Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Be Nice

So about a week before Christmas my husband and I arranged for his parents to watch our 18 month old so we could go to our local chamber of commerce holiday mixer, and do some Christmas shopping at Wal-Mart(our shopping options are limited here in our rural NY town of 2,000).

It was the first time we had planned to do something together in a LONG time. I was looking forward to this night for weeks! Now I have a tendency to put high expectations on things I look forward to, and when things don’t go as planned, my. world. has. ended. The night didn’t go as planned. The mixer was a bust, they held it on the third floor of a 100 year old building with one freight elevator and no heat in the building. We got to Wal-Mart, only to find my husband lost the list, HE LOST THE LIST! My feet were killing me(being 8 months pregnant will do that). And to end the night was, Nick, our cashier at Wal-Mart. A smartass who thought it would be funny to tell jokes about my attitude in front of me, to my husband, and then call me out on a look I gave him. He also challenged me and asked me if we “needed to talk about this” UGH! The nerve! Well, my night ended with me and tears and black streaks of mascara running down my face on the way home.

So here’s my letter to Nick:


Dear Nick,

You’re not funny and should be nicer to pregnant women.

Sincerely,


The Pregnant Lady who didn't deserve being badgered by you, and could care less about your existence, so next time just shut your mouth when you bag my freakin' groceries.

This has been a part of Mama Kat's writer's workshop.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Some friends

HONK!!!! HONK!!!

“What the hell?” I shout as I look in my rear-view mirror and see this guy waving at me. Straining to see if I recognize him, I decide to ignore him, turn up the music, and sing:

“Say my name, say my name If no one is around you, say "baby I love you" If you ain't runnin' game Say my name, say my name”

I am heading north up the 405 in heavy traffic on my way to my friend Crystal, and her fiance Tom’s apartment, for dinner. Almost to my exit in Costa Mesa I feel a sudden jerk of the wheel.

“Oh crap!”

Cars are zipping past me as my Grand Am starts slowing down. I check my mirrors and see an opportunity to make my way to the right shoulder. The right rear side of my car starts making a loud thumping sound. Flat Tire.


Coming to a halt on the right shoulder, I start trying to figure out; what do I do now? Then it hits me, Crystal’s fiance owns a small rental car company, surely he can come help me with the flat, and I am less than a mile from their apartment.

I pull out my cell phone and dial their number….ring, ring….


Crystal: “hello”
Me: “Hey, I just had a flat tire on the 405, do you think Tom can come help me with it?”

Crystal: “Oh, no…uh, I dunno. Let me ask”
Cars whiz past as she places her hand over the receiver, in muffled tones she asks Tom what he wants to do, I can’t make out his answer.

Crystal: “Tom says just have it towed somewhere”
Me: “but I don’t have AAA, or any money, can’t he come and change the tire, I am right at the exit to your house”

Crystal: “he said it would just be easier to tow it so you can take it to Sears and get a new tire”

Me: “I don’t even know who to call to have it towed though!”


Crystal: “Tom can give you a number of a tow company they use for the rental cars, let me call you back and I’ll get you the number”


Crystal hangs up the phone and I burst into tears. Why is this happening to me!? I hate California, I can’t rely on anyone here. Then I look in my rear view mirror and see a white Honda Civic pull up behind me, one of those lowered ones with tinted windows and a rear spoiler. A Hispanic man exits, he’s short with big tattooed arms, he walks over to my passenger window and motions for me to roll it down, I comply.


Him: “Hey, you got a flat tire"

I answer, but try not to make eye-contact.

Me: “yea, I know”

Him: “well, do you have someone coming to help you? Like AAA?”
Me: “My friend is calling a tow truck for me”

Him: “do you have a spare? ‘Cause if you do then I can change it for you”

I look at him, trying to decide if it’s a good idea or not to trust this man with changing my tire and basically my life on the side of the freeway. He seemed to have good intentions…do I trust him? I’ve heard a lot of stories of people getting roadside assistance from a passerby that robbed them….oh what to do!?

Me:“Uh, sure-ok”

I pop the trunk and he heads to the back and starts going to work on the tire. About ten minutes later he comes to the window and says, "You're all done, you're good to go"

Me: “Thank You, I really appreciate that”

He starts to walk away, and I call out to him “Hey, what’s your name?”
“Angel” he answers.

I sit back in my seat and watch him get back into his white car, he cautiously enters back into traffic and drives away. Wow, I thought…I just met my guardian angel.

My cell phone rings, it flashes Crystal’s phone number, I answer:


Me: “hello?”
Crystal: “hey, Tom found the number, he said get the car towed to Sears. We'll save some dinner for you”
Me: “Thanks but I don’t need the number, I am already on my way to your house, I’ll explain when I get there”

A complete stranger, my Angel, came and helped me that day. My “friends” didn’t want to be inconvenienced. That was ten years ago, at the time I was 21 and living in California, I had no family to call on, and I had relied on my “friends” for everything. Some friends they turned out to be.

This has been a part of Mama Kat's Writers Workshop Also this week she's helping host an online auction for some great causes, check out the auctions and place a few bids!!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Merry SITSmas!!!!

Time to celebrate SITSmas!!! This year my little elf below would like to wish you all a Merry SITSmas!
Baby Girl wishes you all a Merry SITSmas!!!

P.S. Check out the giveaway below!! Could make a great Christmas present for someone you know!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Giveaway for the Fisherman in your life!

I am blogging about this because the company in question, Summit to Stream Adventures, is near and dear to my heart...OK, so I own it with my husband, and we could really use some blogger and twitter followers. So if you want to enter a fun giveaway, (think Christmas gift here), then go vote for your Catch of the Year!


Thursday, December 3, 2009

Dear Santa,

Happy Holidays…oh wait, I guess I don’t have to be politically correct with you, since you are Father Christmas. So MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! It’s so nice to be able to say that to someone and not worry about offending said person. I mean there is no confusion with you right? You’re all about Christmas! Unless you’re coming during Kwanzaa now and I missed the memo.

So since we’re on this politically correct business, let’s talk about the environment. You’re a notable figurehead, what are you doing for your part? How green are you? Are you making any efforts to be greener? How does the North Pole look these days? Are things a bit watery? What is your contingency plan for when the polar ice caps melt completely? You could relocate to the Yukon Territory. The Yukon seems like a pretty neutral place. Really how sustainable is the North Pole? Don’t you think you could be doing more damage there than good?

A few more things to think about: I’d like you to seriously consider organic milk, with all the growth hormones in regular milk, I don’t think it’s doing your body any good. For my part I’ll leave you some organic cookies I got from Trader Joes, hope you like them. Now I know my friends at PETA have probably contacted you about your use of eight tiny reindeer to haul your sleigh full of presents around the world. I think we can come up with a plan that will benefit everyone involved. Have you ever thought of teleporting? I think it could be advantageous to you, and you’d be done so much faster! Think about it, we don’t want to piss PETA off. Oh, and you might want to think about adopting a polar bear.

So, to surmise: go green Santa, eat better, and treat animals with kindness.

Merry Christmas!

Your Friend,

Mama the Chef

p.s. don’t forget my Net Book

p.p.s. Put Lucky Charms in my stocking please, been craving those this pregnancy

p.p.p.s. DVD copy of An Inconvenient Truth(not really)

p.p.p.p.s I've always wanted to have a sugar glider, I’d name it Moe.




This has been part of Mama Kat's Writers Workshop