bunchofgrapes

I was talking with a co-worker friend this morning about Thanksgiving plans how we both like big family gatherings where relatives you only ever see at the holidays bring dishes of things you'd never otherwise eat - like mashed turnips and mincemeat pie. This got me to thinking about my Aunt Edna.

( Technically, I think she was my great aunt )

A few years ago I was back in Tulsa for my great grandmother's funeral. My cousin and I were riding with my aunt and uncle down one of the expressways. There was a slight dogleg in the road and my uncle said that was the cause of several accidents. Fast forward to me driving on the Dulles Toll Road to work one morning and I noticed the same sort of dogleg. It made me think how conditioned we are in Northern Virginia to quirks in the road. We think nothing of having to zig or zag down what should be a perfectly straight bit of road. That's how you can tell the people who live here vs. the tourists. They don't know when to zig and zag and usually drive below the speed limit.

The non-highways are even worse. Many years ago, my dad and I were driving down West Ox Road. This is a road that has lots of inexplicable zigs and zags. I asked why were there no straight roads. He said that many of the roads in the area were old ox paths. So if the Ox wandered over here or over there, that's how the road went. Definitely explains a lot. The other bits of weirdness around here?

- A major east/west thoroughfare is really north/south if you look at the map.
- The same road (and several roads) might have 15 different names as it meanders across different counties/towns
- It's impossible to give directions to someone visiting from the Midwest.

This last one happened when my best friend and her husband were visiting from Oklahoma many years ago. My friend's husband, Bill, kept wanting to know if something was east or south. My answer? Both. Oklahoma is laid out on a grid. Virginia is not (see that part about the ox). Most of the time when I'm on that major east/west thoroughfare and I look at the compass in my car, I'm actually heading NE. Rarely is it ever a true east or west.

Today I was on Georgetown Pike, thinking how it's the epitome of a NoVA road. Georgetown Pike is a beautiful drive. The road crosses Difficult Run, a tributary of the Potomac that looks like a miniature version of Mather Gorge. The road has some straight patches but it's tricky because just when you think you can gain some speed, you drive down into a valley and hit several twists and turns. Too much speed and you're toast. At dusk or night it's even worse because of all the wildlife. I remember driving home one night only to put on the brakes for a family of raccoons crossing the road. Driving Georgetown Pike today, I was reminded why I love this area, especially in the Fall. I love all the trees and the leaves covering the roads. I love the old farmhouses that are still clinging to the past while surrounded by some Arab Prince's massive mansion. I love the horses running along side the road and the white fence that lines the Madeira school. I love Great Falls Village and it's one stoplight (hey, they have an Arbys!). I'm glad I live in this area and for the first time in a long time, I remembered why.

A short time later I got onto the George Washington Parkway on my way into DC and hit a massive traffic jam. Then I remembered why I hate this area.

I'm having food fail tonight. First I get this fresh shrimp spring roll from Trader Joe's and it has a 6" long dark hair in it. That ain't my hair. I'm still a little skeeved by that one. Then I'm heating up some chicken tempura, also from Trader Joe's and as I'm taking it out of the oven, it starts to slide off the pan and some of it falls onto the bottom of the oven. The bottom of my oven needs to be cleaned. Desperately. I ate it anyway. Hunger does that to me. But I did not eat that spring roll! Sure I've pulled the odd cat hair out of a plate of food (pulled a few out of my nose too - how does this happen?) but a 6" dark hair? I say no sir!

Does anyone out there in Internet Land take Singulair? My doctor just prescribed it for me and some of the possible side effects are scary! So far it just makes me feel kind of draggy the next day. I'm kind of liking the lack of crud in my throat in the morning though.

Mary Tyler Moore is going to be on Hot in Cleveland with Betty White. That's almost as awesome as the Sound of Music reunion show on Oprah. Btw, I DVR'd this but still haven't watched it. Don't tell me how it ends. Speaking of The Sound of Music, when I was a kid, I would never watch any show that seemed "wimpy" to me. Don't ask me to explain myself because I was obviously a bit misguided. And what makes this more puzzling? I loved, loved, loved "My Fair Lady". Of course that was mostly because I crushed on Rex Harrison but that's beside the point. Anyway, "The Sound of Music" used to always run on Thanksgiving (or that weekend) and we'd be at my aunt's house and I'd refuse to watch it. One Thanksgiving, they made me watch it and yes, I was hooked immediately. To the point where I could never ever miss it. I even made my mom speed home once (my aunt and cousins lived an hour away) so we could be home in time to watch it. I still refused to watch "Little House on the Prairie" though.

My mom had just turned 19 and my dad was 18 when I was conceived in the backseat of a car. My dad had been dating my mom for a little while but I was most definitely an oops baby, which lead to my dad doing the honorable thing. When I was born on my mother's 20th birthday (my dad was two months past his 19th birthday), my mother told my grandmother (bow chica wow wow grandma) that I was two months premature. I was not.

The marriage lasted four years (from what I've been told, it was lucky to make it a year) before they divorced. My dad finished one of his plethora of degrees, met a nice girl who worked at the university, joined the Navy and he and his new wife moved to Southern California. Fast forward to present and they just celebrated their 41 or 42nd wedding anniversary. Obviously, my dad got it right the second time.

( My mom wasn't so lucky )

Just got home from the hockey game and what a game it was! Caps were ahead 3-0 at the end of the 2nd period and my friend, Cheryl, proclaimed that she was the Caps' lucky charm (it was her first Caps game in a couple of years). Halfway through the 3rd period, the Bruins tied it up. I turned to Cheryl and told her she had jinxed us. Not only that but us Caps fans have this rule that if a newbie comes to a game and the Caps lose, that newbie can't come to another game. Lucky for Cheryl, Caps made a change in goal and all of a sudden, we were up 4-3. Add an empty net goal and it's a 5-3 Caps win. I have no voice left. I love hockey.

