TGIF...

Yesterday was all sorts of blah.  

Those pesky weather-folk were predicting snow for Thursday like two weeks ago.  Dislike.  As Thursday approached, they got all hyped up on their weather ego trip (because, ya know, they hold all the power about informing us plebes about the impending doom that is snow.)  I was just certain that it wasn't going to be that bad, that we'd get an inch, no biggie.  

All the women in my office yesterday were in a tizzy and practically started rumors about the end coming.  It didn't, just fyi.  About a third of my coworkers live west of Nashville where the storm would blow in first.  They all left work around 1-2 and I thought they were bat-shit crazy.  I was confident that the snow wouldn't come until about 5 o'clock, when I would be safely in my living room preparing my brain for Jeopardy at 6.  

Come around 3 the snow started.  It wasn't sticking, so I didn't fret.  But I was really bored at work, so I decided to leave work at 4 "because I was worried about the dangerous conditions."  I was scheduled to have dinner with my friend Nan, and I was going to go shopping beforehand.  

My commute is typically 30-35 minutes on a good day.  I don't even really know how to stress how miserable my drive home was if you don't know Nashville, but I work in this area north of downtown called Metro Center.  There's lots of offices in this area.  It took me 20 minutes just to get out of Metro Center.  Almost immediately upon getting on the interstate, it splits to go 40-W toward Memphis or 65-S/24-E toward Knoxville/Chattanooga/Huntsville.  After the split, the first exit is Charlotte.  It took me another 20 minutes just to get to Charlotte.  It was then that I exited the interstate.  I think this was still the best decision.   The interstates were an effing parking lot.  Evidently every other single person who works in Nashville had the same idea to leave at 4 as I did.  

So I started moving a bit once I got past all the interstate junk, but then made the wise decision not to take my short-cut home because I was afraid that it not being a main road would mean it had iced over already.  So instead, I took a main road through town and sat through most lights a minimum of 10 times each.  It was so frustrating.  

I risked my life to go up the hill shortcut I take home because I couldn't stand to sit in another 30 minutes of traffic.  Total commute time: 2 hours.  I was in such a foul mood.  

I have implemented this new goal in my life where I don't drink during the week (there are many reasons for this, not relevant to this story) but my drive was so gd miserable that I couldn't resist.  The martini wasn't as good as what M makes, but I made it strong and it did the trick.  

M left work at 5:15, but his dad has the flu so he had to go to Home Depot to buy ice melt and go to his grandparents to salt their extremely hilly driveway so their helper could come and go.  He got home around 7 and we started dinner.

Things improved after this.  I didn't really eat lunch because nothing sounded appetizing, so I was starving.  We had delicious chicken caesar salads.  I had just put some chocolate chip cookies in the oven when M suggested we go sledding.  I was in a rather grumpy mood, but could tell he was annoyed by my mood and really wanted to sled, so I bundled up (because anything below 40 degrees is too cold for me and it was like 18) and we walked to the end of our street.  

The past few snows have been just that.  Not too icy with lots of snow.  Because it was so cold yesterday, the roads froze pretty well and we didn't get that much snow.  It was the best sledding.  Usually we make it down the hill and stop.  This time we made it down the hill and halfway down the street.  It was so much fun.

We thought we'd be in the clear traffic wise, but there were crazies who were just barreling on down the frozen road and up the frozen hill.  And the majority didn't have 4-wheel drive.  People are nutso.

After sledding we came home and I made Peppermint Patties while M salted/shoveled the driveway and walk.  

Peppermint Patties=hot chocolate (I use milk instead of water) and peppermint schnapps!  Delicious.

When he finished we had our warm drinks and cookies while we watched Dexter and Lie to Me.  The latter part of the night made up for the shitty drive home.

We decided we needed to get to bed, so I went in the bathroom to get ready.  I took out my pearl earrings that M gave me and dropped one of them down the drain.  I was upset, but M took apart the sink to get it out.  It stank so badly.  Once we got rid of the smell, M went to take out his contacts and dropped his bottle of lens solution on his trashcan lid and dented it.  Evidently we were pressing our luck with the night being good.

I'm so glad it's almost the weekend.  I don't know how much more of this week I could take.

Hope you have a great and relaxing weekend!

Wee Bit Wednesdays

{one} name one thing you worry about running out of.

I don't typically worry we'll run out of stuff, but I'm really sad we're out of ice cream right now.

{two} what is your favorite pizza topping?

olives.  especially green or kalamata.  yummmmmy

{three} what is your favorite harrison ford movie?

I think I've only seen Star Wars and Indiana Jones so I'll go with Star Wars.  He looks so young as Han Solo!

{four} apple juice or orange juice?

hands down apple unless there's champagne in the orange juice

{five} what’s your favorite thing to do on a sunday afternoon?

I like to be lazy.  Maybe watch tv.  Maybe go shopping.  Maybe go out to eat

{six} what is the wallpaper on your cellphone of?

Up until yesterday it was the roses I got for my anniversary, but I'm so sick of this damn cold weather that I changed it to a picture of the beach so I can pretend I'm somewhere else

{seven} do you have a favorite tv commercial?

