Personal hell on the 3 9 5

Living in DC has it's perks. Great Nightlife, lots to do (if you aren't lazy) and pretty well situated on the Eastern Seaboard so New York and Boston aren't far off. But for all the great things, there is one thing that I will never miss on that day I return to my Midwestern roots: Traffic.

I-395= My personal hell after work


Now, I always believed that the worst drivers in the country resided in Michigan, but I really didn't have much to compare that thought to......until I moved here.

There are three types of drivers that reside in DC: The natives, the foreigners and the transplants. Each is identified by specific characteristics and driving habits.

The Natives are the break riders. They are used to traffic, grew up in it and therefore their immediate reflex is to stomp the brakes at any and all times. The next car on the highway can be half a mile in front of them, but said car hits the brakes, guess what, of course the native will hit theirs as well. Native drivers also tend to drive one of the following 3 cars: Toyota Prius, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. They do not believe in turn signals, looking before merging into traffic and are incapable of getting up to speed before exiting the on ramp to the highway.

The foreigners are terrified to drive. They will drive 25 miles an hour, even on the highway and they also seem to be unable to comprehend basic traffic laws. Cab drivers fall into this category as well, only they aren't afraid of driving, they will probably kill you in the crosswalk just to beat a light or make a turn. No foreign driver makes a person driving in DC shudder more than a diplomat plate.

Granted Diplomats do good work, but they are completely incapable of driving in this country. I assume they are used tt driving on the other side of the road, but anytime one sees this plate loose on the highway, we all know to back up and give them space on all four sides. Unpredictability can be fun but not in a car.

Then you have the transplants. We grew up in the country far from the city, corn fed and farm raised, driving riding mowers at age 5 and getting our first tractor at age 12. We take no prisoners on the highway. Transplants are quite agressive, but this anger is fed by the constant stupidity we have to deal with from the natives and foreigners. The problem basically is we know how to drive a car and know what the mirrors attached on all sides are for and we realize a car can go above 30 with no problems.

Even with the 3 categories, there is just some commonality among all of them. Something about getting on a highway into or out of DC makes people turn stupid. Being cut off in traffic is constant and may God help you, should you find yourself stuck on the highway when the sky turns gray, or these water droplet things start falling from the sky. NO ONE knows how to drive when it rains.

Or snows...they close schools on 1 inch of snow. Even the cops are not used to it. I remember the first winter I was here, I was driving at about 55 down 395 in snow flurries and I was pulled over. NOT for speeding, but for driving too fast for conditions. I would like to point my out my Michigan license plate was still attached to my vehicle at this time and I laughed in this man's face with a simple "what conditions officer?"

Current Jam, I can't get enough of.

I would LOVE to sing this to a few people lately.

Jesus Christ Superstar

Those who know me well are well aware of how I feel when it comes to my faith. I'm lucky to have an awesome assortment of friends with different beliefs who allow me to debate and grow in my own faith and they can in theirs. I love that openness.

However, apparently quite a few people seem to have other ideas about my faith and assume I have never been a Christian and are shocked and figure that oh that's why I changed...more about that later.

When it comes to my faith, I believe that my relationship with God is a personal one. I don't need others chiming in and I don't need to stand on a street corner shouting, "God, God, God" because our relationship is fine. I've had a very long personal relationship with God that has stretched over years.

I remember going to my Grandparent's house for two weeks every summer and Grandma and I would sing "The Blood Bought Church" at the top of our lungs as it played on the record player. My Gramnoo was the person who really established my early belief in Christianity and she is the example I strive to live as every day, but while she succeeds, I fail miserably.

Granmoo is liberal. She holds many Southern Baptist beliefs but the woman is faithful. She has been through hell and back in the last six years to the point many would have committed suicide. Not Granmoo. She opens one of the 80 or so bibles in her house and reads. She's devoted to prayer and carries worry for many in the world...even people she hasn't met yet. She believes everything is God's plan and the decisions we make are either influenced by him or Satan. She doesn't go to church much because she's found her happy balance in her personal relationship with God and has found other ways to serve him. I've never really figured out where Grandpa falls in his beliefs, other than John Wayne movies are the greatest ever. But there have been times when I see him silently away with head bowed down. I love my Grandparents.

