and yet more brief follow-ups

well, as i was driving back to my office the other day from a hair appointment, i saw a little boy on his bike with the training wheels & it was the The Family. they had a little boy. so now we know.

i took my car into the dealer last week for the 40k service & asked them to check the back window that rattled. as it turns out, it wasn't the window at all. a bolt had fallen off right below the window & that was creating the rattle. they fixed it for me at no charge. i am also glad to report it was not the same service manager who told me it would be $600 to fix & to turn my radio up.  dad 0, mimi 1.

what a hollow victory!

cars

the back window on my car has been rattling & it is driving me nuts. i mensotioned it to the service guys the last time i took it in to the dealer & after they looked at it, they said it would be $600 to fix it! really? he suggested i turn the radio up, which i thought was pretty dismissive & patronizing. i certainly wasn't going to pay 600. to fix the window. so it still rattles. i'll take it to my neighborhood mechanic & see what he charges. it did remind me of something my father always used to tell us- never get electric windows- they'll always break. now, i'll grant you that this particular piece of wisdom came in the 70's. still... & it got me thinking about my philosophy of cars & relationship with cars. and things my father always said about cars.

besides never getting electric windows, my father also recommended that one never got clocks in cars, as they also always broke. he would instead go up to the neighborhood dart drug (does anyone remember those?- they were scattered across northern virginia, having been founded by a funny looking man also responsible for crown books, one of the first discount booksellers- but i digress) & purchase a small, digital stick-on clock that went on the dashboard & did the job. they were easy to replace if they should break. they were also incredibly hard to read, especially at night.

so, no electric windows & no clocks in cars- they just break. while we did buy cars new, as you can imagine, they were pretty lacking in options. air conditioning, am/fm radio- that was pretty much it. & we kept our cars for a long time. this is a habit that has persisted for all of us hughes children. it is very rare for any of us to give up a car with less than 100, 000 miles on it. growing up, my dad did manage to stumble into some pretty fun cars. for a while we had a VW bug with a sunroof- the kind that you had to crank open. & in our adolescent years (my brother, sister & i were born within 4 1/2 years of each other), he had a firebird (unfortunately it did not perform particularly well). that firebird had an 8 track deck in it- we were pretty groovy. i remember we had the 8-track of workingman's dead. my brother blew out the speakers, so that bit of hipness was short lived. the firebird was pretty dinged & banged up by the time we were done with it. my father didn't get the dings & dents repaired- he said it helped in washington- people tended to stay out of your way with your car looking like that. the firebird was replaced by a car that came to be a family legend known as big blue- the ford ltd. this was sweet piece of machinery. & it was  big! 

this is exactly what big blue looked like, right down to the vinyl roof. you should have seen my mother driving it- she is about 5'1 or 5'2"- her head barely made it over the steering wheel. there was literally about 6-10" of air where the engine ended & the front of the car began. we felt as though the car arrived about 30 minutes before the rest of us did. & it was only a mid-sized car. ford only made these cars for 3 years- they were plagued by low sales- go figure! this was during the time that my dad had learned about buying cars from hertz & avis b/c they were good deals. & you know they were treated well b/c people always treat rental cars well,right?  & like they were their own. big blue had the turning radius of .... i don't know-let's just say that one time i made a u-turn with big blue across 5 lanes & didn't have to back up & the entire family was impressed! i will say big blue could move- she had a V8 & was ready to rock & roll on the highway. one time in williamsburg iwth my brother we drove big blue to the grocery store- it was dark & at night. we later realized we drove big blue across a field- there was no road there. she handled it like a pro. we all had a fondness for big blue & were sorry to see her go. 

the only other car that had the status of a legend in my family was the galaxie. this car achieved it's mythical status by being totaled 3 or 4 times. 

it was stolen twice (& obviously returned to us- i know one time it was found in southeast washington, stripped of its tires), it was in multiple accidents, had it's driver side door ripped off one time & kept on ticking. my sister & i shared this car when she came to va. tech. by the end she had multiple colors- the car was dark green, the hood white, the driver side door was another color. we would get the check from GEICO for the total value of the car & get it fixed with used parts. she also had some power under her hood. it was finally sold to elmer, who happily drove her off to her new home in pulaski. she was a good car who served us well. 

