It was a very good week...

Hi My Friends,
I have had a very good week:

• I had my annual review at my new job which was really my 90 day review since that's how long I've been there.  They all had flattering things to say about me so I was more than pleased.  I'm not sure if I'm eligible for an increase or a bonus at this stage but obviously both things would be welcome.
• I finished a project that I thought would only take a few days and ended up taking more than three weeks.  It was transcribing interviews with various heads of human services organizations and while sometimes tedious it was also interesting.  I also got to use a transcribing pedal for the first time and I really loved that gadget!
• I found a birthday gift for my mother that I have wanted to get for her for years.  Her birthday isn't until November but I really want to give it to her RIGHT NOW!
• I have almost nailed the ins and outs of a complicated project that I have to accomplish on the 14th of every month for one of my five bosses.  Each month I get it done faster and I understand it better, next month it should be a breeze.
• I bought myself a skillet and a turner at a thrift store so now I can have grilled cheese sandwiches again.  Hooray!
• I had some very illuminating conversations with a college friend who only new me for a short time 25 years ago.  Their memories of who I was then, how I carried myself, how I was viewed by the world around me gave me terrific insight and peace on who was then and who I am now.  I feel almost reborn in a way, that sounds so cheesy, but I really do have a new sense of peace and I wake up smiling every day.
• I bought two tickets in the second row of BOOK OF MORMON for my birthday next year!!  Miles and I can hardly wait!
• I figured out what to do with an afghan that I had started for someone that I could no longer give it to.  I have almost finished it now and the little girl who will get it will be thrilled as it is much larger than the one I made that she keeps stealing from her new baby sister.
• I met a young man at work who is equally interested in blood drives and we have spearheaded a new blood drive program at work.  We are both very excited about it and so is HR.
• I discovered Green Olive Tapenade at Whole Foods and it is my new favorite food.
• I read, I crocheted, I played on the computer, I sang, I practiced my banjo, I cooked for my son, I visited with friends, all to my heart's content.

It was a very good week.

Elizabeth Berg

Hi All!


I'm sorry I have neglected you!  I know, I know, you are waiting for the rest of the Birthday Trip story...and all the news happening now.  I have just been overwhelmed with school and life and school and life.  Five people in my town or from my town have died in the past three days...see, life is overwhelming here!


Anyway, I am writing today just to tell you this...I love Elizabeth Berg!  She writes wonderful novels and a wonderful blog.  I wrote her a letter last year and I just read her blog and discovered that she thanked me online for my letter!!!!  Here's what she said...


"To Sarah of Leesberg, Va: Your purple greeting card and purple ink were fantastico. As was your personal card, which described you as "adventurer, believer, can collector, good samaritan, reader" and about a million other things."


How cool is THAT??

Why Yes, I am a Power Puff Girl, Why Do You Ask?

My sister Katy's friend Amy posted this on Facebook today and I was immediately inspired. I passed the link on to several friends and we have decided to start "team ARKing" on a weekly basis. We call ourselves the PowerPuff Girls...we shall remain anonymous, you can think of us as Pink, Green and Blue. I am Pink. We may ARK on YOU soon, so watch out! We are gonna try to do something as a team every week, but we can also do stuff on our own. I started a list of possibilities, using Robyn's list as a base, but we have added several more and are up to 50 at this point. Now that I have the plan in my head I want to run right out and start carrying groceries and washing windshields and pumping gas for folks. Funny how that whole giving thing just takes over sometimes.

Hello Again!

Hello Friends,

I am back. Sorry I was gone so long, several of you have chastised me recently for not posting and I really don't have any excuse except for the old "if you don't have anything nice to say..." adage that my Mama pounded into my head as a youngster.

The good news is that I'm back. The reason I'm writing today when I haven't written for so many other days is that I watched "Julie and Julia" this morning and it reminded me how much I enjoyed writing, although I have NO intention of tackling THAT feat!

