on wedding gifts

A few weeks ago, Steve and I went home to NH for the wedding of an old friend. She and I have been friends since we were little girls, and her parents and mine are also friends. I suppose you could call them family friends, as there are a few other families that fall into this "group," if you will; all of us being mutual family friends.

Anyway.

She and her husband are preparing to move to Alaska, as he will begin a Ph.D. program in Fairbanks this fall. They are driving from NH, with all of their belongings in a truck behind them (what an amazing adventure that will be, eh?!). They registered at Macys, but asked for gift cards, rather than actual gifts, as they wouldn't be able to transport them easily, due to limited space in the already full truck. I didn't go home for the bridal shower, but she did have one, and I suppose everyone just gave her gift cards.

Like me, my mother isn't big on registries (maybe I get it from her?), so she decided to make them a quilt (I get the quilting from my mum for sure!). She told the bride's mother of this, to be sure that the bride would like it, and the MOB assured my mother that the bride would love it. So, my mother picked out some fabrics in her favorite colors (red, orange and yellow! it is bright!) and made a big, gorgeous quilt for the bride and groom.

She finished it and called the bride (the bride knew about the quilt anyway- when my mother brought a card to the wedding, she put a few scraps of each fabric into the envelope, so the bride could see!). My mother wanted to bring the quilt by, so that the bride and groom could take it with them to Alaska.

The bride told my mother that there was no room in the truck and could she please mail it to them once they arrive in Alaska next month. My mother was a bit hurt by this. She understands that they don't have much room to deal with, of course, but really? Asking to mail it?

My mother actually folded up the quilt and put it into one of those special bags and sucked the air out! The entire quilt is now one inch thick! This could easily be slid under a car seat, right?

If you were driving from New Hampshire to Alaska, wouldn't you want a big, cozy quilt with you in the car?! When Steve and I drive to/from NH or Iowa, I love having a cozy quilt with me, to curl up in, especially at night!

Would you really want a handmade quilt mailed across and over an entire country? I do love the USPS, but I wouldn't want to take my chances with such an heirloom!

What do you think?

thirty-somethings, all at once

The Chinese say that this is the year of the tiger, but for me, it is the year of the 30-something, as a good number of my friends are turning 30. I still have no idea how this is happening! I feel no older than 24! I miss 24- it was such a good year!

I'm kicking off my 30's on Sunday (oy vey!). A friend's husband is 30 a few days later. A good college friend is 30 the beginning of February. And so on, and so on, and so on. I won't take you through my next twelve months of birthdays, but rest assured, they are all written in my calendar in pink pen!

The end of February I have two 30th birthdays; one the 22nd and one the 26th. The 22nd is for my oldest friend in the world, H. She was born almost one month after me (I'm the 24th, she's the 22nd) and our parents lived across the street from each other when we were born and so obviously we were friends. The birthday on the 26th is for one of my best friends from high school, D. H lives in my hometown and is having festivities on the 27th of February, a Saturday. D lives in NYC and I got an email from his girlfriend this morning indicating birthday festivities on the 26th, the Friday, his actual birthday.

I was thinking of going home for H's birthday, as my parents will be at her party, along with other family friends. Of course I want to go to D's as well! NYC isn't too far from DC, and NH isn't too far from NYC, right?

Would I be crazy to try both? Take the Chinatown bus to NYC Friday afternoon, then a bus (or maybe fly?) to NH from NYC Saturday morning and then fly back to DC Sunday? Maybe I should take the Friday or the Monday off?

I mean, I did two weddings in one weekend in two different states...two 30th's should be a piece of cake (pun intended!), right?

on why I hate the metro, reasons no. 673,027

Ughh, metro, you really make me crazy. I have only a two-stop ride from home to work (this excludes the roughly 10-15 walk to the metro to begin with, but that is beside the point right now). So really, it only takes a few minutes. This morning, like many others in the upcoming "touristy" months, I wanted to stab my eyes out with a fork.

As the doors close, this does not mean that you should heave yourself onto the train. The doors are NOT elevator doors; they will NOT spring back open. You will simply be stuck, you in the train and your ridiculously large and unnessecary backback on the outside, looking like a jackass, with all of the people already on the train looking at you like the pathetic thing that you are. There will be another train in two minutes. Wait for it. Don't make me late for work because you are rushing off to the Smithsonian, which isn't even open yet anyway.

