Archive for growing up
Old Men in Hats
Posted by: | CommentsToday we had the first little round of REAL snow flurries around here. The kids were excited, and chased them around trying to catch them on their tongues.
Me?
I knew I had to drive to the North Side, while the Pitt game was happening (crappy loss) in this ‘first snow.’ I was pleasantly surprised, though. It wasn’t too bad driving. Usually those first flakes just freak people out. Seems that us Pittsburghers don’t really get used to driving in the snow until maybe February. I’m guessing that all the bad drivers were going to the mall. I’ve come to this conclusion after driving on Black Friday.
Maybe it was due to lack of sleep, or the sheer excitement of ‘getting the deal.’ But there were many drivers (I hate to say it, but many WOMEN drivers) who either forgot how to drive or never learned. There wasn’t a mass amount of traffic. But still, there were problems merging onto the highway. I merged in behind a white minivan who then continued to drive 45 miles per hour on the highway.
It’s a good thing my patience is one of my greatest traits.
My father, because he was a cop on the streets for so many years, has his own theories about drivers. And the older I get, the more they turn out to be true. These are the two that have stuck with me (although I’m sure there are more, right Dad?)
- All the bad drivers come out on Sunday. It’s a fact. When I used to work at the airport, I worked every Sunday. I would start at all different times of the day, from 6:00 in the morning to 4:00 in the afternoon. EVERY SUNDAY I would have problems with other drivers. Usually they were going to slow, or were afraid to do things like merge. Or they would stop for green lights. Maybe they thought they were about to turn yellow. Who knows.
- Never drive behind an old man in a hat. They are terrible, slow drivers. Over my past 23 years of driving I’ve put this one to the test. I get behind old men in hats just to test the theory. I’ve never gotten behind an old man in a hat who is a good driver. Never. I’m not sure if it has something to do with the hat or not.
You may have already known these things. But we sometimes forget to tell our children, nieces and nephews who are new drivers. So, consider this a public service message. Tell all the newer drivers in your life to remember these two things.
And please, please….don’t become an old man in a hat.
Halloween Horrors
Posted by: | CommentsIf I haven’t mentioned it before, I love Halloween. And if I have mentioned it before, it’s worth saying again. I’m not a big Christmas girl. But Halloween? I’ve always loved it. Growing up, I loved being scared, I loved figuring out what my costume was going to be and I loved, loved, loved trick-or-treating. I would push my mental and physical limits to hit as many homes as I possibly could. And trick-or-treating the city streets of Pittsburgh involved many, many hills. My calves would be sore, but I’d have a bag full o’ loot.
As an adult, I still enjoy Halloween. But it sure has changed. First off, it’s changed for the kids. In my neighborhood growing up, we had a parade which was then followed by trick-or-treat. Although it was a bit unconventional…we did our trick-or-treating on the Saturday before Halloween, in the afternoon. ( I think it officially went from 3:00-5:00). One day, one shot. We would hit a haunted house some time in October, and we may have had a party at school.
Halloween now starts at the end of September. I have to admit, we had our Halloween decorations up the third week of September. We have treat bags for everybody at school. Each child has a Halloween parade at school. And there’s the neighborhood parade. And there’s a pumpkin walk on our walking trail nearby. Trick or treat at the mall, trick or treat at the hospital (um, not this year…thanks H1N1). Hell, going to the Halloween store is almost as good as taking the kids to a haunted house. Even the isles at Wal-mart and Target entertain the kids. We have Halloween pencils, Halloween erasers, Halloween shirts and socks.
I actually get to go to a GROWN UP Halloween party this year. Costume? Um, I’ll figure something out that day. Trick-or-treating? I’m just hoping that it doesn’t rain…we did that one year…it wasn’t pretty. Seeing that I’m pushing 40, on old people medication and get a buzz off of two drinks, my bright eyed child-like view of Halloween has just about vanished. Although I still enjoy the scary stuff (and the campy stuff), I’m too worried about making the entire month of October chock full of Halloween fun for the kids.
Being responsible can sort of suck. Until I see them watching Goosebumps, peeking out from under blankets. And when it’s over, they ask for more.