Let's see, you need to get caught up on my doings:

1. Left Sheldon in December, but remained friends.
2. Moved back into my Mama's house where I grew up.
3. Signed up for a class that I thought I would LOVE.
4. Hated professor but loved subject so attempted to stick with it.
5. Dropped class before committing harikari or murder, but still read all the books, cause I really did like the subject matter.
6. Met someone new who we shall call Perry.
7. Gave up snow for Lent after suffering through several freak snowstorms.
8. Had my heart almost broken by said Perry.
9. Read a very large pile of marvelous books, with only a couple duds. (Join Goodreads to keep up with my reading list.)
10. Slowly moved crap out of my childhood bedroom and moved my stuff in.
11. Began hanging out with Sheldon again, a lot.
12. Registered for Summer school.
13. Decided that living with Sheldon was NOT an option, but after many conversations and compromises, being his girlfriend might not be so bad after all.
14. Bought tickets to see the Eagles, Dixie Chicks, Keith Urban, James Taylor, Carole King, and Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein.
15. Started exercising and actually losing weight! Down 9 pounds!!!!
16. Started teaching Myles how to drive
17. Reconnected with an old high school friend who we shall call Joseph. Not Joe, Joseph.
18. Was responsible for Myles's first car accident while trying to teach him how to drive a manual transmission.
19. Was reminded in a very sharp, stinging way why Sheldon and I cannot be in a romantic relationship.
20. Ate Easter breakfast and dinner outdoors on the front porch because the weather in Virginia is absolutely perfect.

10 Things to look forward to in 2010

• 34 days until the Superbowl!
• 39 days until Olympics start in Vancouver!
• 55 days until the beginning of the NASCAR season at the Daytona 500!
• 71 days until Miles can get his learner's permit!
• 75 days until the first day of SPRING!
• 90 days until Opening Day for Baseball!
• 96 days until my 45th birthday!
• 168 days until the first day of SUMMER!
• 224 days until Miles' 16th birthday!
• 301 days until Katy's birthday!

Guard Your Energy

The raw material of personal performance and productivity is contained in your physical, mental and emotional energies. Your body is like a machine that uses food, water, and rest to generate energy that you then use to accomplish important tasks in your life and work. When you are fully rested, for example, you can get two time, three times, and five times as much done as when you are tired or burned out.

One of the most important requirements for being happy and productive is for you to guard and nurture your energy levels at all times.

From the book “Eat That Frog!” by Brian Tracy

Rambling Thoughts on the Sidewalk

I was just out on the sidewalk, walking down the street to a local deli for some grits, and these are the rambly directions my mind went...

>The weather here in DC has been so fabulous this summer it is almost indecent! It hasn't gotten too terribly hot and the humidity has been completely reasonable. This is especially good news since I have to sit on a street corner in the sun every afternoon at 3pm for 20 minutes, and when I get to my car I have no air conditioning.

>There are several bus companies here that offer cheap service directly to NYC. One of them picks up and drops off right outside my building. Miles and I have taken this bus and it is marvelous, they even give you a bottle of water when you board. Anyway, everytime I see a line of people out there I just want to run over and say "Have a great time in New York!! I'm SO jealous!!" So far I have restrained myself, but one of these days it will happen.

>Grits are manna from heaven. I love them. I especially love them when there are over easy eggs cut up on top with lots of salt and butter. I make no apologies for this

>I have become slightly obsessed with the Duggar Family recently. I started watching the show because I wanted to see how that family compared to the Gosselin family. Well, there is no comparison. The fact that the Duggar's popped their babies out one or two at a time means that they had breathing room between each one and that about half of their 18 are over the age of 10 and able to help with the babies. I love the show. I love watching the family interact. Michele, the mom seems so loving and patient and calm. I feel renewed just watching her. The one thing that sort of puts me off though is that all the girls wear skirts all the time. No pants allowed. Why? Don't get me wrong, I love skirts too, they can be much cooler and more comfortable and I'm so glad that maxi-dresses are in style because long full dresses are my favorite for comfort and modesty. Buy why can't a girl wear slacks? The the thing that occurred to me while I was walking was how lucky those girls are though. They don't have separate closets. When they take clothes out of the dryer they hang it all up in one central closet that everyone uses. This way they are not always moving clothes from closet to closet as children outgrow things. I think this is brilliant! Basically this means that all the teenage girls get to "shop" for an outfit every day from the whole collection of skirts and tops that the family owns.

