I just saw the news article about the 34 year old temporary Wal-Mart employee that was trampled to death in New York as he went to unlock the doors for Black Friday. The news conference stated that there were approximately 2,000 people waiting to get into the Wal-Mart. They actually broke the doors in as they forced their way into the store.
This has made me sick to my stomach.
My oldest stated that he wonders what this incident says about us as society.
My mother used to like to go to big sales like this with my father when they still lived in KY at the Belk's store. I have never enjoyed it. I remember them taking me once when I was home on vacation and I was frightened by the crowd. I also remember a time when Raymond and I went to a free concert to see the Judds. We were extremely frightened by the crowd and all the pushing; Raymond was holding on to my hand as hard as he could because he was afraid I would be knocked down. We never went to an event like that again.
I do not shop at Wal-Mart unless I am in a city where that is the only store available, like when I vacation in Arkansas, and I have no idea what specials they had going today, but nothing they had on sale was worth a man's life.
When we were shopping at Half Price Bookstore today they called "GiGi to the center counter." It startled me because my mother went by the name of "GiGi" ever since her first grandchild was born.
We very seldom leave the house on "Black Friday" but today we made an exception.
Half Price Books was having a 20% off everything sale from 7:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. The first 100 customers would get a shopping bag (recyclable) and a $5.00 coupon. We decided last night that we did not want to get up and try to be in the top 100 since we wanted to go to the big store in Dallas. Instead we got up and left the house at 8:00.
We arrived at the store at 8:45 and each went off in our own direction. I hit the quilting, mystery, Christian fiction, and fiction/literature area, while the oldest went for comics, dvd collections, sci-fi, and novelty items. The youngest is very picky and went for computer programming books, games, comics, and cartoon collections. The youngest was not very successful today, but the oldest found some cool things, and I was able to get a couple of books I had not been able to find in previous trips. We were done by 9:40 and were sitting trying to look up a book at the library before I purchased it when an employee came by and gave us each $5.00 coupons. Yeah! We then went to check out line, because you had to be in line before 10:00 to get the discount, and the line was very long.
While in line there was a group of people interviewing shoppers for publicity bites. They chose a woman a few feet in front of us, and then a woman a few feet behind us. My oldest said that they seemed to be targeting young, pretty women. I thought it was interesting because there were people there with shopping baskets full that they were not interviewing. Just as we almost made it to the check out counter, we were chosen for pictures, an interview, and sound bites. We were glad to pose (even though I hate to have my picture taken). We answered a few questions, all said 20% off at the same time, and gave it the thumbs up. It was fun. After signing the releases, we were all given $10.00 gift cards. YEAH!!!!
We all checked out separately so that we could use the $5.00 coupons, and the oldest went ahead and used his $10.00 gift card because he had purchased the most expensive items. We all left very happy and with some great bargains. I was even able to get a gift for a very hard to buy for person for less than $4.00.
On the way home we decided to hit Target for a sale I was interested in on an expansion pack for a board game. They did not have the expansion pack but they did have a different version than the one we have on sale so we bought that to combine with our game. We also picked up a couple of dvd's on sale. Batteries were buy 2 packs for $9.99 each and get a $5.00 gift card, what a great way to get ready for the holidays.
Then it was off to Joe's Italian Bistro for lunch and home.
Once we were home we played a couple of board games and watched one of the movies we purchased.
It has been a good Black Friday.
I did notice however that even at 8:00 a.m. when stores were still having so early bird specials going that the stores were not that crowded. There were plenty of parking spaces every where we went, and at all the places we passed, even at the mall. The boys and I took note, and we will have to make sure all of our favorite charities get their usual donation and extra, if we can, this year.
Our Thanksgivings for the last few years have consisted of staying home, staying in our pj's, eating simple, and playing games all day.
This year is basically the same with a little twist.
The oldest came home last night around 6 and soon after the core group of his friends arrived. This made the evening so wonderful for me. The youngest is welcome in that group now as he is old enough to hear most of what is said by the college boys. They sat in there an played games, laughed, and carried on for hours. I went in some time after midnight for our usual game of "Apples to Apples." We like to play that game in the early hours of the morning because it is funnier then, and pretty darn bawdy. I won because I was lucky enough to keep drawing the trump cards in this group, such as "duct tape." After I won we just kept playing and telling stories and laughing. At one point we were all laughing so hard I actually felt sick.
