Broken Pub Glass

In summer 2000 I did an Oxford Authors class through OSU. We traveled to England, lived in dorms at Oxford, studied Oxford authors and got to travel a bit around the country (Stonehenge! London!).

It was a formative trip, and I had a great time, despite initially being very nervous and homebody-ish. I also made a lifelong friend and will always regret not agreeing to travel through Europe with her for two weeks before our class session.

One souvenir, a Hard Rock Cafe pint glass, stayed with me throughout all my moves and life changes since. But this month it finally broke -- a chip along the rim that made it unsafe to use. I took pictures and then Shawn threw it out.

Now I'm in the market for a new pint glass -- maybe OSU? University of Maryland? LSU? Something as embarrassing as Hard Rock Cafe? (Remember, I was 19 years old at the time and it was my very first time out of the country!) We have clear pint glasses for everyone else's use, but I like a heavier glass (probably because I have loved this particular now-broken glass for so long!).

I do have a backup - one my sister bought me on a Vegas trip - it's Circus Circus and works well, but it's not QUITE as heavy as Hard Rock and the clowns are kind of freaky! Plus two glasses in rotation is much smarter/better for making sure my glass gets washed!

Sad Sad Chip

Adventures in Preschool Pickup

Jane started at the university preschool five mornings a week. It's in the heart of campus and not affiliated with the university's lab school (K-12) or the day care center (0-PK). Anyway, this is the middle of week 2. I had a lot of feelings and am still having a lot of feelings, but I hope things will become routine and less angsty for me. I thought I wrote about my feelings last year when she started the TWO morning/week class at another school, but I can't find them here. I wasn't quite as dramatic this year, but still. Big steps.

Background needed for this story: Shawn and I have gate-opening wands to get on campus and get into the lot where we drop her off/pick her up.

OMG. Today pick up was TERRIBLE. At 12:30 it's right at class changing time or class going to time or something so kids are EVERYWHERE and they are looking at their phones/not paying any attention/walking in the streets and it's awful.

AND THEN the arm wouldn't go up on the gate by the school. I got out of the car and waved my wand like a maniac and moved the car around too. NOTHING. A few college kids made snide remarks ("higher, higher"), which didn't do anything to help.

Finally I pulled away to let someone else try (and backing up into a horde of college kids was awful - but I did it three times all together). That driver got in no problem. But when I came back my wand still didn't work.

The director saw me and came out and said another parent had the same problem. She called the "if you have trouble with this gate" phone number on the gate, and they said "they'd send someone out." I wonder if they'd send someone quickly if I'd just parked in the bus lane and gone to pick up Jane on foot (another parent parked elsewhere on campus and walked).

SO the director brought Jane out to me while I'm stuck at the gate, I put her in, buckle her up and back up so another parent can get to the gate (I don't think it worked for them either, which was a small comfort). Luckily the swarm of kids was less now - they'd mostly made it to class or other parts of campus?

It was just horrible, nerve-wracking and the worst. The wand let me into campus no problem, so I don't know. I hope they fix it, but knowing LSU it will be a regular problem. Gah. Hope more kids start skipping school soon. (College not preschool.)

Tailgating Maniacs

I just got back from a quick jaunt to the post office. I have to drive down College, which is pretty heavily congested. Today I had someone right on my tail from just after I turned onto Lee from our street until past Perkins. She was SO CLOSE to my bumper, it was scary. I was going the speed limit and didn't think much of it. People here love to tailgate -- ALL KINDS of tailgating. Geez.

Then as soon as we cross the railroad tracks I notice how close she's getting AND that the lane next to me is stopping. There's a one-legged man in a wheelchair crossing the street in the middle of the road. (This is a four-lane, busy busy road!) I honk my horn, mainly to alert this lunatic behind me to slow the EFF down and not hit me, as I slam my brakes to keep from running into the pedestrian. (Are you a pedestrian in a wheelchair?)

Then my adrenaline was running and I was so upset I just stayed stopped until this woman would go around me. She had ample opportunities, but she just sat there, inches behind me. If I inched up to give her space to get around she just creeped behind me. SO AWFUL.

I was terrible too, in that I was backing up traffic. But it was a crazy thing. FINALLY she went around me, and she was racing to get to ... STARBUCKS! She had her LSU stickers and stuff on her giant silver SUV. Typical typical typical. (She was still in line in the drive through when I came out of the post office.)

My heart has pretty much stopped racing now that I'm back home and everything is OK. I wish I'd thought to get her license plate number or something because she was really driving recklessly (I guess I was too by stopping in the road and impeding traffic).

I should probably just stay home!

Crochet: Aqua, Coral & White Chevron Baby Blanket

Here's a baby blanket I made a few weeks ago for a former coworker expecting her first baby, a girl. I snooped on her Pinterest account to select the colors. Chevron patterns are still pretty popular, plus they're easy to crochet, and you know I love a zig-zag pattern (my initials make a chevron pattern you know!).

The mom-to-be was very appreciative when I sent the blanket. Surprise packages are the best packages anyway too.

I used Red Heart Soft yarn -- I bought them online, so the coral isn't at all what I had in mind. This was a little more orange than I expected - or something. But it still looked good as a pop between the white and turquoise (which I think was called deep sea or something).

Happy crocheting!