I've been working on this post for weeks. Some of this is now outdated, but I'm not editing anything. You get it all.
1) The deer were back! I would really like it if they ate all the greenery in our yard.
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| Hey, is that a jungle? No, it's our backyard and our algae-stained siding! |
2) Do you know what Michelle sent me? A dragon the size of a teacup!! I nearly died with the cuteness. Thank you so much, Michelle. She holds a pride of place in my office.
3) Last weekend was my birthday weekend! I was a lady who lunched! On Sunday, my actual birthday, I lunched with some friends in town. On Monday, I met with Sarah, Birchie, and Kyria in Madison for a quick brunch. There was cake and presents! What a life.
The water bottle is a thing. So, I'm sort of a picky witch about water bottles. I hate plastic ones. I don't want a straw (impossible to clean - FIGHT ME ON THIS). I have been using a dented old metal Nathan one (Nathan doesn't even make metal bottles anymore) that wobbles because of all the dents, but earlier in the summer, the carabiner clip BROKE on the lid and my husband had less and less patience for me and my busted, wobbly water bottle. USE ANOTHER ONE, he implored.
He bought me this one. Here's the sssshhhh secret. I don't like it. I hate the mint green color. This can be fixed with a judicious use of stickers. But more than that. The lid is plastic. I don't want my lips to touch plastic (this is a sensory thing - plastic has a *smell* and apparently no one else gets it, but I DO). Okay, I can take off the lid. Well, that's all well and good, but then I have to put the top down and IT DOESN'T LAY FLAT.
It was a thoughtful gift, but there's a reason I was still using the busted Nathan one.
(Also, I really am grateful he bought it for me. You know I'm going to use it until it, too, is busted. And then I'll find an old Nathan water bottle on eBay.)
4) I'm going to Indianapolis this weekend to see Garth Brooks in concert with TJC!! Woot woot! We saw him in Rockford, IL in 2014, Detroit in 2015 (we went with my mom, sister, and BIL, and they were SUCH DOWNERS - don't go to concerts with people who don't share your concert vibe), and Columbus in 2016. Having a blog with all these details is AMAZING. Anyway, I'm going to have so so so so much fun.
5) It wouldn't be a Five by Friday post if I didn't tell you a little bit about how disappointed I am with my fellow humans. I was driving home Wednesday night after a very long workday in which I ran a training for all the faculty advisors in my college. I was looking forward to yoga and convincing my husband that a frozen pizza is a healthy dinner option. As I drove along the river, a woman was literally LYING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD trying to stand up and she kept falling over. A man was with her, but he seemed unable to help her up. I watched THREE CARS in front of me pass by her. I pulled over as soon as it was safe to stop and ran back to help her.
I watched ANOTHER THREE CARS drive by as I ran towards her.
Anyway, the man and I helped her up and walked her to her car. She was shaking and her knee was terribly scraped. I asked if they wanted me to call an ambulance or run to my house (like three blocks away) to get first aid stuff. They declined and drove away.
WHY DIDN'T ANYONE ELSE STOP?
I honestly thought the boys on the roof situation was the last time I would deal with this. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? I don't think of myself as the kindest/most helpful person in the world, but I was literally crying as I drove the three blocks home. Why are we not helping people who need help? Is this just my town? I love my town. I'm a big booster for it. But maybe my town doesn't have anyone's back? I apologize for the all caps but WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?
Good for you for stopping. I don't think it's just your town, I think this happens everywhere, which is a sad and unfortunate truth.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had such a good birthday and wow, that cake looks delicious!
The cake was SO GOOD. Maybe that's a new birthday tradition?