The boys left around 2 a.m.
Now during the evening I had a craving for IHop hot chocolate and offered to take them all in town, but it the vote turned it down because they wanted to keep playing the games. After the boys left I mentioned to my boys I was still up for IHop. They were both up for it so off we went. We got there around 2:30 a.m. and decided to just have breakfast, which we did, with hot chocolate. When we got home I opted to go to bed and read and told my boys they could stay up as long as they brushed their teeth first. Since we had already had breakfast they could sleep as long as they wanted.
I fell asleep pretty quickly and I awoke at 1:18 p.m. I got up and went outside to find it was a glorious days. I sat on the swing and read awhile before checking on the boys. They were up and I invited them to come out and sit with me on the swing for a while. We sat and talked for about 20 minutes before we decided to play "Yahtzee-Free for All" on the picnic table out by the new turtle pond. It was a lot of fun and so nice to be outside.
After losing at "Yahtzee"(which I usually do with this new one), I told the boys it was time to go in and make the pumpkin pies. The youngest made the crust, the oldest did the filling, and I rolled the crust, and readied the pies for baking. Then the oldest and I played "Quirkle" while they were baking.
The oldest and I just finished having our grilled burgers and baked beans. Pie will come later.
We have gone through the Black Friday ads and decided we would still be better off ordering most of the gifts from Amazon. In fact, we just ordered my oldest's Christmas gift. My shopping for him is done.
My youngest still has a December birthday and Christmas to figure out. We pretty much know the basics of what he wants, just not the specifics. All in all we decided we did not need to get out on Black Friday so yeah!!!!
I have also spent part of the day remembering those that are no longer around our table. I hope that Raymond is proud of me for how I am handling the boys and their issues. I hope Mom is happy being well again and seeing Dad. I miss them to the point I think I could just lie down and never get up again, but that is not what the expect of me, so I will go on.
I hear another game starting up.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my extended family, friends, and anyone reading this post.
The turtle pond is open for business. It is not done, and won't be until we can get it all planted in the late spring, but it is habitable. I just wish Winnie Hall was here to enjoy the extra space.
Here are the facts. My dad had Alzheimer's. My mother had Alzheimer's. My mother's mother had what they called hardening of the arteries that lead to dementia, but that was at a time that we had never heard of Alzheimer's, so who knows. So I figure, I will have Alzheimer's.
I do brain games every day. I read. I make sure I get some exercise each day, but probably not enough. I make sure I try to learn something new each week. I do everything I have been told to do to try to keep my mind going, but I know that some day my mind will start slipping.
Unfortunately, my mind seems to be slipping a lot lately. I have lost my van in a store parking lot each of the four times I have gone out by myself in the last four days.
Monday I couldn't remember how to use my vegetable chopper. I had to get the youngest to come and show my how to use it, and to tell me that I actually did not have one of the parts.
I find these lapses very disturbing, and they worry me.
Now I will admit that each time I went out shopping I was pretty preoccupied when I got out of the van and went into the store, and maybe I did not pay enough attention.
I also haven't used the vegetable chopper in almost a year, usually the oldest does the chopping. In fact, I never did use it a lot, so maybe I can excuse that one, but still...
I am going to have to start paying more attention.
Every time I put a bite of food in my mouth I am aware of it.
I think my biggest problem is I have started drinking soda again. I started it to keep awake during the day when I was dragging from some nightmares I was suffering from after Mom died.
I weaned myself off again for a couple of weeks but then the heartburn started. I always need cola when I have heartburn.
Then I tried to wean off the sodas again, but by then I was hooked to the caffeine again. Now I am dealing with the headaches in the mornings.
At least I am not keeping the drinks in the house. I am just picking them up once in a while when I am out driving past a Sonic. Hopefully I can be completely off them by Christmas.
I guess it would help if I drank diet colas, but I think they are evil. In fact I think all that artificial sweetener stuff is evil.
I am disgusted with myself. I need to get a grip.