My parents are also more of the non church going Christians.,..but they have reasons. We went to a very nice Baptist church in our town. It was huge, had a good youth Group and the pastor was devoted. However, he was not one that the older generation in the church liked so he was run off and when he left, the church died. Everyone left in disgust. My parents were ostracized because they both had to work to put food on the table. We were poor but my brother and I never knew it because we never lacked anything we needed. Now that I myself have all the financial obligations and see the financial mess my parents continue to deal with even after 30 years, it shocks me.

Dad is a truck driver. He has left to other jobs, but he always comes back to the truck. To him, that's God's plan for him. He accepted it and while his bosses are kind of jerks, he endures and continues down the road one mile at a time. I do remember how excited we were when he would be able to make it one of our school recitals. Up until I was in middle school and my brother in fourth grade, many people assumed my mom was single or divorced. Mom, was sad when she could no longer stay home with us, so when we entered school she became a CNA. She has worked hard for 22 years, going to school to work up to her LPN and she is a damn good nurse.

I'm lucky to have such awesome individiuals as role models who have shaped my faith. I myself have always been devoted to God. However, I have never made it public knowledge or stood in the church screaming "All hail God!" I'm not attacking anyone who does that because that's their way of showing their devotion but for me it doesn't work. To me as I stated above, my relationship with God is a quiet and reflective one. I don't usually go to church because none can feed me spiritually. The experiences of years past with preacher has made it hard for me to find one that speaks to me. However, thanks to my awesome friend Kelsey, I have finally found one. But I'm not going there to shout and praise. I enjoy church as it allows me an hour of quiet and uniterrupted time with God. I can sit and reflect with no distractions.

The best way to describe me is I'm a liberal non-judgmental Christian. What does that mean, exactly? Well, it means I try to not judge people for their beliefs or how they choose to live their life. I won't force feed you my beliefs, but I hope that you will also do the same for me with yours. Judging people takes way to much time and that is something that is hard to come by these days. Plus, frankly it's not my job. I think God, while he knows the details, also knows that we aren't perfect and is just happy for us to lead a good life, treat others with kindness and continue his work in small ways, be it spend a day at the homeless shelter serving food or going to a small gathering on easter Sunday. AS long as you keep the commandments, all the other stuff kind of falls into place. He is always forgiving. Sadly, his followers don't always practice what he preaches and those are usually the ones who make a big deal of their walk with God.

MY faith was truly shaped when I moved 3 years ago. I moveds to a large city from farm ville , away from everyone and everything I knew and that was familliar. The first six months here were the somne of the worst months of my life. I didn't know anyone so I did a lot of praying because it was the only relationship I had close. I had three awesome friends who kicked it into gear and did everything they could to support me, even if it was a simple phone call or a bitch slap to get over myself. I love you, Mon, Ape and Sar :)I think this trying time was when I really understood what I wanted my spiritual relationship and faith to be. I haven't looked back since and now my life, despite crushing student loan debt is awesome. I have a wonderful husband who is supportive, lovin and cracks me up with his wit daily ( I love you Hunbun!), two fur ball children (although I still remain convinced they are going to kill me in my sleep) and a job that is slowly killing me everyday, but I love it and love what I do.

I'm just keeping on , keeping on. Trying to be good and yet failing daily in his grace. But, I think that's how he likes it. I learn more. This is the last time you will hear me preach. Because I've revealed too much already. :)

Manda

And I Ran.....

I was on the track team from 7th-11th grades. Yes, me, on the track team and I even have pictures to prove it! However, for the most part, I did track to get out of gym class. I never really had any expectations about being sporty because I'm not a natural athlete. (Still a true fact, but I am what I am). I am glutton for embarassment so I did the 100M dash (always last and 3 seconds behind), long jump (I would have placed once if Jonesville hadn't cheated) and the 800M relay (we consistently beat Jonesville, ha!). Now, basically, that last one was the farthest I could ever run-half a track length.

I continued on through life beyond high school and just figured running was not something I would ever be able to do. I remained blissfully happy and didn't let it bother me. Then I started to get fatter and lazier, even more so after I got married. Watching Biggest loser one night with my Taco Bell or Chinese (whichever we ended up with) I watched 400 pound people running 5Ks. Man, talk about shaming a shameless person. If these people could do it, surely I could?!

