{Not} Living Vicariously

Deja Vu

Heading in to work this morning there was an accident on the opposite side of the freeway. It seemed to be pretty bad, just a mile or so west of my exit for work. All lanes were shut down and traffic was backing up rapidly since they were all heading in to town for their workday. I glanced over at it briefly, then went back to watching my traffic patterns. However, I didn't realize that the line of huge trucks, waiting on the side of the freeway, were not just hanging out catching a few zzzs. They were the line of traffic waiting to exit at Waldron Road which is where I should be getting off myself. By the time I realized, it was too late to insert myself safely into that line and I had to travel down to the next exit. Luckily, I did not need to get back on 24 heading West since I knew a back road. It did take an extra 30 minutes to get to work though due to many other people also taking back roads around the accident. I got in to the office ahead of most of my co-workers though since I am usually one of the first to arrive. Then the next person coming from my way walks through the door, again about 30 minutes late, having made the same mistake I did. Next my boss calls, stuck in traffic, 30 minutes late to work. And our new girl, second week on the job, made the same mistake as me and didn't know the back roads to get there. However she did make it eventually and we have promised to show her the back roads soon!

It was funny to me though, how we all made the same mistake and had the same story. Deja vu vu vu.

Silver and Gold

What's the saying?

Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other gold.

I don't get to talk to Stacy as often as I'd like but she is definitely a golden friend to me. She has been a friend for a long time and stuck with me through some ups and downs over the years. On the rare occasions I make it back to my high school town, she is the one person I can count on to make the effort to see me and try and get some other friends together as well. Her parents have also always opened up their hearts and home. I've been blessed by them. And she has a wonderful husband and great children, not that I've even met the youngest one yet. I'm hoping to do so this year. In fact, Stacy, take note, I will be home sometime between Christmas and New Year's eve. You going to be around?

I find it fabulous that three of us from high school (Katrina, Stacy, and I) have managed to keep a solid friendship going even though we have taken very different paths through life. We may not have quantity but somehow we have managed to keep the quality of our friendship alive. Now if Stacy would just start a blog as well, we could do even more virtually than we do now. Hint hint Stacy!

Date nights at the spa

I tend to store a lot of stress in my neck and shoulders. I actually have a pinched nerve that flares up when I don't take care of myself. I try to do my exercises regularly and get massages every few months to hold that in check. The day spa where I usually go for my massages sent me a coupon last Tuesday for 20% off any treatments that took place by Friday. 20% off is a great deal so I changed my plans for Friday evening, the only one possible, and went in.

Apparently, it was *the* night to go on a date to the spa. I was not the only solo person there, but we were definitely outnumbered by the couples who decided to go in. Now, these were not couples massages in that they were in the same room, but there is a relaxation room where one can sit tranquilly before and after the massage. Or at least the idea is that one can sit tranquilly. Not so much this past Friday as several of these people were also new to this spa and didn't quite have the routine down pat. They couldn't figure out the locks on the lockers. They couldn't figure out where to put their used robes. They couldn't find a place to leave their stuff. I had always felt that there were plenty of discrete signs and signals as to how to proceed in the relaxation room. Apparently the signs were too discrete. Because there was a lot of confusion going on.

I hope they enjoyed their evening out at the spa. As I sure enjoyed watching them try and figure it out . . .

Gracious enough

I have been (slowly) reading my way through Lauren F. Winner's book Girl Meets God. She has had an interesting spiritual journey and much of what she says is foreign to me. However, she also speaks to me through a great turn of phrase. One piece that has stuck with me is when she says:

"There are a few people out there with whom you fit just so, and, amazingly, you keep fitting just so even after you have growth spurts or lose weight or stop wearing high heels. You keep fitting after you have children or change religions or stop dyeing your hair or quit your job at Goldman Sachs and take up farming. Somehow, God is gracious enough to give us a few of those people, people you can stretch into, people who don't go away, and whom you wouldn't want to go away, even if they offered to."

