sNOw! and a taste of reality

I spent 7.5 hours last night in a commute that typically takes 30 minutes. All that time in a car gives you lots of time to think. Mostly, I was thinking that any car that wasn't a truck or an SUV had NOOOOOO business being out on the road. They were spinning out, couldn't make it up the smallest of hills.

But the underlying thoughts running through my mind were, what if this were really an emergency? It was mass chaos, gridlocked and unpredictable. This was just a heavy snow fall. There was no way out of where I was. I didn't panic, but this area is completely ill-equipped to handle real emergency situations. Makes you think a lot of how you can get out of a bad situation. You need a plan. A survival plan.

I realized that I would never be without an SUV again, at least as long as I live here. That's a sad thought to me because I always wanted a convertible. :( That vehicle was the only reason I got home. I was able to drive through a blizzard only because of it.

Cars were abandoned everywhere. I can't even imagine abandoning my car. I was crazy, depressed and frightened...and it was only a snowstorm.

How do you do?

I'm the older sibling by 5 years, female. I suffered through Catholic school and I moved from the Midwest -where I lived from the ages of 5 - 17, to the hustle-and-bustle of the East Coast. It was a bit of shock, but I think it was just fine in the end. I don't have any wistfulness for the high school days. College is a totally different story.

I watch and follow college football and now, the NHL. My brother is a HUGE hockey fan, and we share a love of at least one team.

What we don't have in common: physical health. I'm a year in to finding out just exactly what degenerative disc disease actually means. Today it meant a cervical pain block epidural. Feels like a bee sting my ass.

I'm also a singer, been singing since I was 11 years old. All types of music: pop, jazz, classical.

Now my new thing is learning social media. I'm learning that it is youth driven (duh). All sorts of abbreviations, the most recent I learned was "SMH". Had no idea what it meant and it's used like an article on Twitter. Means "Shaking My Head". It's a nice, sensible abbreviation - particularly because there is no emoticon for rolling eyes. That would be my 'go-to' response, as I'm sarcastic and a bit of a cynic, but not in an unapproachable way. I do not like what texting is doing to the English language - especially spelling.

I am my father's daughter: in appearance, in humor - even our handwriting is similar. I have a dark sense of humor and will often chuckle at the borderline unacceptable. Sometimes I'll laugh out loud about it.

I'm kind of over organized religion. This is not something I broadcast, but nowadays, I find it pretty unappealing. For me, the thought of politics and religion merging scares me. I am not a fan of freedoms lost. Read what you want, say what you want and don't worry about others. I find that most people who have a problem with some political point and complain vociferously really are just looking for validation.

I don't really have any hobbies to speak of. I'm getting into yoga and really liking it. I don't like art with people in it. No faces.

Lest I lead you astray, I'm not as serious as all that. I'm a girly girl. I love clothes, shoes, makeup, perfume, jewelry, handbags. The human body as art. I love gadgets - my iPhone, iPad, iPod - love.

I do NOT like jello.

And I'm in love love love with my dogs. I have three and the total weight of all three is approximately 230 pounds. I own multiple tape rollers to remove the huge white hairs off my clothes.

But mostly, I'm a faceless, nameless drone in the federal contracting arena (private), which in the DC area is a large component of what keeps a lot of people employed. I've gone through many, many jobs that have turned into disaster and have found one that I might like, but I'm kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. I'm working very hard on keeping a positive attitude about that, but my formative experience keeps me wary.

This blog is for my Dad, who encouraged me to write because I have something to say. I don't know what that is yet, but hopefully you'll take the trip with me.