>I bought a new top at Costco yesterday and I love it completely. It is a 3/4 sleeve, jewel neckline with little jewels down one side. The pattern is a funky blue/green/grey design. I absolutely adore it. I caught my reflection in a window and thought how this top is SO me!

>I watched "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" last night on Netflix and I highly recommend it! I wish there were gorgeous parrots flying around Washington! All we have are ugly pigeons and Presidential Helicoptors.

A Poem About Toilets

I have decided that since
I hate cleaning bathrooms so much
I will clean them in pieces
Last night I did all the mirrors
Tonight I will do all the toilets
I was spoiled at the condo
I had only one bathroom
Now I have five
FIVE

such GLEE!

Good Morning My Peeps! Yes I am shouting out loud today! I stopped by BooMama this morning and was treated to a helping of GLEE! I can't tell you how fast that jump started my day! Glee stars the lovely and talented Lea Michele who I loved so in Spring Awakening on Broadway. I am excited that Spring Awakening is on tour now! Sheldon and I are going to see it again on August first at the Kennedy Center here in lovely Washington, DC!

I loved Glee, they aired the pilot the other night on Fox and the full episode can be seen on http://www.hulu.com/, which may be my new favorite website!

So, watch Glee, buy tickets for Spring Awakening and call me in the morning!

Elizabeth Berg, Oh how I love her...

http://www.elizabeth-berg.net/site/epage/49632_662.htm

read this essay and tell me how you could NOT love her!

100 for the 100th

It is my understanding that it is tradition to write 100 things about yourself for your 100th post. I am proud to say that I have reached this milestone and I have written the 100 things. I started working on this a couple of weeks ago because I knew it would take me a little while. Let the weirdness begin.