one of the sweetest things that my parents did for us (after paying for our college educations in full- which was really great) was buy each of us a car for a graduation present. a used car, of course. it equipped each of us to begin our adult lives with a car & a degree & no debt. you don't get much better of a start to adulthood & self-sufficiency than that. i ended up with a ford pinto- it was stick shift- which i didn't know how to drive, by the way, but i figured what better way to learn than baptism by fire. & it worked. i'd had that car about a year or two when it was stolen from in front of my house in radford, va (about a block from the tennis courts at radford university), used to hold up a wilco gas station & then taken to a field & set on fire. i was heartbroken because in order to replace it, i had to take on a car loan. i ended up replacing it with a datsun B210, which was a great car. & somewhere along the line- i don't know why- unlike all the rest of my family- i began to like cars & care a little bit about them. i think it was when i got my honda CRX that i started to care a bit more about what i drove. i had decided i liked sportier cars.

i purchased a 1991 CRXsi- this was the last year they made them. it did not have power windows (that option wasn't available for this car).  i always felt i had to give people a diagram on how to work the windows- electric windows were pretty much the rule by then- or power locks. it was a pretty zippy little ride & fun to drive. it was a 2-seater- a hassle at times & a blessing at times. i still miss my CRX. i sold it in 2005 to a firemen who commuted to northern va from fredericksburg (that puppy got  38-40mpg on the highway). it had 140k on it, which was pretty good for a 4 cyclinder.  & now, circling back to the point, until my mini window started acting up, the only car i ever had a problem with windows was the CRX & they were manual windows! i had to have the driver side window fixed several times- it kept getting stuck. i thought i'd bested my dad on a technicality until the stupid mini window issue came along- d'oh! dad wins again! i guess he always will b/c dad does know best!

ps. after mom & dad got rid of big blue, they made the move to honda. since that time, they have owned three hondas, all with electric windows & clocks,  so you see-  you can teach an old dog new tricks. my dad did demonstrate that cars are not something that he committed a great deal of his financial resources to & that value was instilled. while i probably actually enjoy cars more than my siblings, i'm not willing to invest but so many financial resources to a car. in my family, they are viewed primarily as a source of reliable transportation. i deviate from that a bit- but only so much. i do like my cars to be fun to drive! & sadie does look so good in that little red mini!

the very briefest of a follow-up

the other day sadie & i were taking our afternoon walkie down the grove avenue block, as usual & there she was! the young blond mom & her newest addition. she & the baby were sitting quietly on their on front porch swing (yes, they have a front porch swing on their lovely wide l-shaped front porch surrounded by the white picket fence). it was the sweetest moment. they were quietly swinging & the mom was looking down at her sleeping baby (wrapped in a gender neutral blanket, damn it!) in the totally captivated way only mothers can exhibit- a perfect moment. unfortunately, the family dog was also out in the yard. do i need to spell out the rest of the scene? much barking ensued & much canine communication was engaged in- quite loudly, i might add. by the time sadie & i made our way back up the block, mom & baby & dog had gone inside. i wonder why.... it was such a pretty day to be on the porch swing.

the lives of others

my goodness- it's been a long time since my last post. where does the time go? i must admit i have done some fun stuff since march. most notably, we went to the british virgin islands sailing with another couple on a spacious 43' foot catamaran. it was my first time out sailing & i was in heaven. here a couple of photos from our trip.

it's hard to believe the summer is almost done & what a summer it's been, eh? a real scorcher! i am eagerly awaiting the return of cooler nights & days & the arrival of the fall season.

so... truth be told.... i have finally figured out that i just don't have that blogworthy a life, i guess. it has been a very long break. i'm back now, i think. we'll see. this post is something i find myself thinking about a lot. 

my dog, sadie, comes to work with me everyday. i love that my dog spends the day with me at work. she's a great dog & greets everyone who comes through the door. some of my clients have asked that they not be scheduled on tuesdays (sadie doesn't come to work on tuesdays because i work at a clinic on tuesday afternoons & she can't come) because she's not there. i guess i'm not enough! 

sadie & i go for a walk once or twice a day & we usually walk the block. my office is at the beginning of the 3500 block of grove avenue. besides our small offices, there is a dentist office midway through the block & at the end of the block is the advanced wellness center. everything else on the block is residential (including apartments). so we walk the block most every day & unlike my neighborhood, where i know most of the people that we pass, i don't know the people in the block. but i have noticed them a lot.

there is an elderly couple that live in the first set of apartments toward the thompson street side of the block. he is so tender toward her. he always opens her car door, even though he uses a cane & she does not. he often puts his arm on her back or shoulder in that protective way many couples do. they do not look like they are they are having that conversation that it looks like so many older people seem to have (i remember one time when i was in china & there was a tour bus- this chinese woman was talking very fast to her husband, who looked a bit sheepish as he was responding back to her- i needed no translator to know what that conversation was about!)- this couple seems rather harmonious. when they go to the store, they both carry the bags into the apartment (he always holds open that door, too). when he is able to park the car really close to the door to their apartment entrance, i always secretly applaud. 

