Week in Review – Thanks a lot, Non-Driver!
Sunday
I had to work today, but the morning drive was worth it.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten out to see this beautiful sky
and the early morning light setting the leaves ablaze
with scarlet and yellow and orange and burnt umber.
Monday
I came home tonight to find a buck in my front yard.
He was probably small; the ones I’ve seen recently are.
(His rack was still small and just 4 points.)
But in the dark? Man, did he look big to me!
Tuesday
Why is everything I own
covered in either dog hair or crumbs?
Stop!
That was a rhetorical question.
Wednesday
What The…?
Expletive, expletive…
curse word, curse word, curse word…
mental shaking of my fist…
at YOU, non-driver!
Feel free to ride the middle of an unlined country road;
I’m fine with that.
I do that.
We all do it.
But when you’re rounding a blind curve,
it’s a good idea to stay the hell on your own side.
Thanks for the heart palpitations, jerk!
*sigh*
Now I feel guilty for being so mean.
I’m sure you just weren’t thinking;
it’s not the kind of thing people do on purpose.
*humph*
Now I feel bad about myself.
Thanks a lot.
Again.
Thursday
I found out today that someone outbid me on the house.
But that’s really okay.
I was beginning to stress about the money and how tight it would be,
so it was pretty easy to just let it go.
Friday
I finally remembered to water my plants today.
They all seemed to look up at me with a scornful expression,
as if to say, “Thanks for almost caring, lady.
See you again in a month.”
Saturday
My sister and brother-in-law hosted an early
Thanksgiving dinner for the whole family,
and between his family and ours,
there were 46 people there tonight.
They had to move all their furniture outside
to make room for the tables they rented.
It was loud and hot and crowded,
so I only stayed six hours.
And I loved every second of it.
.
Items of Interest:
Driving by Live, Nerd, Repeat (in which turning your car into a pirate ship is the answer to your driving woes)
Will there be Canned Cranberry, or Should I Bring My Own? by Simon at sweetandweak (in which he offers up some Thanksgiving Day tips that will feed your need for funny)
.
steadily skipping stones 
I am confused..were you cussing out a non-driver who was driving? Or a driver who was doing something other than driving while in a car on the road?
Haha! I forget that’s a family-speak thing. Anyone who does stupid or annoying things while driving is referred to as a “non-driver” by my dad. That’s a person who apparently has a license to drive, but not the common sense or courtesy or skill required to do the job. They are non-drivers who are out there driving nonetheless.
Actually, there was only one, albeit very bad, curse word said out loud. The rest were said in my head. But it still made me feel guilty for being so angry. I think a good fright has that Hulk effect on lots of people, though.
I love your weekly reviews! And I hate such non-drivers–one lives in my area!
Patti, I’m glad to hear you like these little blurbs. It’s hard to tell sometimes when there aren’t comments, and these don’t always prompt comments.
But, even so, I wasn’t prepared to give them up yet. They have made me a little more aware of the little pass-you-by occurrences and thoughts in my life. And also of some of the little ridiculous things I think and maybe do. And such are the spice of life.
As we’ve all talked about in one form or another, I forget too many things already! Maybe Angela’s daughter was right and blogging is a kind of public diary sometimes.
See! Not only did that comment affect me, it’s affecting you now, too. That one little comment is leaving some big ripples! 🙂
I know! It’s funny, isn’t it? I remember I basically said, “oh, no, no…that’s not true!” Ever since then, I’ve had that little thought in the back of my mind, and each time I write about my life on here, I’m more aware that it is a little bit true.
But, you know what? I’m glad of it. Blogging has made me pay much more attention to my life and to the world around me. And sharing about my life online has left a trail of Michelle breadcrumbs that I can follow back whenever I wish. 🙂
I am sorry to hear about your house. Now it’s back to the ‘drawing board’ as they say and the looking can sometimes be so stressful. But maybe it’s a good thing. I always like to think that often things happen for a reason. I’ll bet you will find a house you like even better than the one you lost out on.
It’s okay – I liked the house a lot, but the money was starting to worry me more and more. I could have made the payments, but the first year and a half would have been tight. And there’s so much expense involved in moving, inspections, setting up utilities, etc. I would have gone through with it at the price I offered, but once I got my figures all sorted out, I wasn’t willing to go higher.
I totally agree that things happen as they were meant to happen. One thing this did for me is it opened my eyes to how I’m spending my money. I mean, I knew this all along, but this really OPENED my eyes in a big, you’ve got to prepare for the future kind of way. I’ve just been floating along doing my thing… I’m not going to stop looking altogether, but in a lower price range. And I’m taking a financial planning (read: get your head out your butt and get your act together) course together. So, when the right house comes along, hopefully I’ll be in the right financial place to purchase without as much worry. Which will be so much more rewarding 🙂
This was rather enjoyable to read. I loved how you described the sky on Sunday it was very poetic and beautiful. Your Wednesday post made me laugh. I can relate to this. I am sometimes petrified of driving because of the way some people handle their cars. If this was me I would have probably been too scared to react the way you did. I admit, I am not the best driver and I need more experience on the road, so this incident would have terrified me. I loved your post, thanks for sharing!
Thank you for that, you’re really sweet.
I was scared – all I saw was car coming right for me. It really only took a second or two, but it seems like longer when it’s happening. My heart jumped into my throat and I ran off the road a little. Very scary.
If you are aware of your driving limitations, then you are not a non-driver. You’re just still learning. I think one of the keys to good driving is to be relaxed, but aware of the danger. When I was sixteen, I almost had an accident because I was so uptight about the other drivers. I anticipated that someone was going to pull out in front of me, so I prepared for it. But when they did pull out in front of me, I also reacted badly and almost caused an accident myself. Now I am aware of other drivers, and I prepare for them to do things like that, but I don’t panic when it happens. I try to take it in stride and react calmly. That has helped me a lot.
In other words, I reacted calmly with my driving – just pulled onto the shoulder as much as I could (though very quickly), but not jerking my wheel too hard, which would have crashed me into the woods, and not over-correcting when we were past each other, which could have flipped the car (if I were going much faster than I was), or had me running off the road on the other side. But in my head, I was cursing that person up one side and down the other. Still, we all do things like that sometimes. You will see that I do on next week’s recap :).
I’ll try to keep your advice in mind next time I drive, thank you. 🙂
So sorry you lost out on the house. Bummer, but you will find another one.
Had to laugh about your thirsty plants. I try to water mine every Monday, but sometimes it’s Wednesday or so before I get around to it. This always produces extreme guilt and an image of them gasping for air like fish dying on a riverbank. So sad.
As for the house, it will be okay. I really do like where I live now and I would miss it terribly, but I’d just like to be closer to town. It would be nice to be able to “pop over” to my sisters for a little while on an afternoon. Now it takes me at least 40 minutes to get there. There’s no “popping over” to anywhere!
As for the plants, I always think of Thursdays as watering day, but it rarely happens. Poor plants!