M really likes that one with the woodchucks, I think it's stupid.  I "mute-sauce" most commercial breaks, so I don't really know any current commercials.

{eight} what is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?

I used to eat play-doh when I was little, that's weird.  I also like escargots (snails).  Not sure if I've eaten anything else that unusual.

{nine} what is one piece of clothing you can’t live without?

Sweatshirts because M keeps the thermostat on -12349082 degrees.  And flip flops in the summer.

{ten} if you were a character from “lost”, who would you be?

I don't really identify with any of the characters, but I really liked Sun a lot.  And Sawyer, but he's a boy.

Food Block

Do you ever get in a food rut?  M and I are in one right now.

We go through the same meals over and over and now we're burned out.  

Winter is especially rough.  During the Spring, Summer and Fall, M will grill which gives us more variety with meats and vegetables, but in the winter, our options are limited.  Lately we've had a lot of chili, porkchops and veggies, and repeat.  Many nights we are so unmotivated with food options that we eat out which is more expensive and a lot more unhealthy.  

I was off work yesterday for MLK day, so I decided to be a nice girlfriend and go to the grocery because I know how much M hates it.  I had asked him on my way for suggestions.  He suggested a Kroger fresh made pizza.  One meal down.  I wanted to get several options because I find that stopping at the store after work every day is tolling on my budget and my nerves.  We decided on spaghetti or some sort of pasta with sauce and kalamata olives, one of our favorite meals, and we decided on chicken caesar salads.  I wanted to get enough to get us through til Friday when we'll probably eat out.  I found some pre-packaged fresh portabella mushrooms with spinach and mozzarella cheese which you bake or grill.  They look great as the main part of the meal, but I had to figure out something to pair it with.  I decided on beef flavored rice and broccoli.  Not sure if it'll be a good combination, but we'll see.  I was hard pressed for other ideas.  I've never done a veggie as the focal point of a meal.  

I need to try some casseroles because then I can make them up ahead of time and bake them when it's time.  Plus they'll give us leftovers for at least a day, but I usually don't have the ingredients and it's expensive to get everything all at once.

I would love some feedback on easy, filling, fairly inexpensive and delicious meals if you have any suggestions.

I'll let you know how the mushrooms turn out.  I've been looking forward to it all day.

Thank goodness it's almost hump day!

Hard to believe it's only been 40-some odd years...

I majored in History in college.  At UT, like other colleges, I had to take a certain variety of classes: pre-1750 Europe class, Latin-American History class, Asian history,  etc.  One of my requirements included basic American History, but I also had to take a random American History class.  I registered to take America in the 1960s.  I thought this class would rock.  In my experience, even world history/US history classes only make it through World War II before the year/semester ends.  History teachers rarely get to/want to teach about anything post 1945.  I thought this would be a great opportunity to learn more about the Cold War, Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War.  Turns out my teacher was a big, dull dud.  Lecture was unbelievably boring and I  could hardly follow the professor's ramblings.

We had very few grades in that class.  We had a final, some quiz grades, a paper and a project.  The paper and the project were two separate assignments but overlapped.  For the project we were supposed to interview someone born before 1950 about their experiences during the 1960s and write about our reactions to it in the paper.  Well, my dad was born in 1949, so rather than trying to meet someone in Knoxville to interview, I opted to go home and interview my dad. 

I wrote out some questions before we started in case the conversation didn't flow into each topic very well.  

As we got started,  I quickly realized I'd never really asked either of my parents many questions about what was going on during that time period.  I'd asked plenty of questions about their actual childhoods/families, but not in relation to the turbulent 60s.  

I asked my dad all sorts of questions about Vietnam and how he avoided the draft/whether he participated in any protests at the University of Alabama.  I asked him about what it was like to experience air raid drills in school.  I asked about Kennedy's assassination and landing on the moon.  Things I'd never really though about my parents living through.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an idiot.  I knew they were kids/teenagers during that period, but I never really considered the fact that they were witnessing history.

Even more-so, I never really thought about the fact that my parents experienced segregation.  

In school we learned about segregation/civil rights/integration.  In elementary school it is basic.  They were separate and then they started sharing facilities.  As a 4th grader, you don't think about the violence/brutality/in-humanitarian elements.  Then in middle school, you learn more about how harsh whites were to blacks and the reality of it all comes to the fore-front in high school about lynchings and other wide-spread violence.

My parents both grew up in northern Alabama, not exactly the most tolerant place.  While interviewing my dad he recalled having separate restrooms and water-fountains. 

I know racism still exists, I'm not stupid, but living in Nashville, it's not as rampant.  I grew up in a predominantly white area, but I didn't really acknowledge different color.  Jazz, a girl in my class, had a white father and a black mother and I came home from school one day and said, "Mom! Jazz is black and white! The top of her hand is black, but the bottom is white!"  I was naive, and perfectly content to be so.  I didn't judge based on race or other categories for that matter.  

Because the times are so different now, it is unbelievable to me that my parents actually used a different door than "colored" people. 

My mom's senior year of high school the school was integrated.  Again, hard for me to fathom.