I began researching how to get started and found the Couch to 5K. Hmm..looked pretty interesting, easy to start and look, an ipod app. Bonus! I downloaded that even though I was confident I was wasting 2 bucks. I started the program a week later with the hubs. Yeah, so let me just say this now, I wanted to DIE! After the second minute of running I was ready to say screw this, but then something happened. Something strange that I have never had before. My brain woke up and told my body to shut up and just do it -My body remains pissed. I finished that first day and have continued off and on following the program with varying degrees of success.

Last week, I ran a mile and a half. 6 times around a track. I could never even run one lap before, but here I was doing 6 laps and I haven't looked back.

To be continued....

New Year, New Manda

Just a quick blog to pacify April.

I used to be somewhat skinny. There was a time I wore jeans in the single digits. In a couple months, I turn 30. While career wise and in life I'm happy, I am not happy with the way I've allowed myself to grow lazy and fat.

January 1st, I decided to do something about it.

Our company is having a "Biggest Loser" competition. A woman has never won or placed in this contest. Of course. considering the industry, there aren't a whole lot of women anyways, but I digress. I'm going to give it a good run to at least place. A lot of the guys fattened themselves up before the contest. which is utter crap, but it is what it is. They lose weight easier so it's pretty much assured a guy will probably win. Unless I have a say about it.

I joined weight watchers and committed myself to the gym. I've only been at this a week, but I plan to keep you informed as I go along this path.

Peace

It's a Man's World and I Intend to Crash It! (part 1)

In my younger days,(early 20s) construction meant sweaty, tanned men in hard hats looking delicious and sexy on the side of the road playing in asphalt. There was one guy on the way to East lansing I saw everyday who could hold a flag. mmm hmm..damn could he hold that flag....but I digress.

I was in the Interior Design program at Michigan State, (2 years of my life wasted that I'll never get back) and hating it. The weeks without sleep, bitchy females and stressing over the endless projects became too much and the finale was me in the shower, in our dorm, holding a huge chunk of my hair that had fallen out. I was done. The problem was, I had absolutely NO idea what I wanted to do. When I started at State, it was the height of the "Trading Spaces" craze. everyone wanted to be an interior designer. The problem was, I really didn't. I went to the classes, maintained my 3.5 but I was incredibly unhappy.

One day on the way back from Class in the Chem building, I stopped to watch the ground breaking of the new addition to the Spartan Stadium. I was fascinated. I always loved to watch construction and things being built. Most girls played with barbies (as well as I) but I also liked lincoln logs. Correction: OMG! I loved the lincoln logs. My brother and I would build cities, barns for my horses and his cars for hours. I'm sure my parents hated it since their feet bear the scars of all the logs they stepped on over the years. As I stood there this day, however, I had never really thought of it as a possible career choice.

Sitting in the dorm that night, with Pizza House pizza, which if you have never had Pizza House pizza and live in the vicinity of Lansing, you are a nazi communist. That goes double if you never had Deluca's. Again, I digress. I was flipping through the college catalog trying to figure out what I wanted to transfer to. Astrology? (No) Astronomy? No. Biology? No. Building construction Management ........hmmmm...and that's how it started.

I loved the change and I finally enjoyed going to class. (except Contracts. I hate that effing class still). Let me just say that any degree that has a 4 women to 110 guy ratio is great. I didn't have to pay for a single drink the entire time I was in the BCM major. I met 2 of my best friends in those classes, one while we tried desperately not to fail our Quantity Take off tests. The other, during a period of little sleep and lots of fun times, most notably, the night of the bar crawl and being out until 4 am when I had training at Linens N Things at 8:00am. I had to watch training videos ALL day. That was the longest day of my life. I met some great guys who I miss terribly but love to see how well they all are doing. (It's time for a "RamRod Construction" reunion, guys) Life was great especially when I got the haunted apartment in Lansing (but that story is another blog)

I lucked out and got a good job offer in Washington DC. I had to find an apartment quickly so together my hetero life partner and I took a road trip. All I'm going to say is wrong way on the HOV and dead center of Alexandria at 5:00 PM. Then, got back, hastily packed up and away I went with my Basset Hound in tow. I was now a DC metro resident.

To Be Continued

Current Jam

After yesterday at work, a song is making my day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc0mxOXbWIU