& then there is the house where there was a fire. the owner is doing all the work himself, apparently. he must have been renting it at the time of the fire. he has been working on it for at least two years. i'm beginning to wonder if he will ever complete it. here are the options i've come up with- he is 1) very exacting & perfectionistic 2) completely incompetent & has no idea what he is doing 3) has a day job & can only work on the house in his spare time 4) is renovating it for himself & his family to live there & wants it to be exactly what they want 5) another possibility i haven't thought of yet. i'm kind of tired of waiting, though. i want to see what it will look like when he is done. 

a few doors down is the young family. they are youthful, beautiful & blonde. they have two boys & she is at home full-time. they have purchased a fair amount of furniture from ikea, i think. the boys appear to be around 2 to 5 years old. she has been pregnant & about a month or so ago, i noticed a young woman out with the stroller taking the boys for a walk, so i imagine the baby's been born. they are also doing some renovations on the house that aren't obvious from the outside- perhaps adding a master bath/bedroom? i wonder if she had another boy. i saw her in the house the other day- she no longer looked pregnant. i will add that they have a dog & their house is surrounded by a white picket fence. i kid you not. i hope she comes out with the baby soon - i want to know what she had. 

aren't i nosy? i have always been pretty fascinated by the lives of others. by the human brain. by the interiors of our minds. my niece & i sometimes used to go out to dinner & make up stories about the other people in the restaurant. it was just a stupid little game we used to play when she was younger to entertain ourselves. we used to come up with some pretty fun stories. at least, we were amused....

in our world of so much anonymity & rushing about & mobility, it's pretty easy to go for a fairly long time & not see a familiar face. personally, i don't think we were intended to live that way. i think we are beings that require a form of community at some level in order to thrive; a sense of connection to others even if it's at a distance or without introduction. i think about the friends of some of my friends who i keep up with pretty regularly. i've never met them. they're good friends of my friends & i know about their lives, their broad ups & downs. & i guess they know about mine. of course all of this is all the more interesting because i'm invited into the lives of others in a limited, yet very privileged, way every day. it's how i make my living. 

i love that i know the clerk at the floyd avenue post office by name & that she recognizes me. i like that i have a starbucks i consider mine & they know my drink (venti bold). i love the yarn lounge- talk about a community! i do ms. white picket fence shows up pretty soon with the new baby so i can see if she had a boy or girl. & i will worry & wonder if i see mr. or mrs. too many days in a row without the other. they don't know it, but their lives have touched mine. 

& all this from dog walks.

ahhhh..... good to be back with mindless ramblings.

you know you're a grown up when ....

i passed a new marker this year. i remember thinking that i was heading into grownupdom when i got my first washer & dryer. over the years, every so often, i will find myself thinking something or having an urge for some objet desire that seems very adult. there has been more than one occasion this year, while shoe shopping, i was saddened to see that most of the shoes with any heels were too high for me- a day i thought would never come. part of the "too high" comes from not wanting to look like a caricature (if anyone thinks i already do, please let me continue in blissful ignorance) & the other part comes from practical considerations of locomotion & being ambulatory in a safe & reasonable fashion.

look, there goes the point.....

so, back to the "crossing over" marker. i was in williamsburg last week with my mom, who wondered what i might want for my birthday this year (which is later this month). i do enjoy the privilege of having a life with almost no needs that are unfulfilled & most of my wants are also fulfilled. she suggested it might be something i would like, but would be unlikely to get myself. & this is what i came up with-

i know, i know. my husband gave me an all-clad pan a few years ago & i do lust after them. they are wonderful to cook with & clean up easily (without teflon). they are nice & heavy & feel so substantial. i'm probably just a patsy for the madison avenue manipulators- oh, well. i do love my pan- i love cooking with it (even though i don't cook often) & it makes cooking more enjoyable. so here i am, getting a pan for my birthday & loving it. seems kind of adult to me...

thanks, mom & dad for the birthday present!

my husband rocks

so last weekend, i was in williamsburg visiting mom & dad. when i got home, look what i found!

