Here we are at week five already. As some of you may remember, I’m in one of those Mid-Atlantic states (Delaware). We are getting hit pretty badly with that hurricane already, and it’s technically not even really here yet. As I am typing this, it is crazy windy and rainy outside. I am really hoping this power doesn’t go out, so I can watch this show and get the column out. Best of luck to my fellow East Coasters and everyone affected by this storm.
Anyway, I think I can take anything but multiple days without power and my kids nagging me. I think at the most we’ve only had a full 24 hours without power since we’ve had the kids. It was 100 degrees out at the time, though. They spent that whole time screaming and asking “When is the power coming back!???!! I can’t get Wi-Fi!!!!????” Good thing these guys weren’t around in 1860 or anything. Anyway, there’s a chance for even up to a week without power and I am not sure we’ll live through that. If I’m not back next week, see you on the other side.
I just want to touch on how crazy the people in Delaware have been this week preparing for this storm. I get it, this isn’t Florida; we typically don’t get that many serious hurricanes, so people tend to freak out when we do. But you should have seen the stores! Since Friday, you haven’t been able to find one bottle of water on a shelf (beyond Perrier and I’m not buying that expensive foo-foo stuff). I thought I was smart and went to the baby aisle for “baby water” (before you judge me, I actually have a 7 month old…I’m allowed!). The baby water was also long gone. This area has been absolutely crazy for days. And you would laugh at people’s hurricane must-haves. You had two extremes – on Thursday, there was a lady in line behind me with SIX cases of water bottles in her cart. I’m guessing she either has 30 people living with her or she’s selling those things right now at $20 a piece. It was Walmart and she didn’t strike me as the Donald Trump smart-thinking type, but hey, who knows. Yesterday, I had a chick in line in front of me checking out with only Frosted Flakes and cake mix. I’m not sure she’s going to make it, but she’ll die happy anyway.
By the way, my husband has been ZERO help with this whole thing. The extent of his hurricane prep was making sure he had ordered a pizza before the Eagles game yesterday. I asked him if he was sure we were okay and had everything we needed. You know, because I am FEMALE and really don’t trust myself to know what the hell to do. He says, “Do we have coffee?” I said, “yes” and he said, “Then we’re okay.” Really? I’m kind of jealous of those ladies out there that have the John Wayne types that are like building hurricane shelters or something for their families. They are all underground right now with 500 flashlights, ten generators, and a year’s worth of Spaghetti O’s and here we are with leftover pizza for five of us.
By the way, I think this is a good time to blast off about my neighbors and the ridiculousness surrounding hurricane prep around here. Some people have the most ridiculous projectiles lying around their yard and did ZERO to secure anything. You know, like javelins and swords and stuff just waiting to be picked up and sent flying into a house. There are three enormous trampolines in the yards directly surrounding us. I didn’t see any of those people in their yards ONCE checking on anything in their yards. I know those trampolines are not secured because they move them around their yards constantly because they tend to kill the grass in huge circles. All I have to say is one of those effing things better not come crashing through my windows. I will say I would not mind if they all blow to kingdom come, though, so long as it’s not to my yard. I’m not sure there’s a louder toy in terms of kids screaming their heads off. Not to mention, those are just broken arms and legs waiting to happen. Bye bye large flying discs. Fly over to Kansas with Dorothy and Toto, please.
Anyway, you didn’t come here to hear about my inferior hurricane prep. I will apologize in advance because here I am stuck watching the Race on a TINY square because the rest of the screen is taken up with a large picture of the hurricane’s path moving over and over and there’s a large running scroll of school closings on the bottom. I am really good at working while distracted (I have three kids) but this is ridiculous. I’ll do the best I can.
The show starts with James (Damn you, CBS. THREE Jameses on ONE show?) of the James and Abba team finding out his Dad has stage 4 cancer. That is some pretty sad stuff. Sounded like they knew he had cancer and that it was potentially beyond stage 1, but it didn’t seem like James expected the stage 4 whammo. I must say, I think they moved along a little too quickly on the topic. I mean, I get it; people are here to watch the Amazing Race, not a tearjerker about cancer. So then, either don’t tell us about his dad at all or at least give us a respectable amount of time on it. You know what I’m saying? They built up this whole scenario with us viewing him receiving the news by Skype or whatever and then moved right on from it. They were like “Dad has Stage 4 cancer?” “Guess I’ll run the Race for Dad, then.” Next, we see him reading the clue. I just found it a little odd. To me, if they wanted to keep it short, they should’ve just had him mention it in one of those mini-interviews they do instead of this whole set up where we see him get the news.
First clue is that the teams have to take a taxi to yet another produce market in Bangladesh. Is there anything appealing about vegetables or seafood or fruit from these countries? No. There is something about DIRT floors that somehow manage to look even dirtier because of litter strewn about that does not exactly whet my appetite. Anyway, they have to find some vendor selling eggplant for the clue.
I have just one really, really important comment.
I am a twin. I am not only a twin; I am an identical twin.
Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever in my 50+ years of life have I called my identical twin “Twinnie.” Not once. Ever.
As a matter of fact, because my aunts couldn’t tell my sister and I apart, they called both of us “Twin” and we HATED it!
Were I ever to screech “Twinnie!” at my twin, I’d hope she’d smack me upside the head!
It is really weird you said that. I have good friends that are identical twins. We’ve been friends since fourth grade, I think. When we first met, I’d just refer to both as “Twin.” They HATED that and to this day, finally confronted me on it, and I don’t ever go there with those two. Me, the dummy, had no idea because I thought it was so cute to be a twin and didn’t know they wouldn’t like it. I even feel bad every time I refer to the girls as “the twins” but it’s so hard to keep typing all of their names over and over. But anyway, I found it weird that they were using the term “Twinnie” also! 🙂
Sorry, my editing kind of stunk on that prior post. They confronted me when we were kids and to this day I never refer to them as “the twins” or by “twin.” 🙂
Glad you posted, kwilson!
Singletons or non-identicals don’t understand that identicals (whether twins, triplets, whatever) often have a difficult time trying to establish individual identities because everyone around them looks at them (or refers to them) as a single unit or as interchangeable.
Also, it’s not helpful when parents/extended family members insist on dressing them the same when they’re too young to speak for themselves. (My clothes were always blue; my sister’s identical clothes were always red – to this day, we hate those respective colours).
Don’t get me wrong: I love my twin. I can’t imagine a relationship closer than ours (she’s married with kids; I’m a confirmed – childless – bachelorette). We both know that we have each other to count on, always and without reservation.
We’re now in our 50s, and we still have to deal with people being “spooked” by our sameness! When my sister’s husband lost his grandmother, I asked my sister if I should attend the funeral – she asked me not to, because her husband’s extended family would be sure to mistake me for her and it would make things very awkward. I understood completely and was actually relieved that I didn’t have to deal with such an uncomfortable situation.
That being said, being a twin to my wonderful sister is the greatest blessing in my life. But I would still never call her “Twinnie”!