Nearly two years

On Tuesday I'll hit my two year anniversary of quitting smoking. I can't believe it's been another year! I try not to think about it too much, but when I do think back on my days as a smoker, and the months immediately following quitting, I have a totally different mind set now than I did then. For over 14 years I had swore up and down that I would not quit. I had heard it would be the hardest thing ever. I'm not going to lie, it was hard - incredibly hard - but not impossible. I remember being frustrated, and even crying in the weeks after quitting. Now that it's been two years, I find it hard to believe that I reacted that way. I'm going to be honest, I am incredibly proud of myself. I've made it a point to tell everyone I know that my anniversary is fast approaching. People say "That's great!" or "Good for you!" I say "I know!" and "Thanks!" I want to sing it from the rooftops with my cleaner healthier lungs. The interesting thing is that now that I am really and truly done with cigarettes, more people accuse me of cheating more often. Let me explain something. I've hit that point, finally. The point that I've been waiting for - the real and true light at the end of my nicotine tunnel - I'm finally there where I HATE the smell of smoke, and smoking in general, and I want to get everyone I know/love who smokes to quit. Not only are they harming themselves, but ME too!! And hey, my lungs have been through the ringer already! I don't need anyone else's help irritating them! Yep, I've become one of those people. But not too annoying (yet, I make no promises). I don't intend to harass any strangers about it, or complain loudly about it in public. People can do what they want. I'm only concerned about people I care about. *I'm looking at you - Mom, Ma, Laura, Debbie, Dawn, Victor, Toni, MenD, etc......* Getting off my preachy table now - just one last thing! Yay Me!!!

Home...home again.

MA was wonderful. As always. I'm loathe to say "Boston" because we didn't actually go to Boston this time around. Things didn't bode well from the get-go. Shannon and TheMarty were 1/2 hour late. They emailed that they were going to be late, but still. I wanted to get the hell out of Dodge! We were on our way at 12:31. Sure, we immediately got stuck in traffic - it was like Chicago knew we were going to cheat on it, and didn't want to let us go. It took us a loooong time to get there. There was a couple of hour stop over for sleeping in a truck stop parking lot. This little break ended when TheMarty lept out of his seat - out of the car really. The reason? He had a dream that someone(s) were coming to kill us. Also, Shannon had seen a foreign film in which a bunch of people get raped and/or killed while sleeping in a truck stop parking lot. We got to our Days inn in Middleboro around 10am on Saturday. After a nice three hour nap we found we could hang. Shannon and I were off for very crappy mani/pedi (my nails were chipped and peeling the very next day) after which we met up with our Boston friends in Plymouth for dinner and drinks. Love. Plymouth. Love.It. The wedding Sunday was also in Plymouth - at the Plimouth Plantation. The gardens where the ceremony/reception were were gorgeous. The thing that was missing? Shade. Yeah, it was about 9,000 degrees out, and there was minimal shade. I felt bad for the bridal party (all of our friends!) who were dressed up more than the rest of us. We busted out of there about an hour early - we really couldn't take the heat anymore - and went back to the hotel. Ended up with the whole group over at Lauren and Greg's. They are fantastic hosts, who happen to have a gigantic pool in their yard. Aaaaah. Pooooooool. There was much drinking and many shenanigans. There was also a trip to Peaceful Meadows. Look it up. An ice cream place. On a farm. You can walk up and thank the cows for your frosty treat. Heaven. Monday was all about Persey's for breakfast, then a jaunt back to Plymouth so I could wade into the ocean. I wanted to go to a beach, but it wasn't really a beach, but it was still awesome. After that we went back to Lauren and Greg's for more quality time with them and more pool time. Ok, AND another trip to Peaceful Meadows. Tuesday morning came way too soon. So did 4am, which is when we left for the drive home. These trips always go by so fast!! The MA friends make very strong cases for moving there. They really do. As long as my parents are alive, I know I would never move any where else, but I'm not ruling it out for a down down down the road kind of thing. I probably should have taken off work today. I'm exhausted still. I know I got a LOT done today, but I know there's still a ton more to do. I guess it's good to be needed!! Some things I learned on this trip: When TheMarty decides to leave the Tricycle of Awesome, he becomes the Unicycle of Underwhelming. I am someone who "dances on the edges of nerd-dom" and I love that. That Dave and Eric are very very good at doing impressions of the lead singer of AC/DC, and the rest of us are practicing really hard to be just as good! That I really do love MA. That the only movie Roger Ebert found worse than "National Treasure" is "National Treasure II" That the mixed drink Sweet Tarts are fanfreakintastic and everyone should try one! That's all for tonight. I'm still so tired!!

