After 28 years.....

On Tuesday May 29, 2007 I turned 28. I am not going to say that it was one of the better ages to turn like 13 when you are a "real" teenager, 16 when you get your license, 18 when you are an "adult"....so on and so on, you get the point. Really after say...25 there really is not much to look forward to as far as birthdays go.
One thing that has always been consistent with each birthday is cake. I have always received one store bought cake that reads "Happy Birthday Chrissy" complete with pink flowers. That is until this year. No cake. And since the cake was missing the candles were missing too and you know what that means.....no birthday wish.
Not that any of my wishes ever came true (still holding out for the BMW from last year) but none the less still a wish.

Survey is.....
What did you wish for on your last Birthday? Did it come true?
I am trying to figure out if I was gypped or not.

Could London Bridge Fall Down???

Ever since I can remember I had a fear of Bridges. Maybe it was the song we all learned in pre-school....but I can not be sure. Also that "take the key and lock her up part".

Anyway, back to the point, my fear of bridges usually only effects my life 1 time a year when I make our annual trip to Ocean City and have to go over the Bay Bridge. Other then that my life goes on daily without any regard for my fear.

Recently I found a new hair guy who conveniently is located 2 exits over the Bay Bridge which for all of you keeping track now brings my toll closer to 7 times crossing the Bridge yearly. One would think that I should just find a new hair person who is not over the bridge bringing my bridge encounter back to its manageable 1 time a year. But he is really that great and they serve margaritas for their Cinco de Mayo party.

Let me give you a little background about how I deal with my fear just to put it into perspective if you have never witnessed first hand. Immediately after paying the toll to go over the bridge I make sure that I am in the left lane (faster), I have my hands at the 10 and 2 position that Mr. Heisler taught me and all music and conversation is silenced. I keep my eyes straight ahead and NEVER look left, right or behind me and absolutely NEVER down at the water. The grip on my steering wheel becomes almost painful but I don't realize the pain until safely to the other side of the bridge. I also do not remember breathing the entire time either but that has not presented any problems - just an observation.

So far all of my bridge crossing experiences have been similar to above only sometimes I am the passenger and instead of gripping the wheel I just ball my fists up dig my nails into my palm leaving 4 semicircles that are about to bleed in my palm. I do prefer to drive since I feel more in control of the speed and time to get over the bridge and I don't have embarrassing unexplainable marks on my hands.

On my last trip over the bridge this past weekend coming home from the salon I experienced my first near death encounter that confirmed my fear is nothing to be taken lightly or laughed at. We were about 1/2 mile over the bridge when ahead I saw brake lights = slowing/stopping ON THE bridge. I felt my anxiety level shoot up and could feel my face turning red. As I approached the reason for the slowing traffic I saw a car broken down missing a wheel in the right lane. There was total pandemonium (in my car) and I even let out a loud scream (for help?) then pressed my accelerator to the ground thinking that I could be next, stranded on the Bridge of Death (this is real folks - Thailand; look it up). When I reached the other side of the bridge I had a moment to reflect on my near death encounter.

I started to think that there must be others out there with this same fear (besides Shauna) and did some research. I tried to find a death toll for bridge related deaths to validate my fear but could only come up statistics for suicide related deaths on bridges. Then I had a breakthrough moment and found on a medical website my diagnosis.

Fear of Bridges: An abnormal and persistent fear of bridges, especially
crossing bridges. Sufferers of this phobia experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. Phobic drivers may worry about being in an accident in busy traffic or losing control of their vehicle.

Fear of Bridges is a relatively common phobia although most people
with it do not know they have something called "gephyrophobia".

This weeks survey : Tell my what your odd fear is and does it have a fun name?

Puzzling Observation....

I awake most mornings and fall asleep most nights to some type of ESPN programming. A compromise on my part if you will that allows the majority of after dinner viewing to consist of whatever reality TV show is on .

During a recent unspoken pre-compromised viewing of Sports Center where they were giving the run down of every sport that occurred over the past 24 hours and who the victor was I noticed something that caught my attention and can not stop thinking about it. Baseball coaches wear baseball player uniforms. This is odd to me. They are not expected to pinch hit or take the mound as a relief pitcher. Why do they wear the stretchy pants, jersey, hat and not to mention CLEATS!!

I racked my brain to try to figure out the reason and I began to think about what the coach does during baseball games that would justify the uniform. I am not a big baseball fan so I am not really certain of the logistics but I have attended my share of games and can recall seeing the coach sitting in the dugout and getting up for the occasional butt slapping (another blog entirely), getting up to yell at the umpire, making calls on the equally suspicious phone, and of course eating sunflower seeds. None of this activity requires stretchy pants!

In no other sport does the coach or coaching staff wear the same uniform as the players. Not Football, Basketball, Hockey, Soccer, Tennis, Swimming, or Ice Skating.

Survey is....or rather question is, Why do baseball coaches wear the baseball uniform?

Shout Out to Stove Top

As I went back and forth looking in my pantry then back to my refrigerator then back to the pantry I spotted a box of Stove Top Stuffing making eyes at me. I thought to myself how much I enjoy Stove Top and how I never make it (and that I need to go to the grocery store).

So feeling bad for Stove Top (and the lack of other choices) I decided that Stove Top Stuffing would be my lunch. As I stood in front of the stove waiting for my water and butter mixture to come to a boil I was trying to think back to the last time that I enjoyed stuffing and figured out that it was Thanksgiving. Over 5 months ago!

Why is it that we only eat stuffing at Thanksgiving and Christmas? Wait for it....

As I put my prepared Stove Top Stuffing into a bowl and began to try and enjoy it I figured out after my second bite why we only eat it at Thanksgiving and Christmas.... stuffing is just not the same without the turkey and gravy. Stuffing without turkey and gravy is just a bowl of bread with some fancy flavor.

Here is your survey....what kind of stuffing do you like? Homemade or Stove Top?

Personally I am a Stove Top girl, my family on the other hand are lovers of my mothers homemade stuffing (bread, celery, onion, pepper, no flavor) so when I finally hosted my own Thanksgiving dinner I was sure to make them suffer with Stove Top since I suffered with homemade stuffing for all of those years.

Is Humor in the laugh of the beholder?

I tend to think that I am a pretty funny person and have a good sense of humor. I also tend to think that it is perfectly acceptable to laugh at someone when they fall so you draw your own conclusions.

So, my husband and I got into a "discussion" the other day about who was the funnier person in the relationship. We both argued our positions and cited actual funny comments or actions that we each felt confirmed our funniness and were quick to point out the lack of funniness in each others platform. Although we both had strong documented accounts neither of us were willing to back down.

The next day every time I said or did something that evoked a smile, chuckle or audible noise from his mouth I was quick to point out that I am truly the funnier person in the relationship.

So, here is the survey....Are you actually funny if you have to point out to others your funniness? or are you just pathetic?