Confessions of a red light rear-view mirror watcher:

I found myself on a quest today. The quest for a better NoVa Mocha. I decide to go where I know and hope and pray that once and for all they can do it. It is very unlikely, but I with a positive outlook and hoping for the best.

Wait for it.....wait for it....wait for it. Ok, I got tired of waiting for it. I know I went the right way and I know that Starbux should be right there. But NO! It Isn't. It actually was, but I drove right past it.

It's a nice day out and what else do I have to do? I go five miles further than my original destination and find myself at a Safeway with a Starbux inside.

There was a sign on the door saying that they were hiring for Baristas with experience. Oh it is looking glim. I continue on, watching out for all of the little old ladies who are each also on their very own quest.....to run me down with their shopping carts.

I felt like I had a sign on my forehead that said, "Pick Me! Run ME over!" Lucky for me I brought my fantastic emergency ninja skills with me. Just another day in the life and times of me.

I take a deep breath and my heart is beating faster. Either this man is gonna get me, or he is gonna call security. I am hopping he gets me. Seriously? I haven't had a mocha since Saturday and this is it. Security will not help me, I am quite sure.

Ok, so there is an older gentleman in front of me trying to get the guy to give him the tray that the pastries go on. No security is called, maybe I am in luck.

It is my turn now and I step on up. Lets make a deal, the price is right!

I tell him that I don't want to put him on the spot, but I need a mocha, and it has to be the best mocha he has ever made.

He says to me, "Uh oh, I am already shaking," with a smile. I let him know how I am on a quest to finally find a good Mocha in NoVa, and I hope it stops here. My baristas in SoMd can do it. They have a button just for me. "Mocha for Robyn; with love."

In all seriousness, I tell him, I have had a hard time finding a good mocha in this area. All of my baristas have their own way of making it, and they all get it right.

He says, "I hear ya," as he makes my mocha....with peppermint. He tells me he makes it how he drinks it, in all honesty. I tell him that I will let him know if he is drinking it right. He smiles as he hands it over and tells me it's a deal.

He drinks it ok.

I get my things and I check out and come to the second stop light which seems to be rather long. I look in my rear view mirror and can see the woman behind me. It looks like she is making sure she looks ok. I cannot see her eyes, which is always something I want to see in a person. She is looking in the mirror, so I see from the nose down.

I am watching what she is doing and can't help but notice that she looks like......

CINDY LOU WHO FORTY YEARS LATER!!!!!!! OMGOMGOMG What do I do? Deer in the headlights! Deer in the headlights! I can't look away! A real live person who looks like Cindy Lou Who! Teeth and all! Ok, the light is still red. That was a close one.

She has blonde hair in a style I would say comes from the early eighties or so, she touches her face and then her lips. What is she gonna do??? There is nothing she can do! It is the Christmas season, and she looks like Cindy Lou WHO!

My small stint as a red light rear-view mirror watcher is over, as she puts her mirror back up. The light is green and I move on to my next ordeal........

The little Redneck who could. Or wishes he could. NoVa. A wealth of things to write about.