24 — A meme

I picked up an open tag invite from Stinky John Jones … in prep for tonight’s meetup.

24 things about me…….

4 places I go over and over
1. Grocery store, BJs, CVS
2. Work
3. The pool
4. The local park (playground, farmer’s market)

4 people that email me
1. my family
2. my friend Elyn
3. my coworker & friend SLM
4. spam spam and more spam!

4 of my favorite foods
1. shrimp spring rolls
2. good bbq
3. spaghetti
4. fresh fruit

4 places I would rather be right now
1. the pool
2. sitting by myself on a park bench having an iced coffee
3. in Spain
4. asleep in my bed

4 movies I could watch over and over
1. Dirty dancing
2. Room with a view
3. Out of Africa
4. Steel Magnolias

I think most of the other mom bloggers have been tagged. If not… take my open invitation!

anxiety

I am going out for dinner this evening for the first Philly Mom Bloggers meet-up. I’m definitely excited! Problem is — it’s in Exton. As in: I have to drive the car. By myself. To someplace I’ve never been. On a Friday. During rush hour.

You’re probably thinking: yeah, so what?

Well, let me tell you: Katia doesn’t like to drive in the Philadelphia area. I grew up and learned to drive in a small town in Northern Ontario where “heavy traffic” consisted of 5 cars on the same street. I never had to parallel park. Our major highway was 2 lanes — one lane going in one direction, the other lane going in the other direction; occassionally there was third lane which alternated between the two sides and functioned as a passing lane. It was uncomplicated. There is one highway — it takes you east or north. If you went south you ended up in a river on your way to Michigan, if you went west you ended up in Lake Superior. Doesn’t leave you with a lot of options.

Anyway, back to today’s challenge: getting to Exton. I looked at the map and all I see are big roads with #s like 202, 476, 76, 100… I only recognize these #s because those are the streets that are always listed during the traffic reports as being clogged with cars. BREATHE. I think I’ve mapped it out: rt 3, rt 202, rt 100… and I’m there. BREATHE.

Well, once I’m there I get to chat with some super moms, including:

• Classy Mommy
• Genesis moments
• Gunning It
• Total Mom Haircut
• Occupation Mommy
• Stinky John Jones
• Musings of a Housewife
• Girly Mama
• Mommy Sparklykatt
• A box of chocolates
• These are the days
• Situationally Single Mom

Wish me luck! Have a great weekend.

keeping your opinions

I had the unfortunate pleasure of having someone personally attack my life choices today. This person had the audacity to judge where I live and where I plan to send my children to school. What frustrated me the most about the situation, though, was that this person did not even want to consider that there are a great many POSITIVE reasons for living in the city. She summarily dismissed it and implied that I, my family, and especially my children, were doomed to live a life in urban filth and amongst criminals and the uneducated.

It boggles my mind that such narrow-minded people exist.

I’m all for people expressing their opinions, but do not attack my choices. If you choose to live in the suburbs — fine. If you choose to send your child/ren to private school — fine. Everyone makes their choices based on what they believe is best for them and their family.

Me, I choose to live in a highly urban area and will send my children to a public school. I like it and it works for me and my family. We like living within walking distance of restaurants that run the gamut from African to Asian to American to European. We like living in a neighbourhood that is diverse (ethnically, racially, and yes, even with gender and family types) and where I can hear up to 5 different languages spoken at the playground at the same time. The public school in our neighbourhood is one of the best in the city and, I’ll wager, will provide my children with a better education then some of the private/charter/parochial schools in the city.

As I’ve said before on this blog: Don’t you judge me.

pinks and purples of spring

Clearly, I’m smitten by spring this year.

greens and yellows of spring