DeleteFirst of all- Happy Belated Birthday!!! But, I'm also mad at you that you didn't tell us ahead of time that your birthday was coming up so we could shower you with cards and gifts. If you did mention it, then I missed it and I'm mad at myself. But, I'm very glad that you got a blogger birthday celebration with presents and cake!!! Also, I'm having a possible water bottle epiphany. My daughter is constantly complaining about the taste of her water. We've actually replaced our entire filtration system, and we make her ice specially and keep it separate just for her.... and she's still complaining. I WONDER IF IT'S ACTUALLY THE SMELL OF THE PLASTIC LID. I'm not sure what the answer is, since I doubt I can find a water bottle without a plastic lid. But I will suggest that she take the lid off when she drinks, and see if that fixes it.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this will make you feel better or worse, but I'm pretty sure if I were lying by the side of the road, people would stop to help. I say this because I've had times where I'm out running, and have to stop and fix something in my shoe- so I'm sitting on the sidewalk and someone always stops to ask if I need help. I've also been out running in the rain, and had people stop to ask if I need a ride. I will say that if it were a busier road, I'm not sure people would stop. Also I'm not sure if they would stop if it were dark. Not sure if either of those apply in your case? Also... what if it had been a man lying by the side of the road- would you have stopped? I think sometimes people are afraid for their own safety, which is also kind of sad.
Jenny! YES! Drinking water is SO HARD. My husband has some glass pint glasses that I also think smell horrible, so I won't drink water out of them. He doesn't smell it at all and thinks I'm so weird. It generally has very little to do with the water itself, but the material the vessel is made of OR the smell of the dish soap. There are water bottles with bamboo lids or some with metal lids. They're out there! This has been a struggle with me for years. In reality, I mostly like to drink from only ceramic and there are also ceramic water bottles, although they are not as durable. I suspect Angie and I have the SAME ISSUE. We can fix this. Probably.
DeleteI would have stopped it if it was a man. I guarantee it. I was not scared of my safety - there were plenty of cars driving by (obviously) and I am NOT SCARED OF PEOPLE. I hate that this is what our society has come to. What are some older people going to do to me? Rob me and steal my car on a busy street in our town? I mean...no, of course not.
Wait...why not return the water bottle and get one that you want?
ReplyDeleteThat cake tho...I am drooling. Also frozen pizza is an excellent dinner.
Well, friend, I'm not going to return the water bottle for the same reason I had been using the old busted one. I don't want to do the research. I don't find shopping fun and it takes a long time because I'm a picky bitch and I don't WANT TO. I wanted to keep using the old one. *shrug* He did his best and it will be fine. Or mostly fine. If there was ONE WATER BOTTTLE I wanted, I would have bought it already. But I don't know what that bottle is because my criteria is annoyingly specific and I've yet to find one that's perfect. And I hate spending my limited free time trying to find it.
DeleteMy daughter is not particularly a country music fan, but she said that a Garth Brooks concert was really good. This was a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteAs far as stopping to help others, good for you. The passersby probably thought it was too socialistic to help others.
The concert was amazing. The crowd was perfect and I was with the best person I could have been with for it. It was fabulous!
DeleteI saw Garth Brooks when he was the "opening act" for the Judds' Farewell Tour. He was an amazing opening act! And I agree, only go to concerts, or anywhere really, with likeminded people. Have a blast!
ReplyDeletePeople not stopping to help happens everywhere and I think it's sometimes out of fear, too busy to wait for police/ambulance etc. Just two days ago there was a car accident during rush hour a block up the street from our house - guy ran into the stop sign coming down the hill - several cars drove by before one lady pulled over. I saw this as I was walking up the hill after I heard the crash. Thankfully there are people like you and that other lady.
THE OPENING ACT!!! I can't imagine Garth as an opener. ALSO. How cool that you saw THE JUDDS?!?! I'm jealous of your concert experience.
DeleteI also went to that concert where Garth opened up for the Judds. Soooo good.
DeleteI am so envious of this. The Judds AND Garth? What a time to be alive.
DeleteENGIE. First of all, Sarah AND Birchie AND Kyria!!!! What a banner day!
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I share your aversion to both straws (HORK/DISGUST/BARF FOREVER) and having plastic touch my lips (GROSS). Please please please, return the water bottle and get one that will not bother you all day every day. Your husband -- I AM SURE -- wants you to have a water bottle you like more than a water bottle he bought you.