Wicked Pissah

The tricycle of awesome - aka me, Shannon and TheMarty are heading out to Boston tomorrow. At noon they're going to pick me up at work, and off we go. We're driving - again. It's fun. Admittedly it's not something everyone can do, nor do I recommend to just anyone, but the three of us can do it, and pretty well. Of course, I'm packing two books, iPod, and my ds - I will need some alone time along the way. We're heading there for a wedding. Wishing us pleasant traveling weather. Wishing Dave and Hil a gorgeous day for a wedding on Sunday. Wishing you all a great weekend. See you on the flip side.

200.2

Here it is, finally, the 200th post. I was not entirely sure that I would make it to this point, or that I would care when I did. I did, and I do. When I first thought about writing my own blog, I was intimidated by the whole thing. What would I write about? Who would give a shit if I did write? Would I be able to write? Should I have a theme? Who would find this blog that I didn't want to? Well - let me address each of these. I write about whatever. Whatever comes to mind in a moment, or something that hangs on, churning in my brainz until I let it out. I think some people DO give a shit that I do write. I know I've been given a little grief, or a nudge when I've been negleting VFN, so I guess that means you do care. I am able to write. Sometimes. It's still difficult, but I do still love it, and it's made me practice. VFN has no theme. Yes, admittedly it IS a ranting/humor thing, but overall that's not a theme in my mind. Many people have found this blog. Co-workers, bosses, exs, ex-friends who should just move on as they are no longer welcome....but I blame this on me. Sometimes I'm very excited about what I've written, and I open my big stupid mouth and tell people. I love this process. I love VFN. It's harder than I thought it would be, and I am not as good of a writer as I thought I was. I get a little stressed when I have no topic, as I do aim to provide some entertainment. I had originally intended to write 3 posts a week. Time flies, and I am a busy grrrl, so that does not always happen. I admit it, and am sorry for it. I regret that I feel like I have to filter VFN. I may stop doing that. Of course, I will never divulge where I work or what exactly I do (that would be stupid). What I will do is think less about backlash and write more what I want. This means that very soon you'll be reading a post about the horrible "date" I had this weekend - screw it if he finds it. I'm over it. The upside of this blog is way way bigger than the downside. Every person on my blogroll over there --------> is a great writer, and they inspire me to be better, do more, push harder. These people are also my friends - or that's how I view them. I know that should I have a troll they will handle it. I also know that when bad things happen and I share them that I will get support from them. They take the time to stop by and leave a comment or two. I consider them my people. They make this blog better. They matter to me. Over these 199 (or so) posts I've given a lot of myself. Whenever something awesome - hello Carlos Zambrano! ; or terrible - still missing my little beagle Charlie; or HIlarious - fight on a bus? yep that's me!; I give all of these things to you. It helps me remember them, but I hope it also provides you with a quick read, a break from your day. Thank you to Shannon for asking me to guest-post on her blog, getting me interested. Thank you to TheMarty for encouraging me to comment around the blogosphere, getting my feet wet, and introducing me to many of the people on my blog roll. Thank you to my blogroll - see above - I dig you all the most. Thank you to my friends and family for providing me a LOT of fodder for VFN. I vow to try harder and be better moving forward.

An update

So, I sent the bus fight post to the RedEye - an offshoot of the Chicago Tribune. Guess who's been posted in their blog about public trans? Here's the link - I'm pretty sure it's identical to my post below - I'm just putting it out there. http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/redeye/2009/08/a-cta-bus-argument-blow-by-blow.html I'm interested to see if anyone leaves any comments. Hey, y'all - I'm in the newspaper! (Ok, KINDA, but whatever) It's still cool I think. The lady that writes the Going Public column and maitains the Going Public blog was pretty awesome - so thanks to her for re-posting my post. p.s. - this does NOT count as post 200 - still working on that. Thought you'd just be interested in the updated.

