Learning your ABC...D's

When you ride the ferry daily you get into a routine. You tend to sit in the same place, with the same group of people. It's kind of like high school cliques! (there's the bicycle booths, the mom booths, the "silent" room, etc.) I'm not sure how I got in the habit of it, but I sit in two different places. One place in the morning, and a completely different place on the commute home. Mornings I don't really sit by "regulars" meaning it's not necessarily the same group of people that I sit with in the morning. I kind of see it as "my time" I read the paper, and in all honesty, don't want to have to be social that early in the morning. The commute home is a different story.

For about a year now I have sat with a couple and their young daughter Katie . She's almost 3. Now, some people avoid kids on the ferry. I've seen it with my own eyes. Someone will sit down in a booth, then a family with a young child will sit nearby and the childless person will promptly get up and move to another section. I get it. For the same reason I don't want to be social on my morning commute, I'm sure there are plenty out there who want the solace of a quiet commute with no screaming or rambunctious kids. But for me...after a long day at work...Katie is just what the doctor ordered. She takes my mind off of any worries or stress I might have and makes me laugh. In the year since her family started sitting in my booth (yes, we ferry commuters get possessive of our seats---kidding!) she has grown up a lot, as I'm sure any of you with children know. When I first met Katie she was only 2 and didn't have much of a vocabulary and you had to pry anything out of her shy little personality. Closing in on 3 however she has more energy and full sentences galore.

Here's a perfect example of why I love sitting by Katie and she makes my commute home so much more fun:

Dad (looking at note from preschool teacher): Katie, what did you do at school today? Looks like Brian came and sang songs for you.

Katie (with 100% enthusiasm in her voice): We did, he sang the ABCD's

Because really people, who decided that only A, B, and C should be included in the name of the song?

Happy Friday everyone...enjoy your weekend!

I'll have exciting news to share with you next week...stay tuned.

Ferry Tale: I love my commute...really!

With the cost of gas these days and increasing population out there on the roads, you often hear the moans and groans of people complaining about their commute. It's too long...there's too much traffic...the people on the bus are scary and stinky...it's too darn expensive...the list goes on and on.

In this category though, I have to admit, I have no complaints. I truly do enjoy my commute. Of course #4 has even less of a commute (bed to desk in living room) but even though my total commute time door to door is 1.5 hours each way I really do love it. Don't hate me, please.

I walk 1/4 mile in the morning to the bus stop, take the bus to the ferry, ferry to downtown Seattle, and then walk approximately 1 mile to my office in Belltown. I repeat in the reverse every evening. To many people that probably seems like a pretty long commute and a pain...afterall, I am using 3 different modes to get from home to my work and it's using up a total of 3 hours of my day. True, but still, I don't have a complaint.

I have coworkers who comment how early I must get up and it must be awful but truth be told, usually when I ask them what time they get up to leave for work, it's earlier than me! (of course my hair is usually thrown in a ponytail and I don't normally wear a lick of makeup, but hey, I'm getting my beauty sleep!) These are the same people who complain because they are stuck in traffic for an hour if there is a Mariner's game, or the occasional protest downtown, and the ones who complain of riding a bus with crazies.

But how could I complain? I mean really...how many people (ok, besides all the other ferry commuters) can say that they saw an Orca on their way to work? Or can see BOTH the Olympics and the Cascades every day (weather cooperating of course)? Seriously, how can I complain about this...

So, what's your commute? Do you enjoy...or loathe it?