It's the weekend!

So it's Friday night and I'm excited for the weekend. We had a friend over for dinner tonight and it was great to reconnect with him. I made steak tips marinated in beer. They were tasty.

Our friend split with his fiance recently (like this week) and the situation is pretty crappy. But it did bring up a point that I want to mention. Why are chicks crazy? Seriously, what is it about women finding perfectly good guys and then going all weird and psycho? Stop that. It's not attractive and it makes guys want to get away from you. And it makes those of us who are friends with said perfectly good guys wonder WTH is wrong with you. We want to like you. But we can't when you scare the boys. Put the drama away and realize that you're a lucky duck.

So I am on a mission to correct the injustices caused by crazy chicks. D has a few single friends seeking women without crazy tendencies. Redheads preferred. Drama llamas need not apply.

Displaced, Part 1

Because I have a feeling there will be more on this topic...

There's this thing about being from Pittsburgh that makes you really proud of where you're from and really annoys other people when you infiltrate their perimeter. I'm not sure why it is, but most of the people I know who are born and raised in Pittsburgh, tend to be more nostalgic about where they are from and are either happy to stay where they have roots or very eager to get back. Not everyone, mind you, but many. And maybe that depends on where else you go and the demeanor of most people in your new town.

I'm not exactly thrilled to be living in Massachusetts. The weather is fickle and the winter's general stink (ok, so this year when dodged snowmageddon, but you just wait, I'll probably be reporting ice and snow in April). My family is pretty far away--serious planning is necessary to visit, rather than deciding on a Friday evening that I was going to see my parents that weekend when I lived in Central PA. But the worst part for me is that by and large, the people up here suck.

Ok, I'll admit, there are exceptions (and that is why I am friends with you), but generally speaking they suck. For reals. Now, it's definitely worse in Boston (where I work) than in Central Mass (where I live), but it really bothers me that people have such a disregard for other people around here. There is very much a "me-first" and mind over matter attitude (as in, I don't mind and you don't matter) with many people in this area. For example, today I was walking to work and a woman who had been behind me sped up, was walking next to me, and then passed me. So, you want to walk in front of me. Ok, no bigs. But then she cut in front of me and slowed down so that I tripped on her heels. Really? You are walking on a wide sidewalk. Is it really necessary to walk like you drive? And there was no apparent reason for it either. I hadn't passed her earlier and cut her off. No one was suddenly coming towards us and would have knocked her down had she not moved in front of me. She just wanted to be first. ??? WTH is wrong with people? And this is pretty typical behavior on a walk to work.

I work in a department with quite a few imports from all over the country. One of my close friends and coworkers is also from a Mid-Atlantic state and has commented on the same thing--that people in and around Boston are nothing like the people where we grew up. We both grew up saying hi to someone you passed on the sidewalk, even if you didn't know them. It might sound a little Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, but did the majority of Bostonians grow up without manners? It's not all about you, people!

Maybe it's because it's been raining for 2 days and yesterday we lost power before I left for work. Or maybe it's because some jerk woke me up on the train this morning and I have on my crankypants. But more likely, people in this area of the country are just asshats. Regardless, Boston, this one's for you:

(PS: Yes, I am disappointed at not being able to find an appropriate LOLcat. Thank you for noticing. And for that, I shall reward you):

(PPS: Yes, I know it's not a cat. So what? Please see yesterday's post regarding who does the judging. That also applied to who makes the rules around here.)

This does not surprise me

So the first part was actually setting up the blog and writing the first entry. Then I had to actually tell people about my blog. I started with some fun friends who were very supportive and a lot of the inspiration for me deciding to do this.

Then I had to tell the rest of my friends and my family. And of course the snarky remarks I had expected started. I surprisingly only got two comments. One from my mom who just had to rib me for starting a blog but not calling her recently. (I swear I really was busy over the weekend. That's why I set the blog up at work--shh!) The second was from my brother--shocking. So I promised him that because he gave me a hard time, he opened himself up to ridicule.

Here's the text I received: "My sister is not interesting enough for a blog, yet she started one, but she is too good for face*book." Ok, so no, I'm not on Face*book (don't judge me, you are reading my blog. I'm the one that does the judging here!). But I have very good, professional reasons for not.

Oh, where do I begin? I suppose since I can't think of anything stupid he's done recently, I'll just make fun of his looks. Dear brother--remember when I said I'd find an LOLcat and dedicate it to you? Behold:

Jumping in Feet First

I'm not going to lie, a little bit of me can't believe I just started a blog. But then another part of me (the bigger part) is pretty excited about this. We'll see where it goes.

I suppose an introduction is in order. I recently (three weeks ago) turned 30 and 5 months ago married my best friend, D. Life is really starting for me. Yes, I graduated almost nine years ago, have held no less than 4 "real" jobs since then and have lived a lot, but something's changed over the last few months. My perspective, perhaps my maturity. My response to life is different than it was even 3 months ago. I'm recognizing with understanding that life it too short to get bogged down by stuff that ultimately doesn't matter. That's a huge thing for me, because for a long time I really couldn't just let things go. And I'm looking forward to what adventures I have in store.

So what can you expect from me? I'm not really sure! My husband and I have been back and forth on moving closer to our jobs for the last 3 years (I have over an hour commute), so maybe some house hunting/venting. My husband is transitioning jobs--something he's been working on for over a year, but moreso now since he was recently laid off. Scary, but I think we're strong enough. And we're at an age where soon we'll need to decide if we're having children. My family and friends live 5-12 hours from me, although I've created a very close group of friends near my new home and some virtual friends I'm glad to have. My job offers unique and fun stories along with more soap opera gossip than I thought could exist in a single department--but that will happen when you have over 20 women ages 24-40 working together.

Overall my life has been good, so I can only look forward to my future. I'm not sure if 30 is the new 18 or 21 or 25, but I must say, I don't mourn my 20s and I almost feel liberated to be happy being 30. I have no regrets of wishing I had (or had not) done certain things in my younger days. But I do feel like 30 is an opportunity to say "This is who I really am" and regardless of judgment from others, to take ownership of that and be my own person. And that feels good.

I hope to entertain, bring perspective and maybe enlighten. But mostly, I hope to have fun (and expose you to as many LOLcats as possible).