Ideally, it takes me an hour and 45 minutes to drive from my house to my mom's house in northern VA. I left my house at 6:45am on Saturday and it took me over 3 hours to get there. On a Saturday morning, not rush hour so this wasn't expected. First, a freaking ferry ran INTO the Woodrow Wilson bridge on Saturday morning. Luckily my way was just delayed by people slowing down to look, but the people driving toward the MD side were stuck...for over 3 hours. The Woodrow Wilson bridge isn't small and I have no idea how someone drives a boat into it.
Then I got on 495, aka the capital beltway, which is my most hated road of all time (with 95 southbound as a close second).
After all that time in the car, I was still the most cheerful customer in the Wegman's...by far. Considering that this Wegman's is located in the #1 richest county in America (and next to the #2 richest), I will never understand what about living in northern VA makes you a grumpy asshole, but it seems to be universal there.
I even had the woman in line behind me BUMP with her fucking shopping cart because I wasn't moving forward fast enough. I looked back at her to see if it was an accident...but yeah, no eye contact because it's northern VA and they are all trained to avoid that. The last time I went grocery shopping in southern MD, an old lady bought Faith a balloon because it made Faith laugh and the guy who bagged my groceries offered to walk out to my car with me to help me load...and at the Wegman's when I was picking up a large catering order, I was on my own. My theory is that the traffic is what makes people so mean.
Getting home today was much easier because there is no construction on Sunday. Faith was really happy to see me and instantly demanded food as soon as I walked in. It's a fun toddler game to pretend that your Daddy doesn't feed you, or at least I'm assuming since she does this every time I come back from any absence. I guess I must have really superior yogurt mixing skills.
It was in the mid-90s today, so it was a good day for Faith to play in her pool.
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| Mommy, you're so fun! Daddy didn't let me have any fun when you were gone. |
My husband and I were laughing at her because it seemed like she was engaging in some sort of toddler Crossfit out there with endlessly lifting heavy buckets of water.
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| This workout is called "Splash" |
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| 28...29....30! |
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| I'm feeling the burn! |
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| Deltoids like these don't just HAPPEN |
Peanut spent the night at the kennel since we were all gone most of yesterday and she had fun, but she came home and went outside and got stung by something on her tail. That dog just can't catch a break! She was miserable for a couple of hours, but Benadryl and hydrogen peroxide on the area eventually helped.
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| Peanut was a pool splash victim too |
I wasn't able to run at all this weekend, so I'm looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow. It's going to be hot all week, so I'm not planning on putting in a ton of outdoor miles, but Peanut will appreciate that. She gets just as hot as me!
How is the traffic where you live? Here in southern MD, there is a "rush hour" but not really. Most of the roads are windy 2 lane roads and the main thing that will make me late is getting stuck behind a tractor.
Ugh! I totally feel your pain with NOVA traffic. I often wonder why they don't just do lane closing construction at night. Bastards. I'm glad you made it out alive. We survived college in a bitchy, mean city. I think out degrees should count for double.
ReplyDeleteHer form is too good for her to be doing crossfit.
ReplyDeleteShe also didn't have her times written down on a whiteboard, so it's not really Crossfit.
DeleteFaith officially lifts more than I do. Traffic here is basically nonexistent. That's not true, actually. It's illegal to drive when a funeral entourage goes by, so you have to pull over and wait until the whole group goes by. I've never seen that anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteSouthern hospitality for the dead?
DeleteThe more people there are, the grumpier they are. I hate traffic as well. Luckily I live in a small town but I still complain that it takes too long to drive across it!
ReplyDeleteFaith needs to be on the swim team with those guns.
ReplyDeleteSwimming is perfect for her because she already loves Subway just like Michael Phelps.
DeleteI thought you were going to swim while pregnant....
DeleteAfter the witch bumped you, you should have grabbed your lower back and grimaced and then stared at that woman until she had to look up at you and see you were pregnant.
ReplyDeleteThere's probably a really cool name for that crossfit bucket move like "snatch." Traffic in the LA area is pretty awesome. Even more awesome when Obama visits.
Haha "snatch".
DeleteAlso, I miss Wegmans.
ReplyDeleteI do too. I don't understand how anyone can be angry in a Wegman's, it's a food wonderland.
DeleteI adore Faith's pictures and her swim suit, so cute!
ReplyDeleteTraffic in LA is terrible, even when you aren't on the 405. I work 8 miles from home and it takes me 30 minutes to get there.
OMG, it's too bad you can't just run to and from work :)
DeletePeople always say "oh you must be used to the traffic here. You're from CA." No. Not true. In California, we actually build roads big enough for all our people. And we aren't jerks when we drive.
ReplyDeleteDid you go the Wegman's in Sterling? I just discovered that place. It's incredible! As Patrick said "It's like Whole Foods and Giant had a baby...and WalMart was their sketchy mailman."
I went to the huge Wegman's in Dulles (off 28). The one where it takes you literally 30 minutes of fast walking to get across the store.
DeleteAh, now I'm nostalgic for NoVa. People in NoVa are saints compared to people in Miami. I cried after my first visit to the Miami Target when someone rammed into me with the cart and then glared and yelled at me in Spanish. They were also wearing 7 inch heels and club clothes at 8:00 am while screaming into their cell phone with their 8 kids running around. Yes, I judge.
ReplyDelete495 blows and anything that has to do with the Woodrow Wilson bridge makes traffic a nightmare. How the hell did a ferry manage to hit it?!
Ah Wegmans, I miss you.
Wow, Miami sounds...fun. How can people be cranky living so close to the beach??