Hee, hee. I’ve gotten them all wrapped up in the Halloween crap. They love it. And maybe when I have grandkids I’ll get to just ENJOY it instead of PLANNING it.
See? There is life after 40.
Big Ball of Contradiction
Posted by: | CommentsSometimes I just can’t figure myself out.
For the longest time I swore that we would never have a dog. And now? I have a dog.
I have also said that, for me, getting a degree (which I never DID actually get, even though I attended college) was not important. I felt that I would always work for myself, and I could learn things on my own if I needed to.
Wanna know what I’ve been doing for the past couple of days?
Looking at school.
I’ve been checking out different programs, looking at how much things cost and contemplating what I want to be when I grow up. Our life could actually go on just fine the way it is. I’m the work at home mommy, Tony heads off to the restaurant to work. We are financially comfortable, but it sometimes gets difficult to stash for a rainy day or make large purchases (like the deck we never put on our house). The work that I do for the restaurant can GENERALLY be done in an hour or two a day. But lately I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to do when Chloe heads off to kindergarten next year.
Now, don’t get me wrong…for a week or two I’d love to get them on the bus, come home, and go back to bed. I have plenty of sleeping to catch up on. But after that? Who knows.
When I went to college after high school, I didn’t really go because I WANTED to go. I went because I was SUPPOSED to go. I didn’t have a plan. I switched majors. I tried different classes. I was an education major. I was a math major. I was in engineering. I think for a semester it was computer science, too. But I was young, I was having fun, and when I started tending bar I had enough money to live. I didn’t have any sort of burning desire. I didn’t have a dream. Tony ALWAYS wanted to have a bar. He had a goal. Me? notsomuch
I found a great program that I could take online. It’s for Internet Marketing, which is something I’ve already dabbled in. It’s through Full Sail University (which is physically in Winter Park, FL). It’s something I’m already interested in. It would give me some skills that I could use to gain employment OR help me to make money online. But here’s the deal: The program is $53,000. Remember above when I said it’s hard to make large purchases? Well, that’s a pretty big one. And there’s no need to add that much to our little pile of debt.
So, I’ve been poking around CCAC (our local community college), and they have a couple of programs I’m interested in. I pulled up my transcript. I was amazed that I actually have 61 college credits. (I actually have more! Some are over at Pitt, but I can’t pull my transcript up online). So, I think I’m going to give them a call this week and talk to an advisor. There are even two programs that I can take online (an associates degree and a certificate).
But, uh, that whole thing I said about not wanting or needing a degree?
I’m a woman, and I’m entitled to change my mind.
I wonder what else I’m going to change my mind about. For the love of god, if I start listening to country music, watching professional basketball or cooking a healthy dinner every day somebody smack me!
Bucket List Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsAs a continuation of yesterday’s Friday’s post, here is the second half of the Bucket List I wrote on a cocktail napkin when I was drunk, in a bar, 24 years old and a woman scorned 
- Inspire Bill for idea for a book (I think I did this that night, but I can’t remember the book idea)
- Teach Tony a lesson (remember…we were broken up. And I taught him a lesson – I married him
) - Learn how to fix a car
- Be in a talk show audience
- Roast a turkey – It wasn’t exactly the most fantastic turkey, but it wasn’t terrible
- Quit smoking – nope, haven’t done that one yet
- Convince Janelle she’s not fat (Janelle was a co-worker of ours. She was not fat. Haven’t seen her in years.)
- Go to Fiji
- Open a bar (I’m surprised this was on my list back then. But did it…livin’ the dream)
- Get a degree (Although I attended college, I never did get a degree. I’m not sure I want that one to stay on the list, though. In my opinion, I can learn what I want to learn without getting a degree. The only reason I would need a degree would be to advance at a job. I plan on being my own boss for the rest of my life)
- Drink at Sal’s Bar – Sal’s bar was a little bar in Crafton, PA. It was an old guy bar. But I always wanted to go in. I did. It burned down a few years after I went in, so it’s a good thing I crossed it off when I did.
- Get a tattoo – I did that. Twice. And they were both during that ‘break-up year.’
- Marry a rich man – Semantics, semantics. Tony was not rich when we married. We are not rich now. But who’s to say we won’t become rich? I’m holding out for that.