   

he got the waterford hung- you should see when the sunlight hits it. 

nothing brightens my day like a new chandelier!

a melancholy post

this is an unusual post- a bit more self-disclosing than my usual. i debated about it. i'm not one to go full exposure on the web with the assumption of partial anonymity. anyone who knows me has probably talked with me about this topic at one time or another.

over the past couple weeks, i have had the occasion to go to ikea on twice. surprisingly, the second trip was not because i had purchased something, came home to assemble it & discovered it was missing a key part (always small & always a necessary part).  i had purchased a coffee table on my first trip & then changed my mind, so it needed to be returned.  part of the melancholy may have been intensified because i went up to potomac mills after the memorial service of a friend.

when i was there the first friday evening, i sat in the restaurant/cafe & did some people-watching.  so many young families with small children, young couples still experiencing the fresh first buds of love, some obvious newlyweds.  very few 50-somethings.  some 50-60ish types- usually pushing carts & carriages & talking with high voices to the world's most perfect child.  just sitting there brought back many memories for me.

i remember very distinctly my first trip to ikea.  for her birthday in december, my sister requested a weekend away from her 6-month old daughter with myself & a friend.  she wanted to get some furniture, as did i.  we had carefully pored over the ikea catalog like people used to pore over the sears & roebuck catalog every year.  we'd counted our pennies & measured our rooms.  we had taken the extra seat out of the minivan (the first model) so that we would have more room to transport our treasures back home.  we were pretty darn excited when we pulled out of richmond that morning.  we would go to potomac mills on friday for the day, spend the night in dale city with a high school friend, motor on to tyson's corner on saturday & return on sunday, with the possibility of a return trip to potomac mills, if needed.  it was my sister's first weekend away from caitlin & armand's first weekend alone as a father.  at the time, we were living in va. beach & didn't have a lot of room for furniture, which worked out well so that kathy could get her stuff in the van.

boy, did we shop that weekend!  by sunday, we couldn't remember what we had purchased on friday!  as it turns out, about 10 years later, some friends & i would make this same trip annually in october or early november for christmas shopping for several years.

what created a lot of my melancholy the other week was remembering that time of my life.  we were young, married less than 10 years, in the process of planning for children & imagining a life full of possibility.  we were living with our college hand-me-downs & castoffs & i imagined a beautiful home in my mind that would one day be mine.  i hadn't quite worked out a sense of personal style yet & was still trying to figure what i actually liked & what i thought i was supposed to like.

so i sat there a couple weeks ago in a very different place. at one point, it would have been almost impossible for me to walk out of ikea without a lot of stuff- little stuff, big stuff- just a lot of stuff. that is no longer an issue.  when i go to ikea, it is for something quite specific.  i don't need stuff.  my home is furnished (with a number of ikea pieces, by the way) & a) we don't have room & b) we don't have need.  c) & thirdly, my husband hates ikea.  i mean, he HATES ikea.  probably the fact that he is the assembler contributes to his dislike of the swedish retailer.  their reputation for leaving small necessary parts out of packages contributes.  the fact that something generally breaks affects his feelings toward ikea.  & finally he thinks it's just "cheap shit".  i disagree with that.

when i furnished my office when i started in private practice, i didn't have a lot of resources to put toward it, considering my position at the hospital had just been eliminated & that was the impetus for private practice. i also thought it would be a good idea to furnish my office with stuff that would go well with my stuff at home in case i was unsuccessful at private practice & needed to bring all the furniture home.  many colleagues told me don't skimp on your chairs & sofa.  you will have lots of people sitting on them, of all sizes, & you need a really sturdy one. well, i went ahead & spend 199. for a loveseat from ikea.  here it is 19 years later & i still have the same loveseat.  i had it slipcovered 2 years ago.  it's been great- still sturdy, comfortable (i regularly nap on it when needed- a benefit of self-employment).  some of my colleagues have "better' furniture that looks worse.  here is my office couch with the slipcover (& sadiedog).

as a matter of fact, my office is done almost completely in ikea.  the only non-ikea piece is my lateral filing cabinet.  

