Or is it "grey?" :)
I love gray days. I love a nice, quiet, cloudy, rainy, drizzly, deep, dark day. The weather seems to quiet everything and everyone. I keep all the lights off, and just maybe I'll have the TV or radio on. But otherwise I'll keep it dark inside too. It's nice. And calm. Nothing frenetic. No annoyances. Just quiet time to relax and get work done.
Happy Gray Grey Monday!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Getting Beat Up
This weekend was a BEAUTIFUL weekend in Michigan. It was unseasonably warm weather, blue skies, sunny, and the Michigan State Spartans kicked much ass! :)
Saturday morning was much like any other morning. My husband had gone to work for a few hours. My son had eaten breakfast and was playing some games. I was getting dressed and ready to get some yard work done. I step out of my house and see a couple of kids in my back yard by my garage. I say in a loud voice "Get out of my yard!" And they run off down the little hill the separates my property from the neighbor. Immediately following, much like an echo, I hear this woman's voice scream back "you don't yell at those kids." Now, I'm a bit dumbfounded, but not enough that my brain stops working, so I say loudly "I wasn't yelling at them."
And then it gets a bit blurry, where she's screaming a bunch of stuff, and I hear her say something about "they're just getting a cat out of the yard" to which I reply "there's always cats in my yard." Now, I have never seen these kids before. Don't know a thing about them. They don't go to school here, because they're not at the bus stop. I think they're with their "part time mom" (divorce situation). Then I see kid #3, who I know, with his cat coming out of my back yard. I look at him and throw my hands up in the air and say "Joe???" - you know, in that WTF kind of way. He just looks at me and runs off.
Whatever. This psycho woman is still yelling. Then she RUNS from across the yard up the little hill toward my property line and stops. I was a bit taken aback. She was going to beat me up. Seriously. Now, it sounds stupid as I write this out, but that was her intention. But maybe when she got up to the property line, one decent brain cell in her head clicked in, or maybe when she saw me, and saw that I didn't run away, she thought twice.
Now, I'm not a big person. I'm an average 5'4" woman. She was about three inches taller and a good 30 pounds heavier. I'm not looking for a fight, but I won't let anyone lay a hand on me either. I will defend myself. (I always tell my husband that if I ever got attacked and was killed, he'd know that I fought every step of the way.)
She screams at me that I ALWAYS scream at the kids, and then asks me "is this your pole?!!" (there's an old pole on the property where she was) and I say "yeah, I guess" and she screams "Well this is MY PROPERTY" and points to where she's standing. Then she walks off saying some other shit, and then she starts yelling again as she calls someone on the phone. I hear her scream something like "She was inches away from getting her ass whipped."
I don't know this woman. She is NOT the owner of the property next door. I know who the owners are. I haven't met them, but I've seen them. She was merely a visitor, I guess, to their property. And I guess those were her kids. I don't know. I don't know a thing about her. And I never scream at kids. Because there aren't any around here except for mine, and then one other. And they're in school all day. And at night, I'm making dinner and spending it with my family.
Was she tripped out on crack? She had to be on something, because no one snaps like that. She's nuts, or on drugs or something. Did she think I was someone else? Was she hearing things? Was she seeing things? I don't know. She's some 45-55 year old crazed woman with issues. Because we're all a little too old for fisticuffs.
This isn't the first problem we've had with neighbors, but it certainly is the worst. My thought for that day? WTF. Seriously.
My husband talked to the police, by the way. They figure it's an isolated incident, but if she goes psycho again, we'll be having them pay a visit.
Saturday morning was much like any other morning. My husband had gone to work for a few hours. My son had eaten breakfast and was playing some games. I was getting dressed and ready to get some yard work done. I step out of my house and see a couple of kids in my back yard by my garage. I say in a loud voice "Get out of my yard!" And they run off down the little hill the separates my property from the neighbor. Immediately following, much like an echo, I hear this woman's voice scream back "you don't yell at those kids." Now, I'm a bit dumbfounded, but not enough that my brain stops working, so I say loudly "I wasn't yelling at them."
And then it gets a bit blurry, where she's screaming a bunch of stuff, and I hear her say something about "they're just getting a cat out of the yard" to which I reply "there's always cats in my yard." Now, I have never seen these kids before. Don't know a thing about them. They don't go to school here, because they're not at the bus stop. I think they're with their "part time mom" (divorce situation). Then I see kid #3, who I know, with his cat coming out of my back yard. I look at him and throw my hands up in the air and say "Joe???" - you know, in that WTF kind of way. He just looks at me and runs off.
Whatever. This psycho woman is still yelling. Then she RUNS from across the yard up the little hill toward my property line and stops. I was a bit taken aback. She was going to beat me up. Seriously. Now, it sounds stupid as I write this out, but that was her intention. But maybe when she got up to the property line, one decent brain cell in her head clicked in, or maybe when she saw me, and saw that I didn't run away, she thought twice.