I'm getting ready to go to TOPS, where I know I will have another gain tonight.
Things I must do if I am going to start getting thinner, thinner, thinner:
Back to using my Nutrition Assistant
No more colas
Refuse to get depressed over the situation
No new clothes. New clothes just encourage the weight to stay. My clothes are uncomfortable now and remind me that what I need to do
Move - I must move more
Real meals. It is hard for me to get inspired to make real meals for myself, so I eat easy
My neighbor one door down sent me these pictures of a creature that she saw eating pears under her front yard tree last week. I have no idea what it is, but I hope it does not decide to come see me. Of course, the youngest has been out looking for it ever since I told him about her sighting.
The Oldest went to Austin this weekend.He went with a boy and girl I barely know.I did not want him to go because they really did not have a plan, and I did not know the friends he was going to go see at UT.They were all in school together last year and now that they are at different colleges they wanted to “catch up.”
Thursday night he began doubting that the trip was a good idea.He wanted me to tell him what to do, and I told him that I would not do that because I had taught him right from wrong, and he had all the knowledge he needed to make the decision himself.
I was encouraged because he started listing reasons he should not go.Some of the reasons were: no set plans, no definite sleeping arrangements, one of the people they were going to see had taken up smoking cigarettes, Oldest had the sniffles, worried about his allergies, what would he do if he got down there and they were behaving in a way that was not what he deemed appropriate, and he would not have a car to escape. I thought it was all a good list and felt as if he was leaning towards staying home.He informed me he would decide Friday morning.
Friday morning came and he decided to go. I told him to have a good time and that if he got into a situation he did not like then get out of it and I would come get him.
He texted me all the way there and they seemed to be having a good time and he said the driver was a good driver. He let me know when they arrived and said all was good.
I went to bed very early last night for me. 9:00 p.m.I wasn’t there to sleep. I was there to stay warm, work puzzles, and read.The Youngest would come in and out and work puzzles with me and get warm and then go back to his computer.
Around 10:30 the Youngest came in to stay. He had asked permission to play a game that he is not usually allowed to play and I told him he could play the lower version. Evidently it had something in it that bothered him and he told me that he did not think he would be able to sleep because of nightmares. I told him to stay in with me for a while and read like I was and then he could decide whether he wanted to sleep or not.
I was not paying attention to him as I was trying to finish a book but he must have fallen asleep, and I must have dozed off over my book because at 12:12 the phone rang and we both jumped up trying to figure out what was happening.It only rang once, but when the Youngest picked it up he said it showed the Oldest calling.
I grabbed the phone and called the Oldest immediately. He answered and I could tell he was quite agitated. He said that they had gone to one friend’s apartment where they were picked up by another friend and went to dinner and had a great time. Then they were dropped off at another apartment and that the friend that lived there (the girl that had started smoking) opened the door drinking a beer and that one of the other friends they were there to visit starting drinking when she offered him a beer. He went on to assure me that the two friends he went with had refused the offer of beer, as had he, but now he was really worried. He wanted to walk back to the original apartment so that he would not be in the apartment where there was underage drinking going on.
I told him I did not think it would be a good idea to be walking around in a strange area by himself at that time of night (morning). He thought he was about six blocks from where he was staying but not sure. I told him that at no time was he to get into a car with anyone that had been drinking, and that, if he had to, he should just sleep on the floor of the apartment he was visiting. I calmed him down.Told him to play close attention to who was drinking, and to offer to drive if they went any where, but not to get in a car with anyone that had been drinking.
The Youngest was awake by then and started explaining about gateways. Gateway drugs are tobacco, alcohol, and inhalants. I got quite the education about what he has been learning in health class. He said it made sense that the girl that had started smoking would be drinking.
At 1:34 a.m. the Oldest texted that they were walking to a store to get dessert.
At 3:04 the Oldest texted that he and the other boy that he had gone with were both safe.They had borrowed one of the drinker’s cars and had driven themselves to where they were staying. (I have no idea where the girl they went with ended up, she was never mentioned again.)
I finally fell asleep around 4 a.m.
