ATL and Me

It's like we share a twin brain, ATL and I. With absolutely no colaboration at all, we end up dressing the same a lot of the time. I'm sure some of it comes from living in the same house for seven +/- years.And some may come from having the same complexion, so the same colors look good on both of us:AND we shop together, so we own a few of the same shirts and whatall:But besides all that, it's a total coincidence when we show up at the end of a day of work having not seen each other since the night before and we're in the same outfit:But, despite being born 8 years apart.
And the fact she's WAY super organized and I am not:Also, she's prettier, taller and skinnier:Otherwise, we're totally twins:
This is me, and ATL and we dress alike a lot.

Traffic

It's probably silly but I feel pleased with my decision to move over for the motorcycles on the freeway - like we are asked to do - when they tip a finger or a hand, or nod their head in thanks as they pass by.
When they just weave closer to my car, or rev their engines and then blow whatever type of fume it is into my intake valve I am more inclined to swerve out in front of them the next time.

This is me and one of these days I am going to get a really big ticket.

Sad Thing

It was a normal Wednesday evening; I was coming home from work and exited the freeway as I usually do. There was a green truck in front of me who signaled and turned right. I coasted a little, glanced left and drifted right up under the rear bumper of the truck who had had to stop suddenly as someone else flew out of the driveway right in front of him.
And I crunched the front end of my car.
My pretty convertible got hurt:It was sad:Because I "hit" another car - the truck was fine BTW, in fact didn't even notice and drove right off without even looking back at me - we had to call the insurance people and they had me take my car to one of their recommended dealers. They were really nice of course, fixing me up with a rental.
A rental that looks remarkably like my original car:Very solicitous, concerned, trying so hard to be my friend. I was hoping for a little more anonimity I think. And I'm scared of what the final bill will be. They were offering to take out all the tiny little scratches and paint smears and promised a full detail job.

This is me, a little sad and guilty. And afraid of the price tag.

Reading Material

Another of the tasks I have been assigned, at the 'office,' is showing houses for Tarzan's cousin, Stingy (Aunt Richie's daughter) when she is short of time and/or personnel.
It's usually pretty cool. I like houses, these are pretty fancy, and I get to see what I like and don't like for when we build the imaginary house in my head, when we have unlimited, unassigned money.
I have learned that there can be some down time at open houses though. And sometimes it's intermittent busy vs. boring time.
James Patterson's books, I have discovered, have the best format for these open house days. His chapters are short and dramatic. The font is widely spaced, easy to read and one's place is easy to find again. Good thing the man puts out 5-6 books a year. I've read a dozen already doing this job.

This is me and I like how there's a book for every occasion.

Like I Never Left

It's amazing how quickly the best. vacation. ever! can melt away.

Even before one is actually home.

Tarzan and I had some time after the family gathering - before summer school started - so rather than fly home, we took the train. I have never done long distance on a train and he hadn't since he was in Euroope years ago.It was very cool.

I was reminded of the genie from Aladdin though, "Phenomenal cosmic power!...Itty bitty living space."It was MUCH more social than flying.

Everyone was very friendly.

The trip took longer of course, but we met some really interesting people.

The food was excellent, and a lot of it.

We read, took pictures, talked, played computer games, napped, really a good time.

And then we got closer to home and the text messages started coming in. It's like they could feel me getting close enough to get involved or something.

Someone's relative from church had passed away and I was getting back just in time to organize the funeral, the luncheon, the meals for the family.

Aunt Richie and Stingy called about when I would be in to work and suggestions for what to do on my way there.

Someone else had been really mean to a couple of people at church the previous Sunday and the rumors were flying.

Someone else was having surgery and needed meals and no one wanted to volunteer because of all the other "helping" they had to do.
We'd been home only 4 hours and it felt like 4 days.

This is me and I would have liked to hold on to the buzz a little longer.

Best Family Vacation EVER

What to say about this year's ASKR?(Who knows what number we're on with the weddings and graduations counting for some of the last few years.)What to say about this gathering; only that it was, quite possibly, THE. BEST. EVER!
And all the credit for the success goes to Rocketgirl and Floyd:For the space - we ALL slept in their house and no one died, which is the first miracle of the week; for the fun - we had a keg:A keg of root beer! It was spectacular.We saw CircusWorld!:We swam:We had a surprise party for Gamma and MusicMan's 40th wedding anniversary:With an original song and slide show.
There was 4th of July sparklers:A root beer tasting contest:We ate:We talked, we shopped:We played a lot of Sporcle, we caught up, discussed life, the universe and everything.And on Thursday we dispursed for points near and far.
It was hot, yes, but also the most relaxing vacation of our married life.

This is me and THANK YOU Rocketgirl and Floyd!!

Avoiding The Hairy One

What's the phrase; best laid plans of mice and Jane...
Yesterday morning - SUPER early, again - we departed from The Jungle for The Land of Cheese and all of Tarzan's family. ATL was nice enough to drive us to the airport so we didn't have to park the car at the the airport for a week or get up even earlier for the crazy shuttle people. Things were fairly normal with ticketing and security - no one even paused with my electrical taped purse, so score one there - and boarding. It was a lame airline with no food, not even peanuts, so I slept as much as I could, in the middle seat, not next to Tarzan.
We were starting our approach into The Hairy Airport when the pilot came on and told us a thunderstorm had closed all runways for at least an hour. We were low on fuel and because of the MEDICAL EMERGENCY (This was the first I had heard of anything. Apparently a chick fainted and was still dizzy when she got up so they were calling in the EMTs) we were diverting to the airport in FootballTown, just north. Because of the storm, and all the gate closurs, anyone meeting a connecting flight should be in time. We were supposed to have a lengthy layover and then catch a small plane to the small airport nearer to Rocketgirl and Floyd's house.
Hopefully the storm would pass quick, we'd get the sick chick off the plane and get back on schedule quickly.
We landed, the emergency personnel got their client off the plane and we waited for the refueling.
A few people were actully headed for FootballTown so they disembarked.
The pilot came on to say it would be at least another hour before we had any news out of Hairy, so sit tight and have another glass of water.
Tarzan got on the phone with family to see what they thought and before the conversation was done Floyd was on the road to pick us up. (We did not know it was a three hour drive. I am in awe of that man.)
So we disembarked, met up with Floyd, drive back his and Rocketgirl's house and hung out with family while the airport sorted stuff out.
Round about 9:30 local time last night, Tarzan and his father went to get our only checked bag as it had had to make the original scheduled trip. Late, to be sure, but all our stuff was there and I don't think we inconvenienced anyone too much.
Except Floyd.
We'll have to buy him a root beer or four to make it up to him.

This is me and we're here.