A MARILYN EXPERIENCE
So I had errands to run downtown today...thinking parking always sucks and I don't want to waste money in a garage and I'm only a few well, sorta blocks away plus I super need the exercise. So I get ready high heels and all wearing my new black DKNY skirt (I actually already have one in white). It's a deceiving skirt because it's pleated all the way around but the front pleats have slits that slide up about 5 inches from my knee. Anyways, I'm toting my black business purse that hangs over my shoulders, plus my laptop bag. One block, two blocks, three...what was I thinking....the bags are already starting to feel heavy and my skirt keeps creeping up it's a tad too big, but really because the bags are shifting as I walk. This skirt is everywhere up and then around my legs, then creeping up my backside, the splits are reacting in not the best fashion. I'm walking shifting, adjusting and my feet are killing me. I'm always good in heals for long periods of time, but with all this gear it's too much, I start to actually get why the state working women wear tennis shoes-a fashion flub I normally despise. Anyways, what seems like 12 blocks later I arrive at my first destination happy to get a break and brief rest. After that I have to find a FEDEX Kinkos which is super close but I have no idea. As I'm walking I feel this amazing breeze- wow I needed that I'm hot and exhausted I'm walking over one of the sidewalk vents, well then there's another huge breeze and wooooaaaaa my skirt flys up and there I am all to see. Good news I'm matching underwear today but the bad news all of downtown saw my butt. I'm sooo embarrassed. I keep going and 2 calls to 411 later I find it but not before I walked 5 blocks extra for no reason. While in Kinko's this older african american woman who knows every customer and everyone knows her is passing out hugs and how have you been to them. I noticed her immediately because her hair looks like a big wool wig but I think she just blowed dried it and curled it with dry curlers. She was really nice she kept saying she knows me from somewhere, I get that a lot I tried to tell her I'm not from here but she went on. Anyways, I finally got done an hour later and man, I have to walk back. I guess it wasn't so bad, I needed to get to know my neighborhood a bit and the walk felt great! When I got back to my loft I immediately soaked my feet and washed them in foot scrub then I put shea butter lotion and covered them with some thick cotton socks. Boy, I need a pedicure.

About Me Part I.
I am a 33 year old single multi-racial woman who has no children. I have a huge Portuguese, African-American, French Canadian, Latin and everything eles family. The youngest of 11 children well really 12 if you count the one sister we unofficially adopted and anyone eles my parents let in. My mom has 17 brothers and sisters and they of course all have kids and my dad has 6 and they all have kids. Although, I do not know my Dad's side of the family (they live back east), my mom's side is huge and I have cousins, after cousins, after cousins. I have 40 nieces and nephews as of today, more coming I'm sure. My mom gave birth to me at age 42 in 1972, which by then my older brothers and sisters were old enough to be my parents and that gave me more than one set of parents. Some of my nieces and nephews were my same age so they are more like brothers and sisters instead of me being the aunt. Since I have no children of my own yet I tend to mother my younger nieces and nephews and it feels almost the same without the financial responsibility, well sometimes. My mother was raised catholic my father was raised baptist, although I was raised in a Quaker church by my dad. I choose to embrace the catholic faith in the end to my dad's dismay. Recently, I have been exploring the Kabalah studies as well, but nothing will replace my catholic roots and beliefs. I like baptist churches for the music but thats about it. I like to go to church and not feel judged in the catholic faith it is more come as you are and everyone is there for the faith not to see who's with who and who's wearing what, etc... I lvoe having a big family and not sure where I would be without them. We fight, spread gossip, drive our parents nutty and there is never a quiet moment but we love each other hard and if anything goes wrong we mold together and no one would ever know anyone was ever mad or was planning a life long vengence against each other. My mom raised us well with good values and respect and my dad gave us the value of hard work. Today I wonder how I can raise just one child on my own when I get there and I can't seem to imagine how they did it so well with 12+ of us running around being bad. Our Christmas's, Easter's, Thanksgiving, Haloweens and Birthdays were huge and filling. I thought we were rich we lived in one of the nicest neighborhoods in the city and everyone knew us everywhere. But when I look back we lived quite modestly, but my parents were miracle workers in feeding us, clothing us and making sure we had what we needed. M dad worked for an airline for about 40 years and my mom taught in the schools and worked at our elementary school until they both retired about 6 years ago.

The inner nerd in me. Google glasses in Restoration Hardware as dared by my nephew.

What does a single person do on Saturday? All of the other single people I know are still sleeping, working or hungover. My bike has a flat, I don't want to go to the park -especially without a dog (explain later), I don't want to go to the beach-not bikini ready bloated from the crimson wave, too early for hanging out at the bookstore and my condo's pool is closed due to stucco repairs. I could actually do laundry or pack up my boxes for the move, nah it's Saturday! All the couples are hiking, biking or cooing over their children, shopping at Costco and Lowe's contemplating what colors swabs and annuals look great in their homes and gardens. Single people are starting the early Saturday already at the local bars thinking about and making calls for the night to come. Thus my phone ringing, but what will I do today in the sunlight? I could actually go to the gym, no that's no fun. If I had any money I would be shopping and buying music but I'm poor and usually my last dollars seem better spent on a cranberry vodka I'll just have to wait out the day until the fun night begins!