Here is an alternative: the Waterdrop Thermo Steel water bottle with bamboo cap. I do not know anything about this company, but they have a water bottle with no straw and a metal lip to drink from: https://tinyurl.com/46r3t39x Also: IT COMES IN PURPLE.
Second, ugh. That poor woman! It was so kind of you to stop and help. I like to think I would also have stopped, but maybe I would have seen that a man was already helping her and I would have driven past as well???? I don't know!!! My suspicion is that most people are purely oblivious. They are in their own heads or are busy texting or crafting mental responses to emails or worrying about their marriages or whatever and they simply don't notice the world around them. Is obliviousness better than willful disregard? Not sure. I'm glad you stopped.
Frozen pizza is one of nature's perfect foods.
YAY GARTH BROOKS!!!! Which songs are you most excited to hear?
Wait, I did not mean to skip over the darling dragon that Michelle sent. Adorable and fierce in equal measure.
DeleteNo, the water bottle is mine. I don't want the faff of returning it. If I knew what water bottle I wanted, I'd have already bought it. I just. I'm tired. I'm tired of too many choice. I'm tired of none of them being right. I'm tired. He made a choice. It's mostly fine. I'll deal.
DeleteI was excited to hear "We Shall Be Free" and "Beaches of Cheyenne." He played one of them and that's good enough for me!
I don't think it's just our town. I've lived all over, as you know, and it's like that everywhere. There's just a lack of human decency nowadays, people too wrapped up in their own egotistical worries, and it's maddening. What really galls me is the number of cars that will go through a crosswalk where someone is waiting patiently AND THE YELLOW LIGHTS ARE FLASHING. WTF, people?? I'm not prone to road rage, but I will honk, flip off, or flash my lights (or all three) at people who do not yield the right of way to pedestrians. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteI also hate plastic and will never buy bottled water for that reason. I'm Team Yeti, even though they too come with plastic lids. It's such a thick, hard plastic though, it doesn't bother me.
Happy belated birthday!
Yetis are too heavy. I have VERY particular tastes and I am not interesting in the heaviness of a Yeti or a Stanley. People keep recommending their favorites and I nod and smile, but I don't want them. *sigh* This is on me, not other people.
DeleteHave the best time at the Garth concert! He is probably my fave 90s country artist! I bet he’ll put on a great show.
ReplyDeleteThat’s so terrible that others didn’t stop. Maybe they were in the zone and did not notice or had small children screaming and hitting each other in the back of the car (this happens for me sometimes). Or they are just not generous people. My car broke down on the way back from my parents lake home in 2015 and so many people stopped to ask how they could help. Another time, I got a flat tire about 7 miles from my parents home in ND and it was something like -15F and again, several people stopped and offered to help (my dad came and saved the day as I don’t actually know how to change a tire and I was going to a wedding so was not dressed to do such a task). In both of those cases, I was in a rural area and I think rural folks are just more generous and more willing to help.
That said, back when Paul was a baby/toddler, we would go for family walks and he would enthusiastically wave and say hi to people we met on the sidewalk. I was gobsmacked by how many people wouldn’t say hi back and ignored him.
My charitable take is that people are oblivious, but I honestly don't know how they could be because this woman was ON THE ROAD. And, honestly, I don't care if there ARE children screaming in your car - you can't call 911? Shouldn't we be showing children what it's like to be kind to others? I don't know. It still makes me cry when I think about it.
DeleteI don’t know if this makes you feel any better about the state of humanity, but on Tuesday I was in San Francisco and I was walking down the street and (stupidly) looked at my phone to see when the next bus was coming, and I tripped and fell and hurt my knee. Before I completely registered what had happened, a lovely tourist (I assume, because it was on the cable car route) was there with his hand out, and he helped me up. So there was that,
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that you got to see Birchie and Kyria and Sarah on Monday! And that you went out with a friend on your actual birthday. I agree, return the bottle, get one you like.
Have an amazing time at the concert!
