tifi

In that time, I

• made a 3′ by 3′ blanket.
• took care of a kid with the flu and didn’t get it myself.
• finished knitting a hat for my mom that I started in January.
• attended an honor roll ceremony for Robin.
• sewed up some placemats.
• actually repaired some things in my repair pile.
• lost half a fence during our recent Nor’easter.
• have become more frustrated with our school.
• donated a lot more things in order to make space.
• washed almost everything 0-3 months.
• made it to almost 38 weeks pregnant without killing anyone.
• survived way too much time with my ILs.
• watched almost no tv.
• read a few good books.
• chatted with my midwife about knitting.
• listened to a lot of NPR.
• started hating my dining room table.
• wrote in my journal.
• bought lots of diapers.

Thank you for not being specific in your weekly ad. Because I really had 30 minutes to spend on a Tuesday night at your store trying to purchase something that I found out at the register is on sale online only. That’s my idea of fun.

“Regards”,

Guess my local weekly ad isn’t really local after all

Every weekday morning before I step into my office, I take a deep breath. I work for a small business and the majority of the time, it’s just me and my co-worker. My office environment is extremely stressful. My co-worker constantly makes just plain ignorant remarks regarding everything from race to history. It’s gotten to the point where sometimes, the only way I can get through my day is to ignore her altogether.

Complaining to the owners of the business would not do any good. She is foolish, and therefore they consider her harmless. (They’re also passive/aggressive with her, a story for another day.) She’s nice enough, I’m just appalled that a person could reach the age of fourty and just be so…

At first, I tried to educate her. Not all brown people are immigrants. Having a foreign accent does not mean a person is not a United States Citizen. France and Italy are two different countries with different cultures and languages. (Seriously.) Eventually, I figured out that she was either too dense, or just not interested in gaining the kind of knowledge I was offering. I guess it’s easier to cling to stereotypes than to learn something true. :-/

The scariest thing is that she is raising children. And my children will grow up and maybe one day have to be around (but I hope not) kids raised in homes like this. That’s what bothers me most. Here is a woman, a mother, not interested in gaining knowledge and learning truths about the things in her daily life, so that she can pass that knowledge on to her own kids. It’s just not something I’ve ever encountered before.

I know this is somewhat of a mean rant, but being around someone like that really takes a toll. KWIM? It’s the first time I’ve truly experienced what huge gaps there can be when it comes to race, culture, and education in this country. Yes, I’ve experienced racism and have dealt with ignorance, but not like this. And definitely not in a work setting!

In a lot of ways, I find Virginia to be quite more Southern than Texas. That’s interesting to me. Why yes, sociocultural anthropology is an interest of mine. How did you know?

Good: Going to the local produce stand and getting higher quality fruits and veggies than available in the supermarket.

Bad: Not realizing the peaches I thought were 99 cents a pound were definitely more than that until I got to the register…oops.

*sigh* Today is shaping up to be the kind of day that can only be made better with chocolate. I’m starting with pudding and working my way up. At least I have the day off.

I was going to blog every day this month, but um, I had some “technical difficulties” yesterday. Namely, this url expired and I let it. I was at peace with my decision until I typed in www.tifiblogs.com and saw that parked page from godaddy. I then had a mini freak out and told L that my blog was gone. He was all, “why did you do that?!” and so I quickly renewed it. We’ll see how I feel about that by the end of July.

• Men who think they are funny and are confident about it. So annoying b/c I want to say “STF, no one likes your corny jokes!”, but I can’t.
• Rollercoasters - I just don’t like waiting (on line) for a long time knowing I’m about to do something that has the potential to scare me, scar me, and make me nauseous. Wait…I’ve gone through childbirth how many times?
• Store bought cards from my husband and kids. I just think about 1)How much it probably cost (b/c DH never looks at price tags) and how much more fun (and funny) a homemade card would be.
• GPS. Whenever I use it, I’m so worried about going the wrong way and having it yell at me that I can barely concentrate on the road.
• This rash I’ve had on my arms for weeks. I think I’m allergic to Virginia. Seriously.
• That I still have my eye condition. Virginia, did I offend you somehow?

I hope it will be warm enough for me to go out and enjoy it later! TGIF! 

• Why does Em treat me like a complete moron? He has been telling me how to cut his sandwiches all year and then when I do it the way he likes, he tells me I did it wrong.
• Why did I get up before the alarm this morning (rare) on the one day my kids don’t have school?
• Why did they get up without prompting this morning?
• Why has Saph attempted to be diplomatic by wearing a Giants t-shirt and a Cowboys jersey together?
• Why did I do 6 loads of laundry this weekend…but wash none of my own clothes?
• Why was I a witch for a Halloween, but felt slightly ho.okerish? This was not a costume for curvy girls!
• Why don’t I have a more portable knitting project I can take to work with me?
• Why is this post a total cop-out? I did no writing over the weekend, so this is it!
• Why do I still have to research all the local candidates to vote for b/c they’re all independents?
• Why did my new semester start on Saturdy and I barely cracked a book this weekend?

I’ve got a bit of energy. Of course, now everyone’s asleep and so I have to tiptoe around in the half dark doing things. I felt slammed for a bit earlier. Achy back from letting the whole gang sleep with me last night, plus allergies, and getting my period . Combined, it felt like the start of the flu. Not fun.