Made a few new hockey friends tonight: Dan and Joe, both friends of Cheryl's, and Liza, the woman who has the three seats next to ours. Dan and Joe are super nice and big hockey fans so that's very cool but Liza is hilarious! Our section has 5 seats along this ledge in the Acela Club. Behind us is the bar in the club so there are always people milling around. They like to stand behind us and most of the time, it's pretty annoying. Early in October my sister was visiting VA so she came to the game with me. All 5 seats that night were occupied by women (pretty impressive for a hockey game) and the guys standing behind us were kind being obnoxious. Liza stood up, spread her arms to block the view of the men behind us, and declared the row of seats the "wall of bitches". So that's how we now refer to ourselves.

Cheryl is one of those people who could become friends with a box of hair and get free stuff from Scrooge. She just has that kind of personality. She and Liza hit it of immediately. I knew they would; that's why I had Cheryl sit next to her. Turns out Liza owns a construction company and is good friends with several of the Caps players. Liza also has parties that the Caps players attend. Cheryl and Liza exchanged numbers because Liza said next time she has a party, she's inviting Cheryl and me. Cheryl just has this way with people.

Oh, and totally changing the subject, I have taught my cat, Harry, to high-five me. Tonight he did it in front of Cheryl so I have a witness. I stick my hand up, say "high-five" to him and he hits my hand with his front paw. I have got to get this on video.

Back in January, unwrittenkitten talked me into doing NaBloPoMo only it's in November and we were coming up on February. But February is a short month too so I bit and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. So much that I'm a willing participant this year. I know there are probably rules but the only one I'm following is to post one entry a day for the entire month of November. This should be a challenge because work will be hell from now until the 22nd. Toss in a couple of Caps games, a few happy hours with some of my new hockey buds and I'm sure I'll be back dating a few entries. Not that they won't get written once a day; it's posting that's sometimes a little tricky, especially when you're not rolling in until close to midnight.

I really have no idea what to write about tonight. Well, I have a few ideas but like writing fics, they pop in and out of my head before I get the chance to write them down. I've lost some epic prose because of that. And no, recording things doesn't work. The sound of my voice scares me sometimes.

Since I really have nothing to say, I will gift you with this video of the song that is currently getting a work-out on my iPod. The band is Mumford and Sons. The song is Little Lion Man. It has a bad word in it but give it a listen when the kiddies aren't in the room. It's excellent.



Watching Grey's Anatomy from last Thursday. Note to CSI, this is how you do a documentary episode. It's also how you do continuity.

And lastly, I will leave you with this observation: that baby from the "I've got a pair of brand new roller skates" commercial looks a little like Paul Guilfoyle. I think it's the hair.

Today is the 28th and the last day of this month-long blogging assignment. On one hand I'm glad it's over because finding the time more than the subject matter has been a pain. But I'm definitely glad I did it. It's allowed me to remember some very good moments in my past and it's made me realize that despite what I think about the here and now, I have done a lot in my life. And I want to do more. I've resolved that this year I will take at least two days off a month--more if I can swing it.

I have a very good friend a couple of hours away who used to have the same stressful work issues that I have only I think hers were even worse. She was a state employee and retired last year after putting in 25 years. I'm very happy for her (and a little envious) but I'm also happy for me because now we can make plans to get together more. We're already making plans for Monterey in the Fall and I can't wait!

I've still got a few blogs left in me but they won't be an every day kind of thing. And when NaBloPoMo rolls around in November, I hope a lot of you will take part. I plan to and I'm dragging unwrittenkitten along with me. But now that it's done, maybe I can start fic writing again. I've got the story all laid out but I can't seem to get it out of my head and onto the screen.

I'm glad the Olympics are over. I'm ready for my TV viewing to be back to normal. I'm ready for original episodes of CSI--even if we'll only get two before it goes to repeats again. I'm ready for NHL hockey to resume. This is me being all about routine. Part of my Sunday routine is The Amazing Race. I've said this before and I'll say it again: I LOVE the Cowboys! Those two guys represent what's good about Oklahoma. I hope they win.

Oh, and one last thing. Someone asked me once where my LJ name came from so I thought I'd share. No, I'm not a wine fan, although I do like a good Pinot or Chiraz. I am an Avengers fan. And anyone who knows Steed, knows he loves the grapes. Bunches of them.

They were predicting 18-24" inches of snow from this storm and it's looking like we're going to get every bit of it.

( What, like you thought you weren't going to hear any more about snow? )

I'm not sure why I love snow so much. I guess maybe it's because I'm channeling my childhood, where we'd sit by the TV, waiting for the weatherman to announce the school closings, giggling at the way the new guy butchered the pronunciation of towns with names like Pushmataha, Pottawatomie, and Tahlequah.

( Yes, I still get excited for snow )

So maybe a month ago, unwrittenkitten mentioned something called NaBloPoMo. Technically, it's supposed to be in November but since February is a short month and I've been wanting to post more, I thought I'd join my friend and give it a shot. Since we are being non-conformists and rebels, we get to make our own rules (posting in February, minimum 300 words) so if anyone wants to join us, jump in!

I suspect this will mostly consist of me subjecting anyone brave enough to follow along to all my random thoughts. Lucky you.

( Does anyone even read LJ any more? )