No friend of mine

In a previous post, I mentioned the boyfriend who left my mother-in-law, and how we referred to him as our "stepfather". Just for the record, we no longer consider that person a "stepfather". If I passed him on the street, he would be just another stranger to me.

People are so predictable

I've heard a quote before. "There are no innovative ideas. Just the same old ideas put together in new ways."

Now that I have a true commute back and forth to work (although, I'm sure, commuters in other parts of the country would probably laugh at my use of the word "commute"), I'm amazed to be able to judge human behavior through traffic patterns. And I've decided that no one is really that unique. Collectively, we have the same behaviors and the same thoughts that drive those behaviors - at least when it comes to commuting.

For example, I usually don't have much traffic in the morning. This is probably because I don't have to be at work until 9:00 am. However, I've found that on Mondays and Fridays there isn't as much traffic in the morning. Perhaps because people are less motivated to get to work on Monday and Friday mornings, or perhaps more people don't work on those those. Whatever the reason, collectively, fewer people are on the road on those mornings.

And the commute back on those days has a similar pattern. It doesn't matter what time I leave on Mondays because I never hit traffic - perhaps everyone is busy on Mondays and leaves work at different times. On Fridays, I'm lucky to make it home in 40 minutes if I leave at 4:45 pm. Everyone is ready to get off work and start the weekend.

I left at 4:00 on Wednesday, thinking I would beat traffic home. Nope. Everyone had the same idea.

Whatever the reasons, we seem to have similar behaviors. We go to work around the same time. We leave around the same time. Around the holidays, we have the same idea about "beating traffic". I guess as humans, we don't have much of an original thought in our heads - we're pretty predictable.

Now I just need to find a new way of putting together those same ideas so I can beat the rush hour traffic on I-40.

Babies, babies everywhere and not a bite to eat

Why is everyone suddenly mating?

Two of my high school friends had the fruits of that mating come into the world recently, and I have to say, they are pretty cute babies. First came Martha and Patrick's baby (and who even knew that she was carrying a baby because she gained, like, 0.56 ounces during her entire pregnancy?). Here's a picture of Baby Owen:

And then came Baby Xavier, Jeff and Karen's baby. He's pretty precious, too, wouldn't you agree? My friends make pretty cute babies.

Too bad I'm not around these little babies, because they are so cute, I want to eat them up (see previous post). Yes, they are that yummy.

And now my friend, Alison, just told me that her sister is pregnant!

That brings me to reason #486 that I'm getting old: What is that wise proverb? Oh, yes. First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes the baby in the baby carriage. The wedding crush is peetering out, and now the crush of little babies is making its way. Pretty soon, we'll be getting graduation announcements from these babies!

Congratulations to X and O and to the four proud new parents!