Secondly, don't block the freaking doors! It's common courtesy to move away from the doors and find a seat. Yes, when I am only metroing two stops, I rarely sit, unless it is right by the door and the train isn't full, which is rare ar rush hour. So I stand near the door without blocking it. What a concept, eh? This morning, I tried to get off the train but was blocked by two huge linebackers for the Redskins. Seriously, both men were at least six feet tall and a good 250lbs. Me? Not close. They both kept looking down at their newspapers while I repeated "excuse me" about nine times. Neither was wearing an ipod, they could hear me. There is no excuse for that! Come on now! Finally, I just barrelled through. Ughhhh.

Booooo metro.

says who?

This morning, I left for work as usual. I walked out my door and a few blocks down to where I pick up the bus. Some days I walk (it’s a 10-15 minute walk to the metro), some days, if I see the bus coming (like today), I will stand and wait for it. Last night on my way home, my metro card went negative, so I used exact change on the bus, rather than swiping my smart trip card. I got on the bus and walked back and grabbed the pole. As I did, a woman stood up from her seat and offered it to me. I politely thanked her and declined, as I am only on the bus for a few minutes and didn’t need to sit. She complimented me on my coat. I thanked her. She then asked me if I could help her out. Now realizing where all of this was going, I apologized and said I had no change. I even went so far to say that I had just put all my change into the meter when getting on the bus, to pay my fare. She began to mutter under her breath, as they always do, and I said nothing back.

Quickly, she began talking about the Bible. She talked about how the Bible says “thou shall not steal.” From there, she asked what people who have nothing are supposed to do, because when you have nothing, you have to steal, in order to get something. This woman was standing behind me at this point, she hadn’t sat back down.

There was another woman who was sitting to my right, up a row or two from where I was. She (along with everyone else on the bus) could hear this lady and replied to her saying “you need to learn to help yourself.” This was all that the first lady needed. The two of them began to go back and forth about who helps who out and whose responsibility it is. Lady 1 clearly expected a handout, while lady 2 repeatedly said that you are your own primary responsibility and nobody else’s. This is where it began to get ugly.

I am not sure where it came from, but lady 1 then began threatening lady 2, saying she’d shoot her with her gun and kill her. Lady 2 laughed, saying that would never happen, only encouraging lady 1, who then went on and on about shooting her and then stabbing her repeatedly, to be sure she was dead. Lady 1 even swore on her mother's grave that she'd get lady 2.

By now, they were both speaking loudly and the entire bus was listening to the conversation. Most people, including the bus driver, were actually laughing at the exchange. Me? I was a bit nervous. Maybe it seems silly of me, but really? How was I to know that either lady, or anyone else, didn’t have a gun or a knife in their bag? They could have easily pulled it out and things would have gotten far worse. I was standing between the two, so if either lunged at the other, there I was.

My thoughts, as I got off the bus and headed to the Eastern Market metro, was why didn’t anyone say something to either of them? Granted, yes, I stayed silent, but should someone say something? Should the bus driver asked one or both of them to get off the bus? Would you have said something?

I was glad I got off the bus when I did, but the 90 bus has a long ride down 8th St. into Anacostia…

nap please

I'm back in DC and exhausted. I got home about 4am...this was after major delays into BWI, due to weather and such. Ughhh.

I need a nap.

i-what?

Okay, so ipods. Great invention, yes? I love mine. I use it to/from work and when I run. Ha, kidding. I don't run. :)

A few months ago, I was on the metro, sitting on one of the inside-facing seats right by the doors. The car was full, but not packed. There was a woman sitting next to me, middle aged, probably 50's or so. My music was on, I was not really paying much attention, until I saw her flailing her arms wildly. I looked at her and she said something. I took the bud out of my ear and she said, in a very nasty tone, "your music is so loud, turn it down."

I was mortified.

I've always thought myself to be a considerate person. I'm careful not to take up more then my seat on the metro. I always offer my seat to someone older, with children, pregnant, with a cane, etc etc etc. I move in if I have an empty seat next to me, so someone else can sit down.

I quickly turned it down so low that I could barely hear it myself, my face beet red with embarrasment, feeling the stares from the other riders. Luckily, my stop was next, so I got off immediately.

Now, I find myself often paranoid that my music is too loud and people are annoyed by it. There are times when I don't have my ipod, and I can hear the music from someone elses, but I don't say anything to them.

Do you say something to someone with loud music? Do you worry that your music is bothering others? How do you know when it is too loud?