I guess it make me feel better. But if you can be helped in a big city, why can't we help in a small town? It's really upsetting.
DeleteIf I knew what bottle I'd like, I'd already have bought it. It honestly feels like my husband gave me this water bottle as homework, but I'm refusing. I'm just going to use this one. Will I love it? No. Will I like it? Maybe. I guess we'll see. Will I just never drink water because I don't have an appropriate vessel. That's also a possibility.
Happy birthday! I feel like I have your birthday marked down somewhere and should have sent a card, but this would require me remembering that I have birthdays written down somewhere and checking that somewhere regularly so I remember to send the cards ahead of time, WHY DO I SUCK SO MUCH.
ReplyDeleteI am very picky about water bottles too. I have never had a perfect one. I agree about straws, and plastic. I have a Hydroflask for work but it's heavy for my arthritic hands, although it does hold a lot of water and keep it very cold.
I know, why are so many people to pitiless? WHY? Whenever I've stopped to help someone they seem so surprised. Whenever someone helps me I am so surprised. This should not be the norm.
Yes! My criteria for water bottles are legion and also include that they can't be too heavy. That's part of the problem. If I don't want plastic, the other materials (metal/ceramic) are going to be heavier. It's on me. I get it.
DeleteYou don't suck. Organization is HARD and why would you keep track of random people's birthdays?!
A few years ago I was driving down my alley with 2 of my kids at like 5pm but winter so dark. An elderly woman was sitting by garbage cans. I pulled into my garage and sent my kids inside then walked back to her. She had fallen and couldn’t get up.
ReplyDeleteShe was also very cautious. She let me walk her to her back door but didn’t want help inside which I understand. But also made me worry she would fall again.
Sheesh. I hate how scared everyone is of everyone in this world. Our society sucks.
DeleteOkay. I am totally with you on the NO STRAWS Policy. I do NOT need to encourage mouth and lip wrinkles. I only want to purse my lips for kissing.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, virtually anything can become dinner if you say it is. Will it always be Healthful? No. But it's not like you're eating unhealthful foods on the regular. If you really need to feel better about a frozen pizza, toss some steamed veg on top of it. Or intend to. Whatever.
I'm seriously thinking about that scenario when you stopped to help someone. Maybe I watch too much Dateline, but I don't know that I'd stop. I would call it in from my cellphone (to 911), however. You lead with Kindness, and that's a terrific quality.
Finally, I'm really glad that you were able to celebrate your birthday with Birchie and Kyria. They are delightful company, which I found out last weekend when they spent an afternoon with me at the lakehouse. They're Good People.
Yeah, you do watch too much Dateline if you're worried about safety. I don't know what else to tell you. I can see not stopping if you are physically not capable of helping or if you would create more of a danger or something, but even then, calling 911 is the right thing to do, as you suggest.
DeleteHow lovely that you had B&K over at your lakehouse!! That is so much more fun than a random brunch spot in Madison!
I really need to see what your beloved Nathan water bottle looks like now! I actually do like straws - so much easier to drink out of when I'm driving or on the go. Although I can't tell you the last time I washed my straw so... it might be a cesspool right now.
ReplyDeleteI have done my fair share of stopping and not stopping for people. I will say when I don't stop, it is often that I'm afraid that the person or situation may be dangerous to me for whatever reason. I think it's when people have the "It's not my business" attitude that makes me sad. There was one time when I was with my family on the Metro and someone just collapsed and fell out of their seat and I tried to help them, but they were clearly under the influence. So I talked to them for a bit and then when we got off at the next stop, I told the train operator. As we were leaving the station, we heard and saw the ambulance pull up, so I guess help was called.
Happy Birthday!
Diane, between this straw confession and the state of your kitchen counters, it is clear to me that we lead very different lives. This world takes all kinds, doesn't it?!
DeleteI'm glad you're a helper, too, Diane. It makes me feel better about the world.