1. I could eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the same day, and I have.
2. I have always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon.
3. My favorite ice cream these days is Baskin Robbins World Class Chocolate.
4. I have wanted to travel to Iceland for many, many years and swim in the Blue Lagoon.
5. My absolute favorite guilty pleasure is watching the Real Housewives of New York.
6. I grew up in a small farming town in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia but I am a city girl at heart.
7. My favorite trees are Redbuds. Love the flowers, love the leaves.
8. I love to read and do so whenever I have a spare five minutes. My Grandma Urath taught me to carry a book everywhere I go and I am so glad she did.
9. I am the oldest of 3 children, we have the same parents but we were born in 3 different decades.
10. I am part of a Mazda family, I am driving my third Mazda, my sister drives a Mazda and Sheldon owns two Mazdas.
11. My first car was a baby blue '69 VW Beetle that had been bought new by my aunt and uncle when I was 3 years old. I paid my Granddaddy Palmer $250 for it in 1983 and traded it in for $250 on my first Mazda in 1988. They had kept all the gas and maintenance records for its entire life. Sadly, I didn't bother continuing the tradition.
12. I work on the 11th floor of a building that is only four blocks from the White House in Washington, DC. No buildings in DC are over 12 stories tall, so I get plenty of sunshine.
13. I haven't had caffeine since my teens. I can't tolerate it at all. I can only have chocolate during the day or I won't sleep.
14. I worked in a movie theatre in my small town when I was 16. I got to see all the movies for free as often as I wanted and I even got to sit in the balcony which was off limits to the general public.
15. I once worked in a bakery.
16. I was a pharmacy technician for a year after high school and toyed with the idea of going to pharmacy school.
17. I once kissed James Taylor's cousin. His name was Bill Taylor and he was a comedian/actor. We were 18. I didn't believe he was related to James Taylor until a couple of years later when I saw a picture of James and realized that Bill looked exactly like him.
18. I took part in an outdoor production of Val Balfour's Oberammergau Passion Play every Summer from age 13 to 17. Usually I was just an extra, but one Summer I was the Sound Technician. (My daddy will be so proud that I spelled that right without having to look it up!)
19. My first date was on my 16th birthday with a boy from out of town named David Braunshweig. It was very romantic, right down to kisses on a bearskin rug in front of a roaring fire. I wonder whatever happened to him...
20. I read The Stand, in three days, at age 15 while I was home from school sick with the flu. Not a good book to read when you are sick, I was scared of tunnels for YEARS!
21. I didn't go to prom. In fact I only went to one high school dance and that was because I was on the planning committee. I went with a gay guy who didn't want his parents to know yet. My parents on the other hand, did know.
22. I didn't have a boyfriend until the second half of my senior year of high school and he was from another town. His name was Chip Anderson. I wonder whatever happened to him...
23. I am the oldest grandchild by five years on both sides of my family.
24. My paternal grandparents, Flossie and Palmer, had a house on Smith Mountain Lake when I was a child and I spent all my Summers there from age 5 to 12. It is still one of my very favorite places on Earth.
25. I cannot wink my left eye.
26. I am right-handed but I iron with my left hand because Mama is left-handed and always had the ironing board set up that way.
27. Periwinkle is my favorite color.
28. I had my son when I was 29. He wore me out. I can't imagine how the women who have babies in their 40's or (shudder) 50's do it!
29. If money was no object and I could have one full-time employee, I would choose chauffeur hands down!
30. My ex brother-in-law who never liked me, said I made the best lasagna in the tri-state area.
31. I never learned to cook until after I left home.
32. I love deviled eggs. I put spinach and bacon in mine!
33. I met Sheldon on Match.com. I knew he was special as soon as I read his profile, I paid to join just so I could write to him.
34. I want to be cremated and then buried in Jerome, VA with generations of my family. I want the song "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" played at the funeral.
35. I grew up with cats but now I'm allergic.
36. I flew a helicopter for my 40th birthday. It was a beginner lesson and it was fabulous!
37. I never had a Caesar salad until after I turned 40 and now that is my absolute favorite. The best chicken Caesar salad in the land is made at the Lafayette Deli in Chantilly, VA.
38. My favorite painting is Flaming June by Frederic Lord Leighton. She lives in a museum in Puerto Rico. I saw her when she visited the National Gallery of Art here in DC. I want to visit her someday.
39. I graduated from high school in 1983 and then went to Lord Fairfax Community College for one year, George Mason University for three years, Towson State University for one year, back to George Mason, then Northern Virginia Community College for ASL. I'm planning on tackling my last nine classes starting this Summer. My Grandma Urath graduated when she was 78 so I'm still ahead of her record. Miles says he won't GO to college until I graduate, so I only have three more years!
40. It is tradition in my family to have four names. I had to get married to get my fourth name. My sister likes to remind me that when she marries she'll have five names. I'm not playing that game though. Once was enough for me.
41. Stephen King is my favorite author, although I love his wife Tabitha King as well.