DeleteI have no idea! Maybe their heels are too high? I'm pretty cranky in anything higher than flip flops. :-)
DeleteTraffic is terrible in Baton Rouge. And the whole grocery cart bumping thing is ridiculous. Who does that?
ReplyDeleteApparently people in a hurry do that. :)
DeleteI live in a relatively small city (on the outskirts), so it as quite an adjustment when we are in California. There is more people there than in our entire country. We were traveling from Orange County to San Diego and our GPS played a cruel joke on us by deciding to "wing it" when the map of San Diego apparently wasn't there, but created a route anyway. It led us on an extra hour toward L.A. on a wild goose chase death mission on the insane 8 lane bumper to bumper high speed highways and the told us to make a U-turn to turn around and go back the way we came. We knew something was up when we started heading in the wrong direction (we knew SD was south, so why were we heading North?), but figured it was taking us to another highway and it was the way to get on to it. Nope.
ReplyDeleteIt was the most stressful experience ever - husband was demanding me to tell him where to go because he could only concentrate on making sure the car in front of him wasn't going to slam on the brakes, had no idea where we were and couldn't operate the map on his laptop - it felt like photoshop. We had 5 electronic devices, none of which could help us because we weren't paying $93484373 in data charges. Ironic. Where is a good old fashioned paper map when you need them!
(Sorry about your Grandpa :-( )
Really? An entire post about traffic?
ReplyDeleteDon't be jealous.
DeleteI am so glad that I was a commuter when I lived in D.C. for a semester. I could have NEVER handled that.
ReplyDeleteEastern PA isn't AS bad, but we too seem to have the never-ending construction problem. We also have typical "rush hour" volumes, but we also have those random times where its all congestion-y for no reason at all. And I'm convinced Pennsylvanians LOVE to rubber-neck. It's like our state pasttime. I work near the capital, so traffic is also heavily contingent on whether or not the legislature is in session.
I have a lot of road rage, so pretty much anything that sets back my commute by more than 3 minutes I'm gonna get pissed about.
oh, that is the worst!!! That (and the cost of living) is why we live down here... the quality of life up there just sucks when you can't go ANYWHERE at ANYTIME!!! And that story of the woman ramming her cart into yours doesn't surprise me one bit. Seriously!!!
ReplyDeleteFaith is so cute with her pool :)
I'm really sad that a bunch of rich assholes ruined your Wegmans experience. Don't all crossfit workouts have to have a sexual name? Like, I nailed the snatch at my box.
ReplyDeleteBitches love talking about their boxes.
DeleteOh, so now you gotta start picking on VA, huh? Well as a MD'er turned VA'in, I am happy with my move. MD'ers are way worse drivers and you can't buy beer at the grocery store. Beer! I live about a mile from the Wegmans in Fairfax, and you just have to be ready for it. Plus, I don't think people understand the turning radius of those BIG shopping carts there. Pretty sure I have battle scars from people clipping my ankles while turning those bad boys.
ReplyDeleteWegman's did have strange shopping carts!
DeleteOh yes. Northern Virginia/DC/Beltway traffic blows. Although I miss the area after growing up there, this post reminded me why I moved away. My dad was probably one of the grumps you ran into at Wegman's. My folks still live up there and the traffic always sends him in a tizzy.
ReplyDeleteThere are parts of living up in that area that I miss (like all the great food options), but then I visit and I remember why I'd pass up good food for better traffic. :)
DeleteFaith is ripped. You should think about making some toddler fitness dvds.
ReplyDeleteWe have heavy traffic on summer weekends when everyone goes "Up North". Do any other parts of the country refer to the northern part of their state as Up North? No one questions it when you say that you're going Up North for the weekend. You could be going 45 minutes, or 4 hours and it's like the same place.
But yeah, lots of traffic with RVs, boats, and off road vehicles. Most people are nice here, but there are lots and lots of idiots.
I'd pay just to watch a toddler fitness DVD. I bet there are a lot of cookie breaks.
Deletethere's actually a lot of cookie breaks for me when I'm doing regular fitness DVDs.
DeleteI am impressed with Faith's muscles!
ReplyDeletePeople can be so rude! I bet it was tempting to bump her back. Traffic around here isn't bad at all, just a bunch of crappy drivers who think they are in such a big hurry.
I am used to it during peak times. I just know that if I am driving anywhere between 4:30pm and 6:30pm...it's going to be horrible. What always amazes me is Saturday and Sunday morning traffic. I have run into traffic on the weekends on 395 at 6:15am on a Saturday. Yes, I am a crazy one too...but I am going to run usually. What else is there to do at that hour in DC?!?!
ReplyDeleteWow, your daughter is ripped!
ReplyDeleteTraffic in ole Cedar Rapids isn't awful, but the traffic lights are timed to eff with you. Hit one red, hit them all red. GAH!
So, that's the Wegman's I go to...othewise known as "my Wegman's." I was pretty sure from your post that it was, but you confirmed in the comments. However, I swear it wasn't me who hit you, the carts are odd, and I'm from Washington State, so it's not my nature to be cranky. I'll admit that living around so many other cranky-pants does start to rub off just a little. Besides, I think the whole East Coast is cranky...maybe cause I only wish I was rich.
ReplyDeletewe just drove up to NY for the weekend (long island), and the worst traffic was found in NY, not VA. So be glad you're not there.
ReplyDeleteTraffic in central Ohio isn't too bad...as in I complain if I have to drive for 45 minutes.
ReplyDeleteLove the Splash cross-fit!
I love the caption on the last Faith picture - I was going to comment that her muscles look good, but then you did it for me.
ReplyDelete