what fun we had, though, decorating our homes.  trips up & down the road to ikea.  purchasing the home not quite the home of my dreams (in my dreams) & the perfect home for us.  learning my own style & following it, regardless of what was popular or what others liked.  then as incomes rose, i began buying furniture from elsewhere.  mom & dad downsized & we accumulated some of the family pieces.  so now, when i sit in the ikea cafe, it is mostly looking back, not forward.  & for some reason, that is the place where i am most aware that the family i planned does not look like the family that i have.  that is the deepest root of the melancholy- the twinge of sadness.  watching the young couples with their children.  i would have imagined that those feelings would have been gone by now- almost 20 years later.  it certainly isn't like it was- the feelings just wash over me at times.

i had just turned 35 when it was discovered that i would definitively be unable to have children. period.  this discovery followed almost three years of treatment for infertility & two miscarriages. i had always assumed i would have children, had always wanted children.  there was never a doubt for me about children.  & it wasn't to be.  for some time, i thought perhaps i was too selfish to have children. i have since decided that wasn't the case.  it's just how it is.  

however, not having children has allowed me to be involved in the lives of many children.  i will be forever grateful to my sister for sharing her children & allowing me to be "mimimommy", as my niece calls me.  i grew up with the neighborhood children & families.  i remember when the kids were 3-4 years old- they had difficulty understanding how i was an adult woman (translation: mommy) & i was married (translation: daddy) without children.  they didn't understand how i could be married & not have children.  

i will feel those waves of sadness when all those kids marry & begin to have children & my friends begin to become grandparents.  our path has been different & it has only been in the past 5 years that i have met a lot of women who are not mothers & some who don't wish to be.  it is certainly easier these days when the lives of most of my friends are not so organized around the needs of their (now adult) children.  i always swore i would not be the "cat woman" with tons of kitties around or one of those couples who have dog-children.  it helps that many of my friends with children treat their pups the same as we do-   i'm not dressing sadie in clothes & we are comfortable with boarding her when we need to do so.  & we sure do love her an awful lot.

& all this from a simple coffee break in the cafe of ikea- what was, what might have been & what is.  i have a good life- a wonderful life & yet, i'll always wonder......

a chandelier obsession

i'm not sure when it started.  i've always loved them.  my parents brought back a beautiful waterford chandelier when they went to ireland in 1972, which has hung in their dining room wherever they lived.  we bought a chandelier for our dining room when we bought our house in 1990.  it was a traditional brass number & very unexciting.  my eye was always drawn to chandeliers in decorating magazines & such- huge, glittering chandeliers with dancing prisms of light from the crystal.

in the early-ish nineties, i wandered into anthill antiques in carytown.  kay, the owner, is also chandelier obsessed.  she purchases chandeliers & adds to them.  i purchased my first real chandelier from her.  i'd always wanted a chandelier for my kitchen.  i thought i'd start with kitsch & this is what i got.  when i bought it, there was a crystal prism every other hole- i purchased more prisms & filled them in.  the first customization....  i just loved the idea of a chandelier in the kitchen- many people thought totally impractical - what about the grease from cooking?  chandeliers are not for kitchens.  (don't forget - this was 1993 or so).  i loved my chandelier in my kitchen.  & that was the beginning.

kay told me "i measure my happiness by the number of chandeliers in my house."  her chandeliers were often reasonably priced & lots of fun.  i began to purchase them & then add stuff on my own.  the kitchen acquired two more chandeliers- one from anthill; the other from ebay.  one of my favorites is in the powder room- a diminutive 3-arm sweetie. the problem with a chandelier collection is that you run out of space. they aren't practical for upstairs because we use the ceiling fans in the summer.  although, when i turned a bedroom into a closet for me, i made my own chandelier.  i bought the basics from kay & then selected my crystals.  the color i chose for my closet room was the tiffany robin egg blue & i created my chandelier to go with that.  

with all the beautiful chandeliers, the traditional brass chandelier was looking sooo drab.  so i had kay to my house & she used her handy-dandy tool to punch holes in my chandelier so i could hang some crystals.  i wanted to "tart it up."  what ended up being really cool was that my mother gave to me a box she had of chandelier crystals from grandma's house in portsmouth, ohio.  i couldn't believe these crystals hadn't come up before with all the chandelier hanging around my house!  & the chandelier is quite tarted up- i love that it has the history of grandma.

part of the motivation to finally tart up the dining room chandelier was that my friend, suzi, had asked if i would be willing to allow my house to be on tour.  st. gertrude's high school does a house tour every year, in a different neighborhood in the city.  that year it was in ginter park- it was 1997.  i was more than happy to oblige.  i think it's the best my house has ever looked!









about a month later, i was at tinker's.  i was at the register & there was a woman there purchasing a..... chandelier!  she was telling the sales associate that she had been on a house tour the previous month & the house had chandeliers in the kitchen.  she was buying one for her house- she loved the idea so much!  how cool was that??!!  here are my two of my kitchen chandeliers.



part of the reason for the timing of this post is that i have inherited the waterford.  there was no question between tommy & kathy where the waterford would land.  luckily, we have room for it- it will go in the entrance hall & the one in the entry now will go upstairs.  i know that danny will get them hung before too long...

here are some interesting chandeliers i have come across in my cyber-travels.  can you make out the shoes in this one?  rather sporting, don't you think?