I don't have many friends left from childhood. I have not kept up with most of them and couldn't even name them if you asked me to do so. I claim it is from moving so many times through my life, although other people have done the same and managed to keep their roots. So maybe that isn't the reason. However, I did manage to hang on to a few from high school. One of them might just be the glue that keeps many of us in touch with each other, Katrina. Her post on faith also sticks with me.

A lot of our childhood seems similar. We both moved upteen million times, we both went to church 2-3 times a week when young, we became friends in high school. We took different paths as adults, yet we still connect. God has been gracious enough to let me keep her as one of my few.

License Plates

One of the reasons I moved to Tennessee was to escape the traffic and crazy Los Angeles drivers. So why is it that not a day goes by where I don't see at least 2 or 3 cars with California plates on them? I can understand Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas. Even the Carolinas and Virginas. But California? And it isn't even as if I'm seeing multiples of other western states. Rarely do I see a Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, etc. But each and every day I see California plates, and different ones at that. It is not the same car over and over. At least they didn't all bring crazy driving practices with them. I should be thankful for the small blessings . . .

I do miss a few California car practices out here. Like having your car smogged. I got my tags in March, and have to go for emissions tests on the vehicle every March, even after I bought a brand new car in October of one year. Next March, they insisted on me giving them $10 for the privilege of telling me that my car was not a pollutant. California we had a grace period. I miss that. It was actually funny the first time I had the Outlander smogged as it was such a new vehicle to this country that the machine couldn't read it at first and I failed. Practically passed out right there. However the manager came out and was able to input some code into the computer and the car passed the test without me passing out.

Another thing I miss is having plates both front and back of the car. I don't know why I care about it, however I have often thought that we should have two plates. We don't. And it doesn't really matter.

One more random thought about license plates, nothing to do with California at all. I know I'm in a regular pattern when: almost every day on the way home from work I see the same car with a vanity plate. If I miss him, I wonder if I'm running late or is he?

Stormy weather

Tonight was odd, and I'm glad I stayed home. My dog Lindy has never been upset by storms in the past but tonight was different. Granted, we were apparently having wind/tornado advisories in this area so the storm was pretty bad. However, she reacted more strongly than she ever has before. We got home from our walk shortly before five, just as the thunder/lightning started up. She kept staring oddly at the door, and started to shake and pant. Neither of which I'd ever seen her do in reaction to a storm before. My friend Allison and I were on the phone as the storm really started to rage, and she suggested that my new flooring might be carrying the vibrations more strongly than the carpet did, which affects her cats. Maybe that was it, but periodically through the night I had to stop what I was doing in order to take care of the dog who decided she was going to be a lap dog. Oddly enough, she had no need to go out with me when I took out the trash a few minutes ago, even though the storm was done. Also, on the list of odd behavior, Lindy usually has no desire to hang out with me while I'm on the computer. She doesn't find this room as comfortable as the others in the house. Yet, here she is curled up on the floor next to me, patiently waiting for me to finish up and log off.

I think I'll just go spoil her a bit more and let her be a lap dog for as long as she wants.

Finally . . .

I am back in my car. After the work got extended twice on the repairs (they found additional damage after removing the bumper) my car was finally ready to be picked up this evening. I was so glad. I lost the tank a few times in the parking lot at work, once because I had to leave in the middle of the day. When I came back I had to park in a different area and come time to leave for the day . . . I couldn't find the car. Then today when I went to leave work, there were eight (8) white cars parked in a row. I had trouble telling which one was mine. Good thing for keyless remotes, I kept hitting the button until I saw lights flashing.

I will say, as glad as I am to be back in my car, it felt really weird driving it. Just as I had gotten used to the feel of the Chevy, it was time to go back to the Mitsubishi. I'm sure I'll be comfortable again soon though. And, yippee yay yay, the service engine soon light has once again disappeared. It has to be the gas tank pressure, the only thing that makes any sense.

Anyway, let's all hope I can stay out of automobile trials and tribulations for a while. I'm exhausted.