The Storm Of The Century Of The Week And Other Things I Just Don’t Understand

I live in the south. The southern United States. Georgia, to be exact.

I grew up in the north. North midwest. That would be in Michigan.

I grew up with snow. We put on snow tires every year. My parents taught me how to drive in icy and snowy conditions. I was used to it.

Back then.

Way back then.

We people of the south are not used to driving in ice and snow. When I first moved here 26 years ago the entire state had only 3 snow removal trucks. We (and I mean we in every sense of the word) aren’t comfortable driving in ice and snow. So, when we hear of The-Storm-of-the-Century-of-the-Week we hunker down. Stay in. But not without first running to the grocery store.

Honest. This is a photo (which explains the quality) I took with my cell phone. (But luddite that I am, my daughter had to help me get it from my phone to you all.) You’d think the meteorologists were predicting the apocalypse and not an ice/snow storm.

Another thing I don’t get?

Crazies. In Arizona. Shooting government officials because their words don’t make sense. Some nut (who doesn’t deserve the notoriety so I’m not mentioning his name) asked Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, “What is government if words have no meaning?” She had no response.

So, he shot her.

And 20 other people.

Now six people are dead and 14 are wounded.

Even more than that, I don’t understand the parents of the 9-year-old who was killed. (This is about to get judgemental, so I’m apologizing in advance) 

I’m going to chalk up their decision to speak with a reporter from Dateline, less than 48 hours from when their child died, as a poor lapse of judgement due to shock. They were speaking so calmly, so candidly, I thought they were speaking of an event that happened a year ago. But then Brian Williams kept saying “The events from yesterday” or “Yesterday’s shooting” and I was confused.

I admit, I was only watching because I was following the school closings ticker at the bottom of the screen. I hadn’t seen the news because I didn’t sign on to the computer or turn on the television once this whole weekend. (Did I mention I’m a bit of a luddite?) I couldn’t believe the parents of the murdered child were on television instead of grieving or comforting their son or (horror of all horrors for any parent) planning a funeral for their child. I just got the icky feeling (from the mom, anyway) that this was a bit of  “15 minutes of fame” and it creeped me out. In a big way.

Some days, human nature has me stymied.

And this is one of those days.

How Is Jane Crazy? Oh, Let Me Count The Ways

So, I’ve told you my mom is crazy, right? Well, guess what? I’m crazy, too. (Some of you already knew that – at least after reading yesterday’s post you now know.)

I’m mostly OCD with a little bit of plain ol’ crazy mixed in to keep things interesting.

How am I crazy? Ahhhh…let me count the ways.

10. I check to see if the car doors are, indeed, locked more than is necessary. And I involve my kids in the practice. Ever helpful #1son is often volunteering to run back to the car and check for me. And I let him.

9. Whenever I hear a child cry in a public place I must get up and locate the distressed little soul and make sure that a parent is taking adequate care of the situation. My husband calls this crazy. I call it “It Takes A Village.”

8. I boycotted shopping at Abercrombie and Fitch because of an ad they ran in 1992 that offended me. No one else. Just me. They hit a nerve with something personal I was going through. So I refused to shop there ever again. And I haven’t. Eighteen years later and I held true to my boycott – until last week. When my daughter got a job at one of their stores. Darn this economy and having to take what you can get.

7. I’m obsessive about a clean kitchen or bathroom. You could eat off the floor in either area. But do not, I repeat, DO NOT look under my bed. Or eat anything there. Yuck.

6. Give me a choice between a trip to Hawaii and a trip to Disney World? Disney wins every time. An all expenses paid trip around the world and a trip to Disney World? Sadly, yes. I’d pick Disney. An engraved invitation to a State Dinner at the White House (take that, Salahis!) and a trip to Disney World? Well, maybe I’d go to the State Dinner just to sashay past the Salahis but after dessert can I still go to Disney? (My daughter doesn’t call me Disney Dork for nothin’.)

5. I remember skating around everyone, and I mean literally sliding and skating past everyone in my socks on our hardwood floors, getting ready for a holiday party and thinking how nuts this must look. It felt like my family was moving in slow motion, without a care in the world that we had 100 guests about to show up and the house was still a wreck and food still needed to be put out. I was a raving lunatic. Not a proud moment, but a defining one. I’d like to say I’m no longer crazy in that regard. Dear sweet hubby? Can you please confirm that one for me?

4. I’ve been known to lock the door behind me, take two steps and go back to make sure that the door is truly locked. Doesn’t matter that I heard the click. Doesn’t matter that I pulled the door firmly. Doesn’t even matter that I checked it as soon as I locked it. What is it with me and locked doors?

3. For as long as I’ve entertained guests in my own home, it took me almost 20 years to buy a butter dish. Twenty years. Why? Because this saucer will do and besides, they’re too expensive. (Yes, I actually said too expensive.) I finally bought one. $3.99 at Williams Sonoma Outlet.  Yep. I put the cheap in cheap-skate.

2. It drives my kids crazy that I smile (or so they say) while I’m “yelling” (I don’t yell. I raise my voice) at them. Apparently, my facial expressions do not match the intensity of my words. But according to my daughter, that’s just weird, not necessarily crazy.

And the number one reason I’m crazy…

1.  I admitted to Kitch last week that, while I feel overwhelmed and unable to keep up with my self-imposed 4-posts-a-week assignment, I can’t seem to skip it. No matter how hard I try. Why? Because I like how my little calendar looks (go ahead and peek, it’s over there to the right) with it’s pretty little M, T, T, and F columns all highlighted just so. There’s something in me that can’t disrupt the pattern. Just the thought of a “wrong” day being highlighted (or not) makes me all uncomfortable. I’m not kidding about this.

Now that’s crazy!

(What’s your crazy?)