Happy (much belated) birthday! I am so glad you got to celebrate with bloggy friends. What a delight!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, if I drove past a woman and I saw two people helping her, I would probably figure she was being taken care of. I might have even felt that way when I saw the man helping her. I think this happens everywhere and we're all just in our heads. I would worry I was being a nuisance (I know, it's dumb). Sometimes people have small children in their car or they're rushing to get to daycare pickup before it closes or they need to get to their destination quickly for some reason. I'm not saying it's right, but I am saying that there's just a lot going on that we don't know about. I'm glad there are people like you in the world, though. <3
Okay, but say you are in a hurry or you're incapable of helping. You could call 911? Why are we so in our heads? I hate these excuses. It just makes me think humans deserve extinction. Let the bears win!!!
DeleteHappy birthday! I am laughing at your water bottle story. We've had some interesting water bottle situations in our home lately. I must write about it. The dragon is so cute. Sweet Michelle. I would love to have deer trimming the grass in our yard. Sounds amazing. This poor woman on the side of the road. Do we know why she was out of her car? I'm confused, but so glad you were able to stop. I like to think most people who could stop would but what do I know.
ReplyDeleteShe and her husband had been fishing by the river. When she tried to get up the embankment, she just didn't make it and then she was getting weaker and weaker every time she tried to get back up. Poor thing. She was embarrassed, but I was just worried. I hope she's okay.
DeleteI'm not sure what it says about me, but I'm with Stephany- if I drove by and saw someone already there helping, I don't think I would have stopped. I don't know if the fact that he "seemed unable to help her" would have even registered in my head as I drove by, just that there was someone already there and helping. Woman on the side of the road, no one around- definitely stopping. Woman on the side of the road, someone who does not appear injured there and theoretically assisting= "yay, the situation is being handled".
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm sad to hear this. If he could have helped, he would have been doing something, right - directing traffic or getting her out of the road? There was a woman IN THE ROAD and people just kept driving by. I don't get how people would have thought it was handled.
DeleteAwww, I'm so happy you like the dragon and that she's keeping you company in your office! I can't find a water bottle that I like either. I love drinking water from a regular glass that has been in my freezer. It's so cold, but there are no ice cubes getting in my way. Of course, this isn't practical if you have to leave the house. For some reason, I never feel like a water bottle is clean, even though I do wash it.
ReplyDeleteI think some of the reason I'm so anti-plastic is that the plastic takes on the smell of the soap used to clean it, but I don't get that with metal. But you HAVE TO CLEAN IT. I should start dropping some ice cubes in my water bottle in the morning - that will help me have the coldest water possible (and maybe I'd drink more water?).
DeleteOMG, the little dragon. What a sweet gift from Michelle (and happy birthday again, dear Engie!).
ReplyDeleteAnd I can’t believe you got to hang out with Sarah, Kyria and Birchie. What a treat :)
Re: the water bottle, I wanted to recommend the Owalla bottles (because I really, really love mine) and I love that I don’t have to unscrew the lid to drink (both with a straw or the spout). Unfortunately, the spout is plastic, so it’s a no-go for you.
I am so sad to hear that nobody else stopped to help the poor lady at the side of the road. Ugh. Why are people that way? I’d like to think that generally people are willing to stop and help, but I’ve also experienced that this is not always the case. As so often, it’s hard to know if it’s an intentional decision or just airheadedness, but we need people to be a little *or a lot* less airheaded!
I shudder at your Owala bottles. LOL. My SIL has been trying to get me on the Owala train for a couple of years now. I like the colors, but....
DeleteI can't believe people didn't stop. I am still upset about it. I mean, sure, we can all be in our heads sometimes, but she was in the road. Oh, well. Let's just be the best helpers we can be and let the rest of the world figure itself out, right?
People are terrible. You can only hate humanity these days. Glad a few (hi friends) are still nice and kind.
ReplyDeleteI am not much of a thermos kinda girl as they smell. I hated them in school and won't really use them For whatever reason I have cup (all plastic) that I love and have been using for years. I had two and now the lid was leaking. I threw that out and have to bodies now.