À Bientôt, Jane

Oh Jane!

Did you notice that my title has changed. Well, the fonts did. (I'll pretend that you are so into my blog that you inspect every element each day.) I have used Jane Austen's handwriting for quite a while and I really love it, but my code for the font disappeared when I adopted the new, wider format. I am loving the space (I am not sure you can see it on a smaller monitor), but I will have to go dig poor Jane out soon. 

Apparently I have a face that says "talk to me". 


What do you think?

Here is the evidence:

Scene Number 1:

So one night I am out and about watching my kid take a lesson. Its winter and I am freezing cold, coat on, face buried in a steaming cup of hot tea. A woman near me strikes up a conversation. I respond politely...no...too friendly, I suppose, because she presses on despite my attempts to retreat. Minutes later, my mind begins to wander...here I am, sitting in a public place listening to someone tell me about her laundry list of ailments. Surgery, weight gain, knee tendons, and yes, bowel issues. Good Lord, save me! Am I in a time capsule, transported to some nursing home of the future where there is nothing more exciting than a good diarrhea story? By the time the class ends, I am scared of this woman and take off like a shot, dragging my kid into the parking lot even before he has a chance to get his coat on.

Scene Number 2:

I am 16 working as a checkout girl at the cosmetics counter of Walgreens. It's a weekend and we are busy, so I am ringing people up one after the other. I look up to find my next customer, a little old lady, about 4 ft tall, wearing a blue wool coat. I smile at her (like we are supposed to) and she looks at me and frankly says "They're not for what you think; that was over long ago." She chuckles and leans in closer. "It's that sometimes, if I sneeze or cough, I tinkle a little. It's from having babies. These help keep my bloomers dry." I look down to see she is buying a box of panty liners. Because I am only 16, I am pretty embarrassed, so I smile plasticly and speed through her purchase. After she leaves, I make a mental note never to bear children.

That one seems funny now. LOL

Scene Number 2:

I am in the checkout line at Wal-Mart with two kids in tow. Minding my own business (as I do), I am surprised when I hear the checkout lady comment "Honey, you ain't gonna get quiet in here!". I look up to see Turkey with his hands over his ears saying "It's too loud in here!" (He gets it from his momma.) So I snicker and make an off-handed comment about how it tends to be loud at our house with 4 kids. Apparently that is all it takes for this gal to open the flood gates of her life to me. She tells me that she, too has 4 kids, none more that 2 years apart (except for the first and the last, naturally). She goes on to tell me about their bickering, that her family drinks Pepsi in cans, and that she rarely speaks to her own sister. (So what's the point of trying to make them all get along any way?) She is one of four girls in her family, the baby being a boy, who minds well, despite the fact that he is 17. 

It's not even that I mind the information. I mean, we all have families and what's a friend for, if not to listen? Except that we're not friends. I don't know her...at all.

I could go on and on...

I guess the point is, if you have something you need to get off your chest, I'm your gal.  Is there something that you are dying to talk about?  Or are you the recipient of these little tidbits?

Either way, I am listening, so spill it.