butts in their car/ashtray, but really?  Throw it out the window instead?  Oh wait, i gotta poop, let me fling it out the window instead of using the receptacle made to contain/dispose of said poop.  REALLY?
• There are many other things that get me riled up.  The smell of urine as I come up out of the train station, the litter of cigarette butts and trash on the ground (really, people PICK UP YOUR TRASH), the stinky smell of dumpsters on my way to work. The random dog poo on the ground (at least i hope it's dog poo)  sigh.  
• /end rant

She drives me crazy....

Yes, she does....admittedly it's not a long trip to crazy for me, but this little 3.5 year old girl is most effective at pushing my buttons until I wish for a nice quiet room with quilted walls and a jacket that fits snugly and keeps my hands, effectively, pinned behind my back....and a few moments of perhaps drug induced silence....

There isn't much I wouldn't do for her.  She's funny, bright, goofy and even smart (though one might argue that's not the case since when asked her age she will say "big" as if "big" were an age).  She makes every day brighter in so many ways, and as for my son, I truly would die to keep her safe and sound and happy.

So some day she will blame me for everything that's odd, strange or different about her. Whatever it is that makes her stand out or stick out.  From my own experience, I know she will definitely weep and tell me she hates me.  One day she will realize that she loves me and no matter what I will always know I love her.  Seeing her grow and become the girl and some day woman she's meant to be absolutely makes me crazy and makes me melancholy and sad too.  Makes me miss my own mother which leads me to pray that I am here longer than she was.

♥ ΔΦE ♥ good times ♥ ΔΦE ♥

While this picture probably speaks volumes as to what went on in sorority life in the late 1980's, it highlights some really fun times.  We were sassy, my pledge class...there were 16 of us who started the program and I believe 12 of us initiated....so for a small campus with a small chapter we were HUGE.  And sassy, as I said.  Yes, those are GREEK LETTERS on our chests and below our waists the ♥ ΔΦE ♥ was emblazoned -- in the late 80's, on our campus, NO NM/Pledge was allowed to wear letters EVER so we were, as I said before, sassy.

I found that becoming part of DPhiE at the time was truly a great decision.  I found some place I could be myself and have the sisters I never had in my family (have two stinky brothers LOL).  While I don't continue a close relationship with most of my class, I still count many many of my chapter sisters as the closest of my friends.  They held me close when my mother died, they witnessed my marriage and were there to welcome my children....there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of sisters I have known and some whom I have lost touch with and I am thankful that my current position allows me to reconnect with DPhiE women from ALL chapters many of whom are "lost" in our system.  It's a great thing.  I ♥ ΔΦE

sad

So today was not a great day...in the whole scheme of things it's not the worst, but today we drove out to pay our respects to a young (43) woman who took her last breath far too soon.  She had a glioblastoma and passed on about 16 months after her diagnosis.  She wasn't a close friend, but she was someone I knew earlier in life, before kids and marriage and such.  She leaves behind her husband and an almost 5 year old daughter.  The thing I struggle most with is that her daughter will most likely not remember her mother....i mean she'll have memories kind of filmy recollections of occurrences (she was about 3.5 when her mom was dx), she'll remember that a lady loved her, held her, etc., but she won't remember her.  sigh. I am glad my friend is not longer suffering.  I am honestly hopeful that her husband and child will start to heal from this stage of their lives, but I am truly, deeply, horribly sad.

Love living in the North East.... really.

Been a while since I posted anything here. Life gets in the way of my pseudo career of being a middle-aged blogger :-) I was chatting with a friend via AIM the other day and told her that she hadn't blogged lately. She accused me of the same, but really, I like reading other people's stuff not my own.

Ultimately today is 2 days before the first event in our "be your best self" series for alumnae enrichment. As I was confirming our catering order for the event, and ensuring that information regarding parking/getting to our event was clear for all registrants, i get an email that has the following information:

This is from Henry Margusity, a meteorologist on AccuWeather:

Probably the Worse Blizzard of the Season.. Bad Big Daddy
THE COMBINATION OF HIGH WINDS AND SNOW COULD RESULT IN WORSE CONDITIONS FOR MANY ACROSS NY,PA, DE, MD, NJ...

REALLY? Is mother nature trying to kill me? honestly????? I mean, up until today the weather was supposed to be crappy; but rain was expected, not part III of snowapalooza for winter 2010. Even if the weather bypasses us and doesn't hit us, chances are our turn out will end up being smaller than we hope for as people won't wake up thinking "I am going to go to this great event this evening" no, they'll probably be thinking "i wonder if work will allow me to leave early to beat the potential blizzard to the door" even if the blizzard does NOT hit us, the wave of shortages at the supermarket will. God forbid we don't have gallons of milk and loaves of bread. Even those of us who don't EAT these things make sure we are stocked up. really???

Oh well. I told my friend that I felt my blog was just complaining about things and that it wasn't a very positive place to be. I did not lie, but man sometimes it feels good to just complain :)