Monday, May 19, 2008

can't never catch up

Last week I admitted on twitter that I was having a Jessie Spano "I'm so excited" moment, and some of you expressed your concern (Thanks for the "no hope with dope" reminder, Omar).

It's not that things are bad, or even really terribly hectic, but for some reason, I feel like I'm behind, like there are eleventeen hundred things that would better serve me to do than sitting around watching last season's So You Think You Can Dance all in one long Cat-Deely-narrated marathon. Yet there was nothing I could do to remove myself from its tractor beam.

Or maybe it's the waiting. Patiently anticipating has never been my strong suit; I always feel more productive walking twenty blocks than waiting twenty minutes for the bus, even though it takes a lot longer. The waiting—for things we've worked for to fall into place so I can finally relax—is killing me. So much so that the acid reflux/ulcer/monster in my stomach is coming back. I really hope I don't have to sleep sitting up again.

So in relaxation exercise, I share some of these shots of my trip to my brother's graduation:

I don't know too many people who can say they've been on a Jumbo Tron.

Mobile Bay, just behind the restaurant we went to for a celebratory dinner after the ceremony. There was a dock back there from which people were giving pontoon and airboat rides. We had to wait about two and a half hours for a table, and I was mighty tempted to hop on one and search for alligators.

*

But it was worth the wait: This was the view from our table. That was also where I tried alligator (small bites and a nice spicy sauce). It also had some killer Key Lime Pie.

Driving 14 hours in a Chrysler Sebring (the backseat is like a vortex—so close to the ground that adults can barely see out the windows) with my parents and H wasn't nearly as bad as it could be. Even though we were stuck on a bridge the bayou for three hours in the dark with hundreds of other cars because of a fatal accident, with no idea when we'd be able to see the inside of a bathroom. I had the through-the-night driving shift both on the way there and back, and couldn't help myself but cheer as we passed through a little town in Kentucky:

H was awake on the way back so I pulled over and made him take some pictures. I was in some of them, but after six hours of middle-of-the-night driving (on top of the three-hour bayou delay) I was looking disheveled at the very best and probably a lot more like a psychotic demon because of the way my hair got so very frizzy and frazzled down there in the humidity. So I'll spare you that nightmarish image. I'm dying to know how they pronounce it down there, but I'm pretty sure I'd have some shoes thrown at me if I tried to stop and find out at 3 am.

***UPDATE***

Sorry it's not more exciting. No actual woodmen were spotted, however there was a lovely (retention) pond by the side of the turn off.


* All photos were taken by H, except for the one of the airboat, which was courtesy of Cadiz.

15 comments:

  1. Great pictures. The graduates look a bit like penguins as they march in, however.

    2.5 hours to wait for a table so you can eat allegator? I guess they don't have In 'n Out down there...

    I guessing they pronounce it KAY-diz down in Kentucky. Sort of like what happens to the pronounciation of Cairo, IL.

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  2. oh my goodness, you're right.

    "BTW - the previous poster mentioned the nearby town of "Cadiz", which the locals pronounce as "Katy's". What do you expect that from a state that pronounces "Versailles" as "Ver-sales.""

    (from this discussion on photo.net.)

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  3. I thought the only use for alligators was to make a nice pair of shoes, or maybe a purse. Were they out of chicken or something?

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  4. nope, the server assured us it was alligator. for some reason, it just tasted like really fresh calamari. however, my brother's roommate says it tastes like Hush Puppies.

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  5. I live near Kentucky and we say it Cay-diz. I said it out loud in the presence of my imported Kentuckian husband and brother-in-law, and neither of them laughed and told me I was saying it wrong!

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  6. I was following your twitters during that accident, what I night...

    I'm curious what the second sign says, about the "woodmen". I'd be afraid to pull over in a town infested with woodmen in the middle of the night...

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  7. I'm with ya - I hate waiting too. People who say "patience is a virtue" are just too slow for me.

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  8. i was wondering about the cadiz-ian woodmen myself. did you see any? were they nice or hostile? in any case, glad you made it home in one piece.

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  9. Such a contrast from a stadium full of people to some lovely reeds.

    And thanks for the Jesse Spano flashback.

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  10. I ended up sucking in PC for an entire summer with So You Think You Can Dance. He would almost cry at how lame he was for watching it, yet, neither of us could look away.

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  11. I'll be honest, I didn't realize that Woodmen had Life Insurance Societies. I'm actually quite curious what a life insurance society is like. I'm not so sure I want to hang out with people that see life insurance as a way of life though, seems pretty boring to me. I have a life insurance policy, but I know very little about it, so I think I'd be a pretty poor party guest.

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  12. Ooh! Nice view from your table!!

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  13. Ugh! Being stuck in traffic like that is the absolute WORST!!

    Those pictures are gorgeous, though.

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  14. I received an award from the Woodmen Insurance group when I graduated 8th grade. Something to do with my grades in social studies? I can't remember. weird.

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  15. Not being much of a car connoisseur, I don't have a toot of an idea what a Chrysler Sebring is, but that disappearing back seat sure fired up my imagination, hahaha.

    Makes me think of a show I watched the other night, Pimp my ride, where they do car makeovers.

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