We are so lucky.  The generations who have come into the world since the 1960s, that is.  We know hatred in other forms, especially since their is a newly born hatred of Arabic people, but we don't know what it's like to be forbidden from being friends with African Americans, or from sitting with them in a restaurant.  And we have Martin Luther King, Jr. and others to thank for that.  

He was most definitely not the only person to crusade for civil rights.  He also wasn't the only person who had to die for civil rights.  Each and every person who thought it was a noble cause deserves to be honored.  Not only should we think of MLK today, and thank him for changing our world, we should also remember everyone else who had and fought for his Dream.  Who believed in a world of equality.  Who believed in freedom and peace and love.  

Another civil rights movement is brewing in our country, (gay rights) and after it, I'm sure other movements will arise as well.  I hope that we have more leaders like MLK, Medgar Evers, and Rosa Parks.  People who aren't afraid to fight for what is right, even in the face of adversity, and especially when there's no guarantee of freedom or life.  

Equality is possible, and we have Martin Luther King to thank as an example of pacifism to bring about change.   

Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the greatest men of the 20th century.  And today, I remember  and honor him.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."  --Martin Luther King, Jr.

A Lesson in Elevator Etiquette

My office has four floors.  I work on the fourth floor and I will admit, I don't take the stairs as often as I should.  Usually in the mornings I am laden with my purse, often my lunch, a coat, and sometimes other stuff.  These are stupid excuses, but at least I take the stairs occasionally. 

I work for the state.  Most of my coworkers are overweight, many severely obese, so obviously they do not take the stairs.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when I'm running late to work (which is most days) and I get in the elevator and someone's going to the second floor.  Really?  It makes me even more angry if the person going to the second floor is fit and agile.  Perfect candidate for taking the stairs, which is much faster than the elevator in my building.  What really irks me is when the doors to the elevator are either almost closed or have just closed, but are still willing to open if the button is pushed.  Then Mr or Ms Second floor pushes the button, opens the doors, and pushes the number 2.  Really?  You made us all wait so you could be lazy?  There's four elevators.  Wait for another if you want to be lazy!

If I get to the elevators and the door is hardly closing, I expect the person inside to open the door.  It's the polite thing to do.  If the door's mostly closed and there's no way that the person inside saw you approaching, it's the polite thing to let their elevator get off the ground before pushing the up button.

This morning there were about five of us in the elevator.  One 2nd or 3rd floor and four 4th floor folks.  Five wasn't too crowded, but crowded enough you have to strategically place yourself so you're not in someone's personal bubble.  Well, Lady in Front by the buttons gave a little too much space and blocked the entire button panel.  There was another lady from my floor I recognized, so I didn't have to lean obnoxiously around her to see if the button was pushed, but I found it rude.  There was plenty of room for her to be standing elsewhere.

I think if the elevator has seven people in it, you wait for the next one.  As I said before, a lot of the folks in my building aren't slight, and any more than seven provides for maximum capacity issues and general uncomfortableness. 

Most of my elevator experiences prior to my joining to workforce were either in hotels growing up or in my all female dorms.  Granted in the dorm girls would bring their boyfriends up to their rooms in the elevator, for the most part, it was only girls.  There wasn't the issue of who goes in and out of the elevator first.  Even when their boyfriends were with them, whomever was closest to the elevator got in first.  It's the 21st century.  Women are equal to men.

In my building there's a constant awkwardness as some men wait for all women to get on and off the elevator before the enter/exit, whereas other men don't.  So then you have this awkward pause where you're not sure whether to be assertive to prevent the awkwardness which can cause awkwardness on it's own if they are assertive, too, or whether to wait to see if they just go on in the elevator or linger for you to.  But then they often stare at you like, "duh, you're a woman, I'm supposed to be polite and follow you into the elevator."

I know I should be grateful that men are still chivalrous, but at the same time my feminist side kicks in and asks, "why do men need to be chivalrous?  I can fend for myself, dammit!"  It's crazy and mixed up.  I think in the business world, even in the south, elevator entrance should be based upon who arrived there first/who's got a heavy load.

There are three "inside the elevator" scenarios.
1) Silence.  No one speaks the entire ride.  I like this one best.  It's easiest, but not necessarily unfriendly.  I'm just a grumpus at 8 am.  Especially when I'm running late.  This scenario is occasionally altered if the ride has been silent, but someone wishes everyone left in the elevator a happy day when they exit.
2) Weather chat.  This is pretty typical, I believe.  I participate in weather chat if someone else initiates it, but I prefer the silent method.
3) TGIF/Damn life, it's Monday.  These conversations could happen on any day of the week, but they tend to occur on Monday's or Fridays.  "Can you believe it's already, Monday?"  "This has been the longest week, thank goodness it's Friday!"  "Is it only Thursday?"  "It's Wednesday, thank goodness we're halfway there!"   Tuesday's not so popular.

If I have a friend in the elevator with me, I'll occasionally branch out from silence, weather chat or making comments about what day of the week it is.

Elevator etiquette is simple, but many people simply do not understand the basics.  Maybe the only way to avoid the elements that bother me is to take the stairs.  Then I won't be pissed off when someone takes the elevator the second floor.  And my thighs will look smokin'.