It’s perfect football weather this weekend here down South — clear, cool and not too hot or too cold. And is this only a Southern thing, or are “game day dresses” trending everywhere? I mean, folks have always dressed up for football games here in Alabama — you either do that or you wear your team colors from head to toe — but this year I’ve noticed ads and even specific sections in stores devoted to “Game Day Dresses” — pretty sundresses and other casual-dressy outfits, usually but not necessarily in team colors. Just wondering if that’s something you see only in places where the word “tea” means a tall glass of sweet icy deliciousness.
Besides keeping up with football, I’ve been trying to keep up with TV this season. I’ve never ever had so many shows I’m trying to watch. It’s extremely exhausting to stay current with all the action and I’ve already fallen behind. I did find enough time to write about it in my weekly newspaper column, http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20091002/ARTICLES/910025004, although, as my husband pointed out, I didn’t have the guts to admit to the one show he can’t believe I watch: Toddlers and Tiaras. I know, I know. It’s horrifying, but I can’t look away.
am not law-abiding or polite enough because when my son-in-law came home from work, he was waving a parking-ticket-like piece of paper and laughing. “The mail carrier is mad at you,” he said. The paper was printed with 19 infractions, complaints and transgressions regarding residential mail boxes and according to the emphatic and accusatory black-ink circle, I had broken No. 9: “The approach to your box should be kept clear of snow, vehicles and other obstacles.” Sooorrrrryyyy. Let’s get the measuring tape out, shall we? But what really got me was all the other 18 home-mailbox rules that potentially could be contravened, such as “No. 2 — The door needs attention:” “Nos. 5-6 — Box should be raised/lowered __ inches;” “No. 10 — The signal flag needs attention;” and “No. 18 — Your box should be painted to prevent rusting.” Who knew? The note goes on to say that the Postal Service might stop delivering mail until you raise/lower, paint or whatever. But what about all the dilapidated, rusted, dented, falling-down and falling-apart mailboxes I see all the time? Do they get snarky little notes, too? It’s like all the people who speed past you on the interstate and then you get stopped for doing 3 miles over the limit. Sigh. And then in related news — how’s that for former newspaper-reporter lingo? — I read this morning that the Postal Service is removing its blue collection boxes because fewer people are using them. Coincidence??? I think not.
When the bottom shelf rack fell out out of the refrigerator door not once but twice a few days ago, I knew we were heading into our own personal Series of Random Unfortunate Events, because this is what happened next (and I’m not even counting the fact that our upstairs heating-unit stopped working on Christmas Eve Eve and my college-senior daughter got her nose pierced in October): 1) My car needed all new tires; 2) My digital picture frame’s screen went weirdly and sort of scarily red; 3) Our Comcast Internet and local NPR station were gone for days; 4) Our new Christmas-present TV wasn’t working properly, leaving us unimpressed with big-screen high-def; and 5) The refrigerator incidents resulted in two broken bottles of wine and one smashed-to-bits shelf. But 1) we got new tires and figured out how to set up our TV properly, 2) Comcast and NPR came back, 3) I’m working on digital-picture-frame and refrigerator-shelf replacement and 4) none of these problems required calls to or visits from plumbers, electricians, doctors, hospitals, insurance agents, fire fighters or police officers and all loved ones are happy and healthy and accounted for, so what am I complaining about?
Coffee with Cathy 