Now, I'm not a big person. I'm an average 5'4" woman. She was about three inches taller and a good 30 pounds heavier. I'm not looking for a fight, but I won't let anyone lay a hand on me either. I will defend myself. (I always tell my husband that if I ever got attacked and was killed, he'd know that I fought every step of the way.)
She screams at me that I ALWAYS scream at the kids, and then asks me "is this your pole?!!" (there's an old pole on the property where she was) and I say "yeah, I guess" and she screams "Well this is MY PROPERTY" and points to where she's standing. Then she walks off saying some other shit, and then she starts yelling again as she calls someone on the phone. I hear her scream something like "She was inches away from getting her ass whipped."
I don't know this woman. She is NOT the owner of the property next door. I know who the owners are. I haven't met them, but I've seen them. She was merely a visitor, I guess, to their property. And I guess those were her kids. I don't know. I don't know a thing about her. And I never scream at kids. Because there aren't any around here except for mine, and then one other. And they're in school all day. And at night, I'm making dinner and spending it with my family.
Was she tripped out on crack? She had to be on something, because no one snaps like that. She's nuts, or on drugs or something. Did she think I was someone else? Was she hearing things? Was she seeing things? I don't know. She's some 45-55 year old crazed woman with issues. Because we're all a little too old for fisticuffs.
This isn't the first problem we've had with neighbors, but it certainly is the worst. My thought for that day? WTF. Seriously.
My husband talked to the police, by the way. They figure it's an isolated incident, but if she goes psycho again, we'll be having them pay a visit.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
What does it mean to "grow old gracefully?"
(I'm ignoring the shame I feel for not posting in several weeks. To be fair, I have had a ton of volunteer work due to an event we put on, and I'm just now reclaiming my "regular" life.)
Today is "International Walk to School Day." Seriously. http://www.walktoschool.org/ Now, if you already walk to school, it's not a big deal. But when you're being bussed, walking to school takes on actual meaning. My son's school participates, so we got up and out the door to meet at the designated area so that we could all walk to school together - hundreds of kids, parents, grandparents, teachers and dogs all strolling down the sidewalk toward the school with lots of fun and fanfare. I'd guess it's about half a mile to the school, so a solid mile round trip for the parents to get back to their cars.
It was your standard, cold morning here. Probably about 40 degrees and the sun was just peeking up over the trees. The walk went well, as always. On the way back to my car I was walking behind a group of parents and I spotted a woman who sparked this blog. She was dressed for 75 degree, hanging out on the patio weather. Why, on a day you know you're going to have to walk about a mile, do you wear 2 inch heel sandals - with no socks?
In high school, we used to freeze our asses off at the bus stop because we refused to wear hats and gloves and scarves and boots. Because that wasn't cool. When I went to college, it was very apparent who the Freshman were once winter hit. They were still trying to be cool - guys with their varsity jackets wide open with deck shoes and no socks in 10 degree weather with a foot of snow on the ground. Seriously.
When we get older, we realize we're being complete idiots, and we start to dress properly. Looks be damned, I'm COLD! Gimme a parka and big, poofy mittens!
Now, I can't say that this woman was still trying to dress to impress, or to be cool (Fonzie cool), or she was still trying to hold on to her youth. But it just struck me that on way of growing old gracefully means you know when to bundle up, and wear clothes that are functional - and you do it.
What did I wear? Jeans, my husband's coat, tennies. And not one damn spot of makeup! Who do I need to impress? My husband and son already love me!
Today is "International Walk to School Day." Seriously. http://www.walktoschool.org/ Now, if you already walk to school, it's not a big deal. But when you're being bussed, walking to school takes on actual meaning. My son's school participates, so we got up and out the door to meet at the designated area so that we could all walk to school together - hundreds of kids, parents, grandparents, teachers and dogs all strolling down the sidewalk toward the school with lots of fun and fanfare. I'd guess it's about half a mile to the school, so a solid mile round trip for the parents to get back to their cars.
It was your standard, cold morning here. Probably about 40 degrees and the sun was just peeking up over the trees. The walk went well, as always. On the way back to my car I was walking behind a group of parents and I spotted a woman who sparked this blog. She was dressed for 75 degree, hanging out on the patio weather. Why, on a day you know you're going to have to walk about a mile, do you wear 2 inch heel sandals - with no socks?
In high school, we used to freeze our asses off at the bus stop because we refused to wear hats and gloves and scarves and boots. Because that wasn't cool. When I went to college, it was very apparent who the Freshman were once winter hit. They were still trying to be cool - guys with their varsity jackets wide open with deck shoes and no socks in 10 degree weather with a foot of snow on the ground. Seriously.
When we get older, we realize we're being complete idiots, and we start to dress properly. Looks be damned, I'm COLD! Gimme a parka and big, poofy mittens!
Now, I can't say that this woman was still trying to dress to impress, or to be cool (Fonzie cool), or she was still trying to hold on to her youth. But it just struck me that on way of growing old gracefully means you know when to bundle up, and wear clothes that are functional - and you do it.
What did I wear? Jeans, my husband's coat, tennies. And not one damn spot of makeup! Who do I need to impress? My husband and son already love me!
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