42. I have been known to crochet at stop lights. I made 23 baby afghans in nine months, two years ago while commuting, for a church festival.
43. I love to cross stitch.
44. I drove a NASCAR race car on my 43rd birthday. I was scared out of my wits and never even managed to break 100 mph. I want to do it again.
45. I wear Chanel Chance perfume.
46. I don't handle stress well.
47. I am alergic to the whitening ingredient in toothpaste. Makes it very tricky to find toothpaste these days as almost all them have whitening in them.
48. Yellow roses are my favorite.
49. I love M&M's, Reece Cups and Mounds Bars but can't stand Milky Way.
50. I have been to England, France, Switzerland, Germany and Mexico in that order.
51. I have lived in Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia in that order.
52. I have visited 25 states and can't wait to see the other 25.
53. Other than dogs and cats I'm not a fan of critters. I'm always afraid of getting bitten or stepped on or peed on. I'd rather watch them on tv than see them, or smell them, in person.
54. Something in the Way She Moves by James Taylor is my all time favorite song.
55. I am deathly afraid of snakes.
56. I almost never use strange bathrooms. If I come to your house, chances are that I will not use your facilities the first five or ten times I visit. Weird, huh?
57. I have a thing for tall guys with deep voices.
58. I drink lots and lots of water every day and I have for many years.
59. I had a huge crush on Tom Selleck in the Magnum PI days, but I really wanted to be TC and fly the helicopter while fighting crime.
60. I am the adult child of an alcoholic.
61. I have a VERY strong sense of smell and can smell a cigar 10 cars away in traffic. I cannot even walk past Stone Cold Creamery in the mall because the smell makes me nauseous. Strong smells give me a migraine.
62. I love to play board games and card games. I don't care if I win or lose, I just like spending time with my people.
63. My Grandma Flossie made the best fried okra ever.
64. I love to cook. Especially in my new kitchen. With Sheldon. And my Stand Mixer.
65. I never tan, just freckle. I used to burn but in my 40's I seem to have outgrown it.
66. I have green eyes with golden centers, although for some reason Sheldon is convinced that they are blue.
67. I am very chatty if I know you, but I hate meeting new people.
68. I bought my first home computer in 1990 and had email and internet before anyone else I knew. Remember Tandy and Prodigy? I'm so glad that the rest of you caught up to me!
69. I am completely addicted to Packrat on Facebook and have been for almost a year now.
70. I got a unicycle for my 42nd birthday, but I haven't learned how to ride it yet.
71. I would love to own an RV and travel all over the US. Sheldon and Miles think this is the worst idea they ever heard.
72. I was never claustrophobic until I got pregnant at age 29, now it gets worse as I get older.
73. I never had motion sickness until the last year or so. I hate it!
74. I love "quest" games, Packrat, Post Hunt, Letterboxing...
75. I voted for Obama and still get goosebumps when I hear them say President Obama on the news. It makes me a little giddy that Hillary is the Secretary of State as well.
76. I would love to own my own tour bus/travel company. I would take busloads of people to all my favorite places. It would be so much fun. Sheldon also hates this idea.
77. Any medicine that is supposed to help you sleep just keeps me up all night. This didn't used to be true. I loved Nyquil back in the day. Sigh. I miss Nyquil.
78. I have never been drunk in my life. Ever. I don't drink very often at all and then usually only one. That first one always tastes so good, but I have found that the second is never as tasty and I've never had a third. I am a cheap date. This makes Sheldon very happy.
79. I like almost all types of music but not really a fan of opera, jazz or punk.
80. When I was a kid I really did walk 2 miles to school, uphill, both ways!!!
81. I am a list maker...I can't do anything without a list. I love crossing things off with highlighter when I am done.
82. Growing up I had one Nanny and three Grandmas, two Papas and two Grandaddys. They are all gone now, but I like to imagine them watching over me. I hope I make them proud.
83. I love bacon.
84. April and August are my favorite months of the year. I was born in April and Miles and Sheldon were born in August.
85. My drink of choice is Makers Mark Bourbon straight up, I sip it very slowly.
86. In the past 14 years I have collected over 57,000 aluminum cans for my local fire department. They use the money they raise to send burned children to camp.
87. I hate to scrub bathrooms.
88. I love to do the dishes, something about playing in the warm water and making things clean. Funny how that doesn't apply to bathrooms...
89. I also love laundry, the sorting, the folding, the putting it all away when it is done.
90. I get up at 4:25am in order to commute to the big city.
91. I go to bed at 9:30pm because I need plenty of sleep to function.
92. I much prefer Pringles and Munchos to regular potato chips.
93. I prefer the softness of flannel sheets all year round.
94. I like sleeping in a cold bedroom with lots of warm covers.
95. I used to sing in a praise band at my church.
96. I won the Miss Poppy contest put on by the American Legion in my hometown when I was 16 because my dad and his friends stuffed the ballot boxes all over town.
97. I am a Yankees fan and I now live with a Red Sox fan. This might be war.
98. My theory on having an only child is that if you do it right the first time there is no need to repeat yourself.
99. I ran my own direct sales business for 3 years and loved every minute of it.
100. I believe that Sheldon's cherry brownies are the secret to world peace, but I might be wrong, it could be the glazen raisen pretzels from Auntie Anne's.
     

