Goodbye, Funk!

January is starting out slow here. Real slow. Partly because it's freezing cold, so I'm taking advantage of the fact that Clara's doing an awesome job of sleeping in (and I do the same myself). She's got the best heater in the house in her room. I simply can't stand the thought of getting out of my warm bed into the frozen uck of my house.

Let's not even THINK about showering. Uhhhh . . . I'm shivering at the mere thought.

So between my quest of trying to sleep as much as possible last week and the early part of this week and the clouds and fog that rolled in, I was in a bit of a funk.

Which I am happy to say that my dentist forced me out of.

When I got my filling fixed right before Christmas, she wanted me to come back the following week to check on it. That wasn't a possibility. So she made me promise to visit as soon as I got back. Between the weather-induced laziness and my natural laziness, I did not call her until Tuesday.

She scheduled me Wednesday. In the cold and fog. Oh, boy.

But that was what I needed to slap myself out of whatever funk I was in. Having been firmly entrenched in the lazy life, we had to take a taxi to the dentist, because I just didn't budget enough time for the bus. And really, it was worth it. Because I had a plan.

The nearest place to catch a bus (or another taxi, for that matter) from the dentist's house is at the mall, which is a 5-10 minute walk from her house. (As the visit was to take an entire 10 minutes, she advised that I just bring Clara with me. Which I did.) Cousin Paty was working the morning of the appointment, so we went to visit her after it was over. She invited us to a coffee and doughnut, which Clara scarfed down with glee.

Then on our way to the restrooms, Clara discovered the escalators. We just had to go up and down three times. On our way out of the mall, we passed by the pet store. I couldn't not take Clara to see the puppies.

Finally, we got out of the mall, so we could walk to my friend's house, who lives about a 20-minute walk away. She had had a baby the week before, so I was dying to see them. Except that silly funk got in my way. This made me unable to pick up the phone. Aargh.

So, thank you, dentist, for making me get off my ass and see some real people. I've never had a more productive dentist appointment.

Oh, Texas . . .

We just completed the Saltillo-NE Indiana road trip. Ironically, it took about as much time as the Toluca-NE Indiana road trip did three years ago. Oh, the joys of having a toddler in the backseat.

But really, all went well. However, as a public service, I do feel compelled to comment on one teensy issue we encountered.

TEXANS--GET OUT OF THE LEFT LANE!!!!!

Entering Texas, I though it was just a US-driver-thing. However, as we skirted Memphis and entered northern Arkansas, suddenly most drivers realized that the passing lane it just that--for passing other cars.

Yes, people--this is the official name of the left lane. The passing lane. NOT the fast lane. I'll be honest--for years, I called it the fast lane myself. Knowing that I am a bit of a slow driver, I always stuck to the right lane. However, plenty of people consider themselves fast drivers. And according to this logic, they need to be in the "fast lane". All the frickin' time.

Or, as I tried to explain to Mario once, in the style of a high school geometry proof, "apparently it's cool to drive fast. And if the left lane is the fast lane and it's cool to drive fast, the left lane is therefore the cool lane and everyone wants to be there." Hence, the passing lane was dubbed the "cool lane" in our family.

But it's not. It is the passing lane. So once you've passing whoever you're passing GET YOUR ASS BACK OVER TO THE RIGHT LANE!

This brings me to the closely-related point #2. If you've got your cruise control set at 71 mph and the person in front of you has theirs set at 70.5 mph, it is NOT OK to take a full 10 minutes to pass this person. For 20 seconds, put your foot on the frickin' gas and PASS THEM ALREADY!

While one may think that it's cool to hang out in the left lane, the rest of us view said driver as clueless and inconsiderate. Furthermore, this is dangerous. Save us all untold amounts of frustration, a stroke on the part of my husband, and a high-speed (likely fatal) accident and only venture into the left lane if you're actively passing someone.

Then get back over.

Thank you.