- Scuba Diving – I’ve been snorkeling, but never scuba diving.
- Get a bitchin’ car – Yeah, that’s still on the list. Unless you count a Chrysler Pacifica as a bitchin’ car. No? I didn’t think so
- Drive on the autoban – Another interesting one….
- Be on a t.v. show
- See a volcano
- Belly button pierced – that was when I was skinny. No more.
- Go to Seattle
- Finish this list (I think it was actually ‘finish writing this list.’ That’s why it’s crossed off)
- Paint a picture
So, that was the bucket list from way back when. Sorry I didn’t get to finish this weekend. I met up with old friends, headed to the science center, cleaned, napped…it was all good.
Anyway, you’ll notice that there’s no mention of kids or a family on this list. Well, if I had written this list either six months earlier or six months later, that stuff would have been on there. But, as I said, I was a woman scorned at the time, and had (temporarily) given up on the whole “white picket fence, 2.2 kids, American dream” thing.
I’m going to work on this list. And, I think I’ll create a new one. I may leave some stuff off that’s on this old list. But I have plenty more to add. I’ll need to think about it a little. I’d love to see your bucket list! Please share You can leave a link in the comments here, or send me something on twitter (@hdowney) or facebook (facebook.com/heatherdowney).
Have a great day!
Bucket List Part 1
Posted by: | CommentsWell, I’ve figured out what to write about. I am no longer in my little funk. I’m a glowing ball of sunshine (a little sarcasm there). I think we’re going to plan a trip to Idlewild. I think.
Anyway, I was poking around in the garage, seeing if I had enough crap to participate in our neighborhood garage sale. I didn’t get very much accomplished, but I DID come across a bunch of old memories. I looked through yearbooks. I found an old program from my High School musical. And I found this:
It’s a list of things I want to do before I die. There’s some more on the other side, so I’ll save that for tomorrow. So, let’s investigate this a little further, mmmmkay? Just remember – when I wrote this I was 24, drinking beer in a bar, and Tony and I were ‘on a break.’ (read: he broke up with me, and we didn’t get back together for a year).
- Kill Bill (Bill was my very good friend at the time. I didn’t really want to kill him, but he must have been getting on my nerves)
- Skydiving – Yes, I’ve had the opportunity a couple of times recently. I will do this. Maybe next year.
- Learn to play the harmonica – Interesting…
- New Ride at Kennywood. I still haven’t ridden this. At this time, the new ride was the Skycoaster. I just haven’t gotten to it yet, because I’m not a fan of parting with the money. But I will.
- Ice Skating – I had done it when I wrote this, but I wanted to make sure I did it again. I did
- Roller Skating – Um, same as number 5
- White Water Rafting – Did it, had fun, drank beer after.
- Skiing (Ski) – I think I meant snow skiing here I’ve still never gone. I don’t really want to. But I should do it once in my life
- Skiing (Water) – Again, never did it. Don’t really WANT to, but I should.
- NYC – I have been to New York. We went in high school and saw Cats. But I want to go back one more time.
- Disney World – When I wrote this, I had only been there as a kid. I have since gone with Tony a couple of times.
- Cancun – Yup, same as number eleven.
- Paintball – I have played paintball. But I don’t think (although I’m not exactly sure) that I’ve done it again since I wrote this list.
- Ride a Dolphin
- Go to Idaho (Please, remember…I was drinking when I wrote this…no offense to anybody in Idaho)
- Move Out – I did this a few months after writing this
- Blow a bubble bigger than my head
- Milk a cow
- Surf
- Parasail
- See Pearl Jam in concert (Not so sure I’m up for concerts, but I’d try again for Pearl Jam. I think.)
- Eat 1 lb of grape jelly beans (There’s no way I could do it in one sitting, though)
- Build a cool sand castle (I’ve build sand castles, but nothing really COOL)
- Pet a giraffe
- See Letterman
- Kill 2 birds with 1 stone ( I think I meant this literally…if not, I can cross it off)
- Go to Vegas (Yup, never been to Vegas)
- Meet Brad Pitt
Stay tuned for 29-50 tomorrow!
