When I grow up, I want to be a dirty hippy!

I've never uttered these words, I actually hate dirty hippies. However, tonight I would've made my parents [clean dirty hippies in their own right....activists they would say] proud by walking to a town meeting, looking at maps, reading leaflets, listening to my community for 2.5 hours and then walking back home and using my reusable grocery bag at Whole Foods to pick up a few organic whatevers on my way back to the homestead. I love my town! Or city, we're a city. Seriously, as annoying as some of those people were, it was really great being there and seeing people care and talk and voice their opinions and interact. There had to be 300 people, I would think the Green Line would be a no-brainer but apparently there is LOTS of controversy.

Controversy, schmontroversy, I'm siked. I could care less about the pollution as long as it's not excessive [I live it a city, part of that is that it's dirtier here than the country - deal with it]. The commuter rail is already loud, I've learned to live with it. I do not need a parking garage considering I can walk to 2 of the stops. And by the time I'm 40 I will have a 15 minute ride into the city and never have to deal with parking. I am excited. And hello property values. Again, I'll believe it when I see it [and if those m-fers try to come in and take some of my yard, I'll go crazy...but I can't see how they would, geographically?], but it's nice to be at the start of something and I feel like we are. Everyday I feel better and better about our decision to get this place, not that I had remorse or regret upon buying, but I would say I was just scared. If you fuck up buying a house, you are kind of screwed. Anxiety and my brain are like moth to the flame up in my head. So yeah, I keep hugging Ed and telling him how happy I am that we made a good choice and that I think we made the right decision and it's wonderful. He is like "Umm, yeah that's why we bought it and moved in 6 months ago" and per usual, thinks I'm totally weird.

Anyhow, so that was my night. Worked from home today to not have to deal with the Wintry Mix. Barf. It was a blessing as the gas guy came by and needed to get in the basement [I'm still convinced it was some kind of set-up; I am my mother's daughter] AND warned me that after 7 am tomorrow, we will not be able to get out of our driveway and we should park up the street. So fingers crossed that our car is still there in the AM [and un-tampered: lots of car horror stories lately]. I will get a permit this week, I have slacked on that but I blame the RMV and their confusing registration policy.

Ok, so had some oatmeal with bananas and syrup for breakfast. Had some tea and some juice. For lunch, I had 2 thin slices of the WPF bread with butter and cream cheese. However, wayyy less B & CC than I usually use. So yay. Then I had a yogurt and more tea. I think that was all, my memory is shot. Oh wait, I tried to have cup of soup but it was gnarly [too much water and then I'd tried to bolster the pasta quotient].

I ran 4 Wii-miles and showered and went to my meeting. Had some sushi from WF after, and some strawberries [so good, so worth the $4 - it's like spring in my mouth] with splenda. A vodka juice cocktail, light on the vodka...Intervention always inspires me to drink. Maybe to remind myself that unlike the poor souls on TV, I can stop after 1? I am beyond thankful for that, everyday, I cannot imagine being an addict, it's got to be exhausting and sucktacular. Anyhow, just had some crusty french bread with butter [fresh baked at WF...yummm] and some mozzarella, tomatoes and OO/vinegar with spices and S&P. So good.

I will be having a couple sandwich cookies too, they were cheap and looked delish. It's like 11:30 now though, I need to knock off the late eating. In fairness, it feels like 10:30. Which means I need to go to bed. I hate DST, seriously. When it gets warm it will be better, right?

"Wintry Mix", my ass

How do I forget how much I hate winter EVERY YEAR?

Barf. I am working from home today, one small plus. Drove Darling to work, the roads weren't so bad, but they will be brutal once the temperature drops. Snow is annoying but ice is scary. And I love the Corolla but the brakes do some weird lock up thing in crappy weather, I think it's a safety feature but it makes a horrible noise and I feel like I have no control over the car for 5 seconds. Fun!

So last night I had my pizza and 3 beers, and the Atomic Dragonhearts prevailed and won! Take that, 2009. It was a good night, the snow held off until I was alseep. I also had a tea and 2 2-bite brownies and 2 bites of Ed's butter/garlic/parmesean bagel upon returning home. Not very exciting.

Today I had my bagel and tea, I'm planning on a banana shortly and some water. No exercise yet, I will do the bike at lunch if time allows. I did shovel slushy/rainy/wet snow today, but that was like 8 minutes total and sucked but didn't really work me out. Planning to go to the Kushi's for supper later, popping into Lyndell's [for the first time ever] to grab some dessert for that. It will be nice, as long as they have power - and I remember my GPS and do not crash into a guardrail while driving.

Also, and totally separately: the older I get the more I am turning into a nostalgic pansy [totally inherited from my dad who is Chevy Chase incarnate]. When a 15 year old gives me excellent customer service at the Somerville Target, I nearly tear up. There are so many people, and so many sucky and selfish and nasty things that go on that when something is simple and good, it is unexpected. I am going to try and recognize these moments for reflection when I am having a craptacular week.

Today's shout-out is for LeSportSac in Tennessee. I emailed them about a half hour ago asking about a a baby bag style they used to carry. Side note/back story: after a brief hiatus, I'm now back in one of those phases where my life is boring [minus the house, but the house is expensive and unfurnished and not really joyous - yet] but everyone I talk to is either newly engaged or newly married or newly pregnant or newly parents - or conversely, there is some scary health issue in the family....serious shit. This must be what 30s feel like?

Anyhow, I just got back a personal email with the info I needed and more...God bless the personal touch! It was nice, made me smile. This economy and such really sucks but I am hoping one positive may be that people and businesses re-focus on service and local networks and resources and just get back to the basics that were the fundamentals of our country that seem to be lost lately. I sound like a total dirty hippy / old white man, maybe my brain is frozen. Back to work...