I know I did a lot of crazy stuff in college, but my parents never knew about it.There were no cell phones, texting, or instant messaging.My parents and I did not speak during the week because we could not afford the long distance expenses. I can think of three times I was in very dangerous situations and no one had any idea where I was at the time. Anything could have happened to me.I always told my mom afterward, even about the naked cop passed out on the only toilet, and having to get someone to remove him so I could go to the bathroom. She of course, did not have to sit up all night and worry because she did not know about it when it was happening, and by the time I told her I had moved on to something else.
Me, I could be totally gray by the time the Oldest gets home tomorrow night. Of course, gray is okay. At least the Oldest trusts me enough to call and tell me what is going on, and he has the assurance that I will be there in 4 hours to get him if necessary.
Before I get into the conversation I had with a store clerk yesterday, I will offer a little explanation of a facial feature I have and detest. I have a large white mole over the left side of my right eyebrow. I have had it since high school, only it wasn’t very big then.My father hated it. He always wanted me to have it removed, but we did not have health insurance, and I did not have the money to have it removed.It was still small in my early married life and I never looked into having removed even when we had good health insurance.When I became pregnant with my oldest the mole started growing and became the annoying.I finally went and had it removed, but was warned by the doctor that it might come back even larger.She was right; it did come back even larger.So now I’m stuck with it.
Yesterday I went to Hancock Fabrics to pick up some sewing notions and while I was checking out the clerk asked “What is that on your face?”I told her it was a mole or wart, not sure.The clerk who was not American born, but I am not good at guessing countries of origin so do not know where she was from, then told me that she and her husband were born again Christians and that he had a mole/wart like thing in the middle of his forehead that was a like a horn. She used wart remover on it and it did not go away. She said her husband then started putting his finger on it and praying that God would take the thing away.She said it then went away after many weeks of praying.
She told me that I needed to go home and “put your finger on it and pray.”
I thought the whole conversation was interesting, although I thought it was rude of her to point out my mole in the first place. I thanked her for her advice and left.I did not want to get into a long discussion with her, but if I had I would have told her that I did not think my mole was worth praying over to God.
So I won’t be putting my finger on it and praying. The mole is part of my face. I don’t like it.I think it is hideous, but it is part of me, and I know that having it removed will not help. I do not dwell on the fact that I have one mole on my face.I see it in the mirror and frown at it every night, but that is about the extent of my relationship with the mole.
I do think about all the people in the world with huge disfigurements, burns, birthmarks, scars, or any of several diseases that can change a face.I knew a girl whose face was almost completely covered by a “port-wine stain.”She hated all the stares she received.Just as Raymond hated how people stared at where his leg should have been.
No a mole is not worth praying over.Acceptance of all, no matter what they look like, now that is something I cannot put my finger on, but I can certainly pray about each and every day.
No, I am not out of pumpkin pie. There is still 1 1/2 pies in the fridge from the three we made on Saturday. However, now that I am old, I can no longer eat pumpkin pie without getting heartburn. I tried some Saturday night and I thought I was having a heart attack. I tried some Monday evening, same thing. Today I gave it one more try and here I am holding my chest and hoping the pain will stop soon.
My mom would tell me that pumpkin pie gave her indigestion as she got older and I remember thinking that it couldn't be the pie, but it is.
It is bad enough that some of my youngest's pet turtles howl at the strangest times, but today one of them has started making this even stranger sound and it is driving me crazy. I am especially irritated because I cannot figure out which turtle is making the sound.
I don't know if I can describe the sound, except that it makes me think of gargling, fingernails on a chalkboard, and phlegm.
It is not a constant sound. The turtle seems to time it just right. He waits until I have forgotten about it and then makes it again. It makes the hair on my neck stand up and my arms have goosebumps. Very unnerving. I swear that I hear that turtle snicker afterward, like it knows it really freaked me out, and that makes me mad because it did freak me out.
Contentment - definition November 15 and 16th at my house.
The oldest met the youngest and me in town for lunch on the 15th, and then came home to spend the night. The oldest bought the new Yahtzee game for us to play and we had a game night.
Sunday I went to church while the boys slept in. After church we picked up donuts, played more games, caught up on some chores, and then more games. BFF Jill came over to work on a blanket (a really hideous one, but someone else picked out the material), and then she joined in on the games.
