ursula's place

I took this when I was driving out from California to Colorado. I'm guessing I was in eastern Utah at the time, judging by the light. The drive through Wyoming and Colorado was mostly done in the dark.

Utah, November 2008

2 comments

While driving, what's your biggest pet peeve?
Submitted by Alexandra

Merge vs. yield.

They are two completely different things, people. Learn what they mean and do the appropriate one at the appropriate time. I'm tired of seeing some car stop and then try to inch forward on a merging lane. YOU WILL NEVER BE AT A MERGING SPEED THAT WAY!

And on the flip side, I'm tired of seeing someone careen past a yield sign and fly into traffic, creating havoc in their wake.

Merge=get up to traffic speed and insert yourself into the flow of traffic.

Yield=wait until there is an opening in traffic big enough for you to get out there without disrupting the flow of traffic.

See, it's all about flow.

What first attracted you to the person you're currently dating?

I was at the company party, which was at a bar in Oakland, and I was at the bar waiting to get a drink, and I turned around and there he was. I said, "So, which store do you work at?" and he said he didn't work for the company at all, he was there with a friend of a friend.

We started talking, and there was just something about him. He was cute, and he was funny. And he was only in town for another week, since he was on break from grad school in Colorado. Considering I wasn't looking for anything even vaguely serious, he was perfect.  And even more perfect when I told him he'd have to kiss me before I'd decide to let him call me, and he gave me an amazing kiss.

We were a one-night stand that turned into a two-night stand that turned into "let's keep in touch when you go home" that turned into flying back and forth that turned into thousands of cell phone minutes per month that turned into "I can't possibly go longer than 4 weeks without seeing you"... that has finally turned into moving to Denver to live with him.

It wasn't love at first sight, but it was something at first sight that led us here, and every time I think I can't be more in love with him, he does something that makes me love him even more.

How do you react when you're stressed?
Submitted by Deep Thinker

It depends, of course, whether it's work stress or home stress and how much I can really do about it, and a host of other issues.  But I'd say the first thing I do is just try to work through it -- tackle whatever the problem is and try to fix it. When that doesn't work, I get short with everyone around me.  Maybe not to the point of rude (although sometimes that is definitely the case), but my tolerance for any sort of nonsense gets pretty low.

After that, I hermit.  Sometimes I just really need to be left alone. Let me sit in the house and do not much of anything.  Let me go without talking to anyone -- skip the emails, don't answer the phone -- and in relatively short order I'll snap out of it.  Then I can usually go back to step one and tackle things in a new way.

In honor of the upcoming Olympics, what could you win a gold medal in?
Submitted by TheFiercestCalm.

Attracting younger men.

Have you ever broken a bone? If not, what's the worst injury you've sustained?

Never broken a bone.  I refer to myself as an "indoor girl," which makes me rather unlikely to sustain major injuries.  Yes I know that most accidents happen in the home, but nevertheless, I am not the type to be out camping or rock climbing or otherwise taking risks.

I don't have any scars to speak of. I have a very small one on my upper lip from when my great-aunt's Pomeranian bit me.  My cousin and I have almost identical scars from the dog.  Neither of us believed her when she said "keep your face away from the dog."

I twisted my knee pretty seriously in high school and had to have arthroscopy done to see if I'd managed to tear anything in there but I hadn't.

My heart though has given me the most interesting hospital stories.  I have a non-life-threatening arrhythmia but it sure can be annoying.  Occasionally my heart rate will shoot up to around 275-300 beats per minute and stay there.  I've had a procedure done on it involving catheters going into my heart, and I've also had cardioversion performed on me to try to set it right.

Not an injury per se, but it's all I've got

What's the hardest part about the role you play in your family?

I'm the mom; it seems like the answer should be self-evident.  The hardest part is everything.

But actually, right now I think the hardest part is understanding that my kids are still kids.  Emily in particular is getting so old (14 going on 30) that I have to stop and remind myself that she is still, in fact, just a kid.

.. this is what it looks like.

Me-morgan0608

What are you most looking forward to this weekend?

It being over.

I mean, it's not that there's nothing to look forward to this weekend.  I'll be watching the Milan derby at 6 AM tomorrow morning (it's tough being a fan of Italian soccer and living in the Pacific time zone).  My son has a soccer and a baseball game on Saturday.  On Sunday, we're going to go see Ironman.

But the thing I'm most looking forward to is the end of the weekend, so that it will be only 2 more days until I go to Denver and see my boyfriend.

It's been six weeks, and that's way too long.