The Good, Bad, Good Day

I was very excited about today, my first day back to work in almost six weeks. I've missed it: the drive which clears my head, dressing up, learning new things, the sense of accomplishment when something is finished, the fellowship. It was a beautiful morning and the traffic was light. Arriving early, I took a walk around the neighborhood before I went in.

Every thing went smoothly at work. I finished project after project, visited with the boss and other employees, played with the dog. I also got a delayed Christmas card that had a nice bonus in it - score!

I was excited about our night time plans too. Tonight is date night, and we have a double date planned with my BFF and her hubby. Dinner at a little bar and pub in San Marcos followed by bowling. Tori is watching Will for us for the night.

By the time I left work, it was drizzling just a little. Enough to make the roads wet, but not wash away the oil and gas deposits. While traveling down a four lane, divided road at the posted 45 MPH, the light in front of me turned yellow. The car in front of me, which was almost under the light, slammed into their breaks and I had to hit mine hard if I wanted any chance of not rear-ending them.

My tires hit a slick spot and I lost control. There were cars to the right of me, in front of me and behind me. When my tires regained traction for just a second, I jerked the wheel toward the median. And I hit the curb surrounding it hard. The curb was at least eight inches tall and the impact shook the entire frame of my vehicle. Fortunately, as soon as my tires were off the slick road I was able to regain control. I drove back off the median and pulled up behind the nervous driver at the red light.

When I got home I was so shook up that I walked up the hill in the rain to meet Will's school bus and didn't drive the rest of the day. While at home, I found out my BBFs hubby was sick and they weren't going to be able to go out with us. And for some unexplained reason, my cell phone just quit working.

I had recently purchased a new plan and phone, and just hadn't gotten around to moving over my contacts. So I did that this afternoon. When Steve got home we decided to just take Will and Tori to dinner and bowling with us. We even invited her boyfriend, Ray.

It was great! The food was amazing. The kids and I split a three way desert tray that had cheesecake, brownie with ice cream, and carrot cake on it. Will was well behaved. Everyone bowled better than normal. And we all got home safe.

In the end, it was a good, bad, good day.

Clubbing at 44

As a woman that has spent most of her life married, I really have had little opportunity to go clubbing. Every decade or so, my sisters (together or separately) would drag me from my rut and take me dancing or to a bar. The last time was before Will, over seven years ago. Jennie and I went to Polyesters and spent the night parting with a lesbian couple - one of which slipped me her number as we were leaving. (Hey, at my age, getting hit on by ANYONE is note worthy.)

So, I went out last night. And not only did I go clubbing, I went with someone I've only met a few times and don't know that well. After about twenty changes of clothes and two near-fatal anxiety attacks I drove off for my evening of fun and frolicking.

It wasn't exactly what I was expecting; both better and worse.

The Good

The new friend was easy to hang out with and very accommodating. And I enjoyed the upbeat music and the band - which was really surprising as it was The Space Rockers (shown above). The beer was cheap, and she bought me my first round. I got to watch grown men dressed in spandex hop up and down all night. And I had more butts, boobs, and hands rubbed against me in four hours than I've had in my entire life combined.

The Bad
We stood all night. Each time my friend had to light up, we had to go out in the rain. She isn't much of a talker. No one approached us or talked to us all night. And, I was nearly double the age of the average person there.

Would I do it again? Hell yeah! Just at different bars. (Do they have an oldies bar in Austin?)

Cleaning out the Head

I went for a brisk walk outside this evening and was amazed at how much it relaxed me . . . and how my mind wandered. Due to weather, and Will's presence the last few weeks, I have been walking on a treadmill at the gym after dark - and it's just not the same.

In a gym there is music with a fast beat playing constantly. There are no less than 20 televisions, all on different channels. And the people; I could watch them all day. So, while the time passes fast, and I get my work out, the walk doesn't clear my head the way a walk outside does.

And apparently it needs cleaning, if the thoughts that popped up today are any indication.

First, I thought about how a friend of mine got engaged New Years Eve next to a bomb fire. Which led me to thinking about . . .

How she bared her boobs to us women on a dare, also at the bomb fire. Which led me to thinking about . . .

How another party guest showed us girls her new Victoria's Secret bra while we were in the house. Which led me to thinking about . . .

How a different party quest showed us her implants and suggested we squeeze them - she paid extra for the soft kind. Which led me to thinking about . . .

How women over 40 seem to have no issue baring them selves above the waist when surrounded by other women of the same age. (And this isn't the only party I've been to where boobs were flashed.) Which led me to thinking about . . .

How at our age we've all been through so much; birth, nursing, doctors, motherhood. It's amazing we have any modesty at all. Or, maybe it's that the upper body has simply ceased to be 'dirty' to us. It's just a part of the body; like utters on a milk cow. Which led me to thinking about . . .

An episode of American Dad I watched with Steve the other night where a mother cow in the field was shooing her calf away, encouraging him to go out on his own. And how the 'dad' was using this example to demonstrate how a mother should let her children go. Which led me to thinking about . . .

What an ass he was. But then I remembered, in this episode he actually got a vasectomy without telling his wife. Then he lied and they 'tried' to make a baby for months before she found out. Which led me to wondering . . .

If Steve was hiding anything from me. Which led me to thinking about . . .

How Steve 'felt' the need to carry a gun around with him all day on Friday - like something bad was going to happen. Which led me to thinking about . . .

Steve's sanity . . .

About this time, I realize my walk was over. I walked two miles and officially 'cleared my head' as the case might be. And when I looked back at the crap that had been stored there, I came to the conclusion that I should clear it out more often.

The Trailer Hitch

My 'big' gift this Christmas was a home-made trailer hitch for my Mitsubishi Montero. Unlike many useful presents I've received in the past (i.e., guns, fishing poles, etc.), this one I actually asked for. And I'm terribly excited to have it.

I'm a big craigslistser, as you probably know, and there are always things being given away for free if you can come get them NOW. Since Steve not only has the only truck in the family, but also the only hitch, I miss out on a lot.

I also am in the middle of the huge task of cleaning, organizing, and hauling off stuff from our house, yard, and attic. It is possible, I am the only woman in the Austin area that wishes she had a trailer so she could make a run to the metal recyclers.

With the purchase of a small pop-up trailer recently, I have yet another reason to use a hitch. To get away.

All this being said, I am very happy with my present. But when people ask what I got for Christmas and I tell them, everyone laughs.

Until last night. New Years Eve I spent with a bunch of small-town native Texans that LOVED my new hitch and thought it was an awesome present. We even had a demonstration of it's towing capacities when I got stuck in the mud and had to be winched out.

Yep, I love my hitch.

(And my new friends aren't bad either.)