Bus Stop Chronicles - Chapter Two

My bus stop is pretty entertaining. Actually I have two bus stops, morning and evening. The morning stop was described in an earlier post as a gulag inspired firing squad set up. The afternoon stop is at a busy intersection here in Washington DC. The afternoons have been very entertaining lately and I'm not quite sure why. The weather has gotten warmer, so that is a possibility, but I have started carrying a small, folding, aluminum, 3-legged stool with me because as I noted yesterday I am OLD! Maybe that is making me notice the crazy all around me.

The first day I showed up at the morning stop with the stool the Drama Queen got all bent out of shape. The Drama Queen or TDQ is a guy who may or may not be gay, and if he is he gives all gay queens a bad name. He is bothered by all of us in the world who take up his space and breathe his oxygen. He gets on the bus every morning and sits as close to the front as possible, usually the second seat. Then he proceeds to make himself at home. First he puts his seat all the way back. Then he gets his pillow out. Then he takes his coat off and uses it like a blanket. One day I took the seat directly behind him and after he lowered his seat as far into my lap as it would reach I turned the light on overhead because I was gonna read. He huffed and puffed and put his seat back up and got up and stomped to the back of the bus to a darker seat. Yesterday a woman who got on the bus at the second stop of the day had to ask him 3 times to move over so that she could sit down, the bus was full and he was taking up TWO seats. Evidently my need for a stool while waiting for the bus is just too much for him because he sighs and shakes his head every time I open it up and sit down. I think everyone else sighs because they secretly want a stool of their own, but this guy is irritated with me.

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting there on my stool tweeting my peeps and watching for my bus when a very hairy guy with no shirt on, walked past me and yelled "Ever heard of the Texas Rangers? They Knew!" He was wearing shorts and black boots and that was it, no back pack, no hat, no shopping cart. Just a shimmering cloud of body hair stalking down the street.

Earlier this week a lady walked by who had a braid down her back that reached all the way to her knees!!!! As someone who used to have hair long enough to sit on, I can tell you that I would NOT want hair almost long enough to STEP on!!

The afternoon stop is on the same streetcorner as a Starbucks. (surprise) Last Friday a lovely young lady wearing the prettiest black dress with pleats and bows and a ruffled hem rode up on her bike. She daintily stepped off of the bike, chained it to a pole, unhooked her saddlebag, went into Starbucks, came back out with coffee in hand, unlocked her bike, rehooked her saddlebag and rode off with her coffee in one hand and her handlebars in the other. It was very impressive. I took a picture of her because she was just so lovely, but I don't know how to pull the picture off of my phone and put it here.

I know I'm old because...

• I have no shame in going to bed at 9:30pm.
• I have to use lamaze breathing to reach my legs for shaving in the shower.
• I drive a car based on whether I'll be able to get in and out of it, not how sexy I'll look while I'm in it.
• I have to keep snacks at hand at all times or risk passing out due to low blood sugar.
• Spicy food gives me heartburn.
• I need to carry a stool to the bus stop because standing for ten minutes kills my back.
• Raking the back yard for 20 minutes has caused me 10 days of shoulder pain.
• All standing up and sitting down causes groaning noises.
• Snoring. That's all I have to say about that.
• Yesterday I discovered that I need to find a Ladies Room before I find a Dressing Room, as it appears that removing garments is the signal to my bladder that relief is in sight! I found two cute tops at Ross yesterday that didn't scream MATRONLY, although I almost peed myself in the process.
• Nothing has given me more pleasure recently than sifting dry ingredients and adding them to the wet ingredients being stirred by my stand mixer.
• Celebrities like Meg Ryan who are older than me in years, now look younger than me onscreen!
• I actually know how to buy cantelope.

