Public Transportation

I've recently started using public transportation to commute to and from work. Let me just say, for me at least, it is AWESOME! I get to avoid traffic, I don't have to drive and I get to read, nap or do whatever on my way.

However, like almost everything, there are some downsides to this.....

1. Availability of trains. You have to adhere to the trains schedule. And if you miss your train, you just gotta wait for the next one. Or (as was my case this morning) if you miss your stop there is no asking to turn back or just stop here so I can quickly jump off the train. Here I was reading my book, not able to hear the announcer and suddenly I hear we are heading to a station that I've never heard of. Great, I missed my stop. So I just got off at the next available spot hoping I could catch an Uber or the Metro. The signs for the Metro were pretty useful and obvious so I just walked to the nearest station and made my way back. Hopefully I won't make that mistake again!

2. Random people talking to you (strangersation). Sure sometimes I don't mind striking up a conversation with a stranger. BUT if I've got my nose in a book, chances are I don't really want to talk to you. And I can see you out of the corner of my eye trying to also read my book. Go back to staring at your cell phone like the rest of the passengers. Another issue I had with a strangersation situation, was as follows.......Here I was standing next to the platform, waiting for the train to arrive. Typically people stand in a  semi line to get on because everyone gets on anyway, no need to push past people in case the doors close quickly. Up comes this lady behind me and starts talking to me about the shoes the woman in front of me is wearing, as if I had known both of them for a least several weeks. She is still talking as the train arrives. Everyone starts moving towards the door, she's still talking and next thing I know, she's getting on the train ahead of me. What just happened!?!? Did she purposely strike up a strangersation so she could get in front of me, thus insuring she would get a seat and I would end up standing? (which is what happened) How rude! He feet didn't even touch the floor when she was seated, I mean seriously. Then of course she was as silent as a door once she had her seat.

3. There is really is nothing else. Occasionally I'll have to stand for a few stops, but since I sit all day anyway, it's not a big deal and it's not every time.

So I highly recommend taking public transportation if it's available to you. You won't regret it. Just make sure you pay attention to where you are. Set an alarm or something for a few minutes before you are supposed to get off, that might help.

Food and Bikers

At least for this week, it was a good thing I don't currently have a job. Both my brother and sister randomly needed help during the week and who do you think was there? Of course, me! Moving on.

Today I decided to take a page out of my good friend Anissa's blog (here....La Cuisine Chez Lovedale Lane) and make some food. I found this Cheesy Chicken Bacon Broccoli and Rice recipe on another site and decided to try it. Minus the cheese and onions since my husband doesn't really do gluten, most dairy (ice cream being the exception), onions and garlic. I however, love garlic so I still included it and am just not telling him.

It came out pretty good, though I didn't scroll all the way near the end of the post to see how much of each ingredient was actually needed, so I probably made enough for about 10 people, but we love leftovers. It could also use more bacon, because lets face it, bacon is the best! I also opted to use turkey bacon and brown rice.

If you would like to try it out yourself, here is the link. I found it originally on Pintrest, of course.

Cheesy Chicken Bacon Broccoli and Rice Recipe

Something I've noticed recently are bikers on the road, meaning people on bicycles. Here is my big question. Lately most of them have been on 123, where there is a rather large path that runs pretty much most of the length of the road. So why is it that even though this usually not crowded, convenient path is provided, they still ride on the road? Better yet, why is it that sometimes (not all bikers) even though the shoulder is about, I don't know 5 or 6 or whatever feet wide, they still ride right next to the white line. Thus causing passing cars to have to slow down to pass the biker, then you get that one person who is afraid to pass so they just drive slow. 

I totally understand if there is not a path or not a very wide path or no shoulder at all or no bike lane, but when a wide shoulder or path are provided I think they should be utilized. Wouldn't it be safer to use the path? I'd use the path, but that's just me. Anyway, now I'm craving ice cream, which we don't have any and I don't hear the ice cream man anymore. Maybe I'll flag him down tomorrow :) 

Yard Work

So I have an update on the creature noises. Turns out all the noises were from bats. And oh surprise! One of them got in the house, but I caught it and put it outside. The hubs used some duct tape to cover up a hole we thought they might be getting in. Haven't heard them since!

Alright, on to the random things that happened to me today. I was outside cutting the grass with a weed wacker, minding my own business, when this kid comes up to me and starts asking if I cut people's grass. I said "No, I live here". Then he proceeds to start telling me how he's used one of those before and if he could try it out. I thought this would be just a quick little sure here you go, now be on your way! But no, he wants to try and cut the whole yard and rake and borrow it to cut his family's yard. I tried my hardest to get rid of him so I could finish and go watch tv. This kid is 7. Why is he not off playing with other kids and going to the pool like normal kids.

Then he mentions that he doesn't mind doing yard work for money. I had to shut this down real quick because I was not going to pay this kid for work that I was already happily doing. I could not get him to go away for good! He starts turning on the water and trying to water the mulch. I come out to fill the bird feeder and he pops up, asking more questions. Why doesn't he bother one of the other 200 people in the neighborhood??? How do you forcefully ask someone's else's kid to nicely go away? Finally I told him I had to run errands. Now I feel like I have to check the streets before leaving my front door.

On a side note, while I was at the mall doing my errands this guy says to me, "Hey beautiful, don't hurt no body!" and I naturally replied, "Thanks, I'll try not to". What the heck does that even mean? And he clearly didn't get a good look at my face, because it's not pretty. I've got angry acne all over my chin. At least I made it home without hurting anyone.

Creatures in the house....

So I've finally started a blog....because I have a lot of free time and sometimes odd things happen that I would like to share with my friends, family and whoever else wants to read what I have to say.

So this morning, I was awoken by some odd noises in the house. At first I thought I might have been waking up from something in a dream, but then realized this was in fact happening in real life. I heard what sounded like something running around in the duct work, which freaked me out, I thought whatever it was was going to just pop the vent covers off and roam free. The second sound I heard was some weird screeching coming from the vent in my husband's closet. After realizing that nothing was running around on our floors and could bite my feet, I got up to investigate. Well, first I tried to wake my husband up, but once he realized it was not a person in the house he was uninterested and continued sleeping.

I tried to following the running in the ducts, as it moved down the house. Grabbed a flashlight and tried to look in each vent, but saw nothing on the main level. However, while I was in our kitchen, I heard several things running/climbing around in the walls and ceiling of our living room. Not much I could do about that, so I went upstairs to check out the screeching from the closet vent. Saw something move, but couldn't determine what it was. Then I was able to see something clearly and it was a bat. Just hanging out. I didn't know what to do, all I kept thinking about was the bat scene from Black Sheep and "You can't catch a bat with a pot, moron!"

I should've kept my eye on it, because I ended up going back to sleep as well. When I got up later it was gone and I didn't hear anymore noises. I'm hoping that was the only bat and the running noises were from squirrels. Could be raccoons too. I'll have to investigate the attic at some point, but it is scary as crap up there. Haven't been up there since we moved in almost a year ago. In the past month we've seen multiple spiders and 2 cockroaches coming from the attic door, which doesn't even shut all the way. I guess I'll have to get my big girl pants on (and maybe some depends) and head up there while there's still daylight to see if I can find anything!