July 27

Monday, July 27, 2009: Happy Birthday to my little Mabel - she is now ONE whole year old...in this picture she was only 6 weeks! She's my baby - I can't believe how fast time has gone by!

So anyway, back to reality...as you may remember from a previous post, I of course am having car trouble due to the fact that I purchased a lemon in the form of a Mercedes Benz (no, it's not yellow hardy har). Remember how my window would roll down but not back up? Okay...well it got worse than that. My neighbor downstairs one night knocks on my door to tell me, "Something's leaking from your car." Reaaaaalllyyy now...what a shocker! So we head down there to check it out... keep in mind this particular neighbor is a young black female but she enjoys dressing like a boy - baggy shorts, skull caps (if that is the right term) and basketball type jerseys, etc. So I walk up to my car without my keys and of course the window is down, so I just reach in and pull the lock up. Oh boy - I discovered the one thing that works for sure on my car is the alarm. Lights start blinking, the horn is blaring - I said, "Holy crap! I don't have my keys...I'll be right back!" So I start running (as much as my BMI, bad knees and bum hip will allow) and yell back to her, "Just wait right there!" and she looks at me with big eyes and says, "Hell no!" I realize what a ridiculous thing that was to say, since the chances of the cops believing that she was just there waiting for me were slim to none! Luckily it didn't take me long to get my keys and huff and puff my way back out there to shut the dang thing off. Wow.

Long story short, the leaking was antifreeze and my water pump had gone out. Oh just probably around $400-500. No problem. So I make arrangements to take it back to Jimmy (my new BFF) when I get paid next Friday, so in the meantime I am driving my brother's van. And a lovely van it is, I might add. I think it's a Plymouth from around 1990 maybe? Let me tell you though, this van has windows that roll up AND down, it has air conditioning, AND it runs!!! So please know I love this van, but I must admit a beauty it is not.

So I am on my way home from work around 12:30 this afternoon. First, a truck of some sort pulls up alongside me while I'm putting along Manchester Road, and I'm thinking maybe they want to race. There was a day I would've looked over and maybe shot them a cute look that said "You wanna go?" but not today. I am not feeling it...so on I go. Eventually I pull up to a red light and wait to turn left. I'm rocking out to KC and the Sunshine Band on the oldies station. The sound quality reminded me of when I was a kid and we actually listened to music on the AM stations. I'm feeling good though, happy, and then up next to me pulls a convertible with this long-haired (thin) blonde listening to some type of rap music, probably a CD. I felt myself sort of shrink a little, but tried to pull myself together enough to sit up straight and feel proud to be in a 1990 Plymouth van. I am sure all she wants is attention and looks from men and women - looks of lust from the men and jealousy from the women. But I showed her because I kept my eyes straight ahead on the red light and waited for the green arrow. I played my own game of racing her and actually gunned the gas, pulled into the intersection a nose in front of her sporty self, and then as van shifted itself into gear it seemed to remember its age. I am grown up and beyond all that petty stuff though...right? I mean we do get over the jealousy at some point in life - would I have made a snipey remark to one of my friends if they had been in the car/van with me? I told myself that before she pulled up to the light, she was probably listening to KC and the Sunshine Band on the oldies station too, but as soon as she slowed down she switched it to try to feel cool. Why in the world would that make me feel better? Jeesh.

I'm thinking it was just the moment. I don't think I normally would've even noticed if I'd had a friend with me and we were talking and stuff. I am chalking it up to allergies. That's always what I use when I have no other real explanation.

I could go on and on as this becomes some form of therapy for me, but I must go and blow my nose. My allergies are really acting up today...