Bus Stop

I have entered a brave new world by moving to the boonies. I am now taking a transit bus from the boonies to the big city. I have taken public transportation for years, but I used to drive 8 miles to the subway station (we call it Metro here in these parts), park my car and then take the train to my office downtown. The train would be packed with people, some of whom didn't smell so good. Sometimes the trains broke down and we'd have to get out and cram ourselves onto the platform and wait for the next train. Sometimes in the evening I would have to stand the whole way home, which killed my back. The morning trains were usually quiet cause everyone was half asleep, but the evening trains could get pretty rowdy. There was constant starting and stopping and door chimes. Now I drive 3 miles to a Park and Ride lot and get on a cushy motor coach that whisks me downtown in silence and comfort. I am at the second stop of 3 that the bus makes so i always get a seat. We each have our own reading light but most people just sleep so the bus is dark and quiet in the morning. The drivers are all professional and courteous. So far everyone has smelled just fine.

The most interesting part of this whole new world is the morning bus stop. There is a definite code of conduct that you can only learn by watching the others around you. The weirdest thing that I still haven't gotten used to is that we do not line up single file facing the person in front of you. The first person stands facing the street and the next person stands to the left about a foot away also facing the street. As each person arrives they stop and turn and face the street. Some put their bags down, some hold on to them. Some grip travel coffee mugs like their very life depends on it. When the line reaches the end of the building the next person stands behind the last person and the line continues to the right. The line snakes around this way, usually three rows deep by the time the bus arrives. When the bus pulls up the front line turns to the right and files onto the bus but the rest of the line stays in place and waits for the end of the line to get in front of them, at which point they just walk forward. It is the weirdest thing I have ever witnessed. On top of all that we are facing a row of abandoned buildings and there is a spotlight shining on us. I always feel like I'm in one of those prison movies and I'm waiting for the firing squad to arrive and pick us off one by one.

I always sit as close to the front as I can and on the right side of the bus because there is a partition behind the driver and you can't see out through the windshield. The afternoon stop is much more typical although no one can seem to decide which way the line should go, so some days it goes one way down the street and other days it goes the other way. I am usually the first one there, so I let the rest of them fight it out.

I have fallen asleep every day on this bus. Morning and afternoon. It is lovely to get another hour or so of sleep. This raises two concerns though. One is that I am terrified that I will sleep through my stop, but so far I always wake when the bus gets off the highway and begins stopping at stoplights. Secondly it has been reported by Sheldon and Miles that I snore. I have never snored before in my life. My ex-husband who slept in the same bed with me for 16 years assures me that I never snored when we were together, so I suppose this is a new and lovely by-product of old age. So every day I worry that I am snoring while passed out on the bus. So far no one has pinched me or poked me, but I'm curious to see if people stop sitting by me. I'll keep you posted.

John Lennon is Alive!

Okay, not really. But he communicated with me this morning. At least I think it was him. For all I know it was Napoleon or my Nannie. Years and years ago I read an interview with Julian Lennon where he described his relationship with his father. He and his father made a pact that whichever of them died first would do everything in their power to communicate from the other side. The plan they came up with was to send a feather floating down in front of the one left on Earth to let them know that they were okay. This morning while waiting for my 5:37am bus a feather came floating down from the ceiling of the bus shelter and landed about a foot in front of me. I was so relieved to know that John Lennon was safe and happy in Heaven. Then my distaste for critters kicked in and all I could think of was that what this really meant was that there were birds nesting in the rafters of the shelter and said birds might poop on me. I didn't know which way to move to avoid the impending poop bombs, so I just stood very still and hoped that the other people around me looked like better targets to the birds above.