Big milestone

Soooo My next post will be #2oo. Please let me know what you'd like me to write about. Leave your comments, and may the best suggestion win. That is all - back to your regularly scheduled Monday.

Everybody was kung fu fightin'

I got in a fight today On the bus. Ah, public transportation. So, every day I get on the bus at the train station to get to the new office. There are quite a few people that take the same bus as I do, every day. A few of these people are gigantic assholes. There's really no other way to describe them. Here's what happened: We were sitting on the bus, still at the station, waiting to head out. Another #120 bus comes around from somewhere behind us in the line with maybe 3 people on it and heads out on the route. This dude starts yelling at the bus driver. "Where is that bus going!?! Why are they going first!?!? Why isn't anyone on that bus?!?! What time do you leave?!?!?" Well, this last question got an answer from the bus driver: "Sir, I leave at 7:48." (It was 7:45) This did not calm the dude down. He kept yelling and berating the driver, and making empty threats about his brother, who works for the CTA, and blah blah blah. He had a little peanut gallery, specifically this trashy women who is also another regular on this bus. She starts nodding, and saying stupid things as well. By this time, the bus is packed and we are on our way. Need to mention here that the dude was sitting down ranting and raving. Standing directly in front of him was an elderly woman. Standing.In.Front.Of.Him. Did he offer her his seat? Oh, hell no. Anyway. The bus driver politely tried to explain things to the irate dude, to no avail. The dude kept interrupting with more rant and drivel. At one point, the bus driver said: "Sir. I leave when I am supposed to leave. I don't know what else to tell you..." At which point the pinhead said "I can't hear you. It's like you're not even speaking English." I was sitting nearby, stewing at all of this crap. Finally (you knew it was coming, if you've ever read this blog, even once, you knew it was coming) I got mad. (my comments in bold - as they should be) "Enough. I've had enough. Stop talking." "Um. What?" "Take a cab. Walk. Plan your day better. Leave earlier. I'm tired of you. Stop talking." "What?" "Every day. You do this every day, and I'm tired of it. I'm sick of hearing you." "No one wants to hear your opinion." (this is one of my favorite statements he made) "REALLY!? Because why, then, do I have to hear yours?!?" (Yep, I'm pissed) "Bu bu bu my brother works for the CTA!" "Great. Do us all a favor - ask him to drive you to work." This went on and on for a while. Trashy-lady just sat there tsking and making faces at me. He and I argued until we got to their stop. At one point, after I said "It's not his fault. Leave the driver alone." I heard behind me "Yeah! Leave him alone!" and it wasn't just one person either. So, dude and trashy and a whole bunch of others get ready to get off at their stop. Trashy says: "F&#K you bi&$H!" and practically runs off the bus. Before she can exit the bus, I say: "Really?" I mean - really? I'm firing off valid points left and right without ANY profanity - and this is her witty retort?! Oh, no, she didn't. But she did. She is now invisible to me. I mean, if that's the best she's got, she's no longer on my radar. She's like those puffy white things that dandelions turn into - they're there, and they bother you a little, but you blow on them and they go away. Once the angry mob was off the bus, the woman next to me said "Are they really always like that?" As I'm about to respond, another rider says "Yes. They're really bad. It's annoying." "I'm bad?" I say "No, no. Them. You're right - they do this all the time." "Hey, in this day and age, I think we're all lucky to have jobs, and shouldn't be complaining about how we get there." (I can be calm and sane sometimes) The rest of the ride was uneventful. I stood up the block before my stop and went to the front. I was pretty much the last person on the bus. "Thanks for having my back." said the bus driver. "Oh! Of course! He was wrong, and you don't deserve that." "Well, thanks." The best part of the whole thing? I get to see them again. Tomorrow. And Friday. And Monday. And Tuesday......... (evil laugh, wringing of evil hands.....)