Archive | Pet Peeves RSS feed for this section

Pet Peeves: Myself

25 Feb

We all have those flaws that are laughable.  Some of mine include the fact that I’m bad at parking, my normal volume of voice is louder than average and I’m not the most punctual friend you’ll ever have.  I’d like to think those flaws are ones that someone will embrace someday.

Something that really annoys me about me is that I commit to doing too much.  All the time.  I function well on six hours of sleep and that leaves me with 18 hours to get everything else done.  My daily to-do list looks more like something that requires 30 hours.  I do this to myself on a regular basis and end up running around like a semi-crazy person trying to get everything done.  Any girl who has been at my house a couple hours before a girls’ night can attest to this.  Aidan can attest to this regularly.

Oh, Aidan.

Last night we had a few things to fit in–a run for me, grocery shopping trip for the house, laundry to get done, new birthday toys to play with and cupcakes to bake and bring to Aidan’s school today.  We kind of got everything done; some of the laundry remains to be folded and after I let the cupcakes cool last night I got so tired that I left the icing for this morning.

I got up, frosted the cupcakes with love (and Funfetti icing!) and then woke Aidan up for school.

The usual morning routine ensued and I did my round-up to get everything in the car–breakfast and lunch for me, show and tell item for Aidan, phone for me, winter gear for Aidan, cupcakes for his class.

Aidan, if you will recall, is finicky as all get out about clothing.  We always bring his shoes with us and put them on when we get to his school.  I can’t even explain the reasoning behind this compromise, but it makes actually getting out of the house infinitely easier.

I get a C- on motherhood today.  I forgot my son’s shoes.

I just dropped off 18 perfectly frosted cupcakes and my child without shoes at school.

The cupcakes are the only reason I’m not giving myself an F.  I could have gone back, which would have put me 15 minutes later than usual to work.  And I’m trying to make myself feel better that at least his winter boots are at school and some of the other children like to take their shoes off and run around the carpeted classroom in socks.

But, really.  I’m irritated that I didn’t have it together and that my son is the one on the short end of it all.  I think it’s safe to say that, if I was being reviewed on my mothering today, I would not be deserving of a raise.

What drives you crazy about you?

Pet Peeves: At the Gym

2 Feb

I go to the gym for one reason and one reason only.

To workout.

I do not look in the mirror before I go, my hair is always haphazardly thrown up and the only reason I would be wearing a cute pink Under Armour top (that was a gift) instead of a ratty t-shirt that I got from running a race seven years ago is because it happened to be on top in that drawer.  Sometimes I wear my glasses.

I do not look hot at the gym.

I have several pet peeves about the gym, but I will limit it to one for this post: Girls who clearly spend valuable time in front of the mirror before they depart for the lifting, running and sweating scene.  Some of these girls look more put together than I do before I go out with my friends!  That is their prerogative, but what I really can’t stand is how they jog lightly around the track, their perfectly curled ringlets bouncing up and down and bubble gum pink lips giggling at some guy with nice biceps on the basketball court while they chat with the other girl who is also wearing some work-out skirt and a one-size-too-small sports top.  And block the track for the people who are actually there to run.

Like me.

Confession: I don’t react the best to this pet peeve.  I am borderline rude in these situations. If I was going in for a nice 35-minute jog, I can almost guarantee you that I am now doing a 25-minute pace run so I can lap them as many times as possible.  Petty, I know.

What do you think about this pet peeve?  Am I warranted in being annoyed by this?  Do I need to suck it up and accept that’s just the way it is at the gym?

Pet Peeves: Pet Names

23 Jan

I feel like it is always somewhat comforting to find someone else who shares your philosophy on what is totally obnoxious. That moment where you can turn to another and be all, “Finally! Someone understands why I’m so irked about this!”

A little pet peeve confession: pet names.

I’ll make it very black and white for you. You cannot call me sweetie unless, um, I’m your sweetie. Which I’m not. I cannot think of one person, with the exception of my lovely mother, who is allowed to call me that at this time. If we’re in love and you roll over in bed and call me sweetie, I will think it is the most adorable thing. If you are some stranger and you hold the door open for me and call me sweetie, my blood pressure instantly rises. If you are a male friend of mine, pet names should not be in your vocabulary when talking to me. I’m pretty easygoing, about most everything. I am rather offended by people taking the liberty to call me anything other than my name.

This past summer, I was allowing myself to sort of be set up with someone. I wasn’t excited about it. I felt like it was more of a chore than anything. But I also allowed myself to feel like dating was something I should be doing. So I get this voice mail from said set-up dude wanting to make plans. It was so awful to me that I was a horrible person and played it on speaker phone while out with my girlfriends for beer night.

They all looked at me. “Are you seriously that pissed that he called you beautiful?” One of them asked, a bit incredulous.

It wasn’t a good, respectful thing.

It was, “Hiya, beautiful, blah blah blah, well hon, blah blah blah, give me a call sweetie. Blah.”

Needless to say, my call was abrupt, direct and I declined the dinner invitation.

Am I the only one? I honestly feel like this type of talk is degrading. If you’re my sweetie, you’ll know. Until then, I am annoyed by pet names.

What are your pet peeves?

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.