                             this is kind of a fun one, too, don't you think?  the picture is smaller, so it's hard to see- i think they are little shopping bag replicas......

have a princess in your life?  then she must have this for her room......

all of the above chandeliers are available from www.etsy.com/shop/whimsicalcollections.  they run in the 325. - 375.

here is the perfect chandelier for the kitchen.  this puppy can be found at www.etsy.com/shop/malindadickens & is priced at 148.

finally, for your consideration is a way to add color to any room-  what do you think?

this is available at www.etsy.com/shop/sheriscrystals & is 289.95.

is red ever wrong?  this is murano, by the way.  

now some more exotic chandeliers.  this one is by stuart .  apparently he is an early pioneer in the repurposing movement (used to be called recycling).  this chandelier is made from 1020 pairs of prescription sunglasses.  kind of cool, huh?

sometimes there just isn't enough room for more chandeliers &
then it's time to get creative & incorporate them in other ways.  here are a few possibilities.
who doesn't love chandelier earrings?  nothing like mixing two passions- jewelry & chandeliers! there are so many different types of chandelier earrings.  no reason for the passion to go unfulfilled!  however, i must confess i don't own a pair of chandelier earrings.  go figure...

is there an easier way to put some chandelier energy into your life?  i don't think so.  a couple of screws are all that's needed...       

i can't hang a chandelier at my office- acoustical tile ceilings.  these can help to take the bite out of such deprivation.

& finally, here are two classics.  the first one is 14kt gold. 

  

  now, those are chandeliers!!!!!

some rants

it is rare that i rant.  it is even rarer that i rant out loud.  i believe myself to be a fairly patient, accepting individual.  one of my favorite quotes (& i have a lot!) is "there is no one you couldn't love once you know their story."  i work hard to appreciate the buddhist philosophy of impermanence- even if something does bother me, it won't be around forever- it will shortly move on & be gone.  practicing some of the above helps to decrease rants for me.  every so often, though, something will hit my radar screen & a rant seed is planted.  i found myself thinking today- if i were to rant, about what would i rant?......  & with super rapid speed a good number of things came flying into my head.  here is a brief list, not in any particular order.

1.  sex in the media.  i'm not completely sure exactly when this started bothering me. i've never considered myself prudish & have always experienced a healthy dose of liberalism.  i recall hearing snippets about censorship around the smothers brothers & their irreverent & biting sense of humor (that was actually a trick statement- if you remember that show, you are in my generation).  for the uninitiated, they were censored for statements & stances against the vietnam war & the johnson administration.  i was not one to believe in censorship. if you didn't want to watch it, turn it off.  no one is forcing you to watch it.  well- these days i am stunned at what i find on TV.  i accept that part of this is a sign of aging (as if i needed any more of those!).  when i look at soap operas these days, though- OMG.  & "real sex" on HBO.  i can't believe that's not on an adult channel- it's on a TV channel many many homes subscribe to today.  it still stuns me that you can hear the C word on TV (not an adult channel).

2.  cell phones.  oh, big surprise there!!! who doesn't rant about cell phones?  what i wonder is if everyone rants about cell phones (& they do), who is providing the behavior that initiates the rants?  i confess to using my cell phone in the car (truly on a very rare occasion- i'm not a good enough driver to use a cell phone in my car).  if i can't talk, i don't answer.  anyway, this is not an original rant & i don't know anyone who wouldn't rant about cell phones.  yawn, yawn...

3.  how low can pants go?  (see #1).  i swear i'm not a prude!!

4.  does anyone know how to count change back?  without a computer?

5.  sometimes it is the kids & not the teacher-  sometimes your kid is misbehaving & the teacher is not out to get your child.

as i look this short list over, i am left with the thought that perhaps this is about aging?  that's kind of bummer-  welcome to geezerdom!  i've definitely crossed over.