Later it was grilled cheese and tomato soup, another game, and then it was time for the oldest to go back to school.
At one point on Sunday I laid down for a nap and listened to the boys play video games in the playroom. They were giggling and telling jokes and I thought to myself ... "This is a perfect day."
I love having my boys here. I love listening to them together. I love the feeling I get knowing we are all together in the same place happy and safe.
I am supposed to work a 20 hour week, as of yesterday afternoon I have 17 hours this week, and I have to work on Friday, so today I took the day off and "got out of Dodge."
Before leaving town I took care of the issue I was dealing with last night. I wrestled with it all evening and this morning, and after many tears, some screaming, and some slamming of my fist into my pillow, I made a decision and went with it. I do not know the what will come of it, but I am happy with how I decided to handle the situation, and now it is out of my hands.
I picked up my friend Laura at 9:30 this morning and we drove to Lewisville to go to Quilt Country where I found the perfect fabric to finish up what I needed for the cat quilt.
Our next stop was the Quilter's Workshop in Carrollton. What a terrific store with wonderful people. They had a book there on floor quilts and the lady was nice enough to sit down with me and explain the process. I left there really pumped up by the great ideas I picked up.
From there we stopped at Ikea in Frisco to pick up an item my oldest has been wanting, followed by Joann's Fabrics, and a stop at Smoothie King for a "Pomegranate Blast."
Not ready to head home yet we drove to Murphy and shopped at the Sprouts where I bought a jar of arrabiata sauce for tonight's spaghetti and some whole grain bread.
It was then time to go home so we could get ready to pick up kids from school. Since I had an hour before I had to get the youngest at 4:00 I went to see "Sis" and showed her my goodies. We had a great visit.
Picked up the youngest and we went to Kroger's for our favorite spaghetti and a few other things. Once home we made the spaghetti (that sauce is so yummy), and now I am watching my shows.
I feel great from the break. It is amazing what a day like that can do for your attitude. Other than gasoline it was not a very expensive trip and yet knowing that I was away from the problems I have been dealing with made all the difference.
I'm ready to tackle tomorrow and whatever may come my way.
Our largest red-eared slider turtle, Winnie Hall, escaped while we were gone today. She somehow managed to move the screen wire off the pond and get away.
Our neighbors found her, and they brought her back, but they did not put her in a secured area and she was gone when we came home about ten minutes later. We searched and searched but could not find her on our property or any of the surrounding properties
I am worried about her. I hope she finds her way back to us. If not, I hope she finds a safe place to live out the rest of her life.
We are a critter friendly property. We are a registered as a wildlife habitat in Austin (at least we were, I assume we are still on the list).
We do not discourage any critters unless they get in the house.
In the summ.er we are often in the pool until very late at night and see coyotes, skunks, possums, etc. walk by outside the fence and we love it, well we worry about the skunks spraying us, but we still enjoy the fact we have so much wildlife.
However, we are only critter friendly when the critters are outside. Tonight while my youngest was working on his computer, which is located in our foyer, he heard a tapping on the front door. When he turned on the outside light to see who might be there he saw a large possum.
I absolutely have to put my foot down on the critters knocking on the door like I am going to let them in for a friendly visit. I give them free reign of all of the acreage. I give them plenty of cover to protect themselves from predators. I make sure they have stuff to eat in the winter, and water all of the time. That is as far as it goes.
At least the youngest had enough sense not to open the door to try to get a better look at the creature or there is no telling what I would have found when I came home from dinner with my friends.
At any given time I have a magic number in my head that represents security and stability for my boys and me.
With these economic times, I am now below my magic number.
I am having trouble breathing. It is panic attack.
I have no right to be having a panic attack. I am better off than most because I am careful and mindful of everything I spend. Even below my magic number, I will be okay for quite a while as long as I remain frugal.
The problem is the magic number. It is in my head. It is an obsession. It is not a number I can lower, because if I start doing that I might get reckless.
I will just have to find a way to breathe until the economy starts to recover and my number appears again.
I will also continue to pray for those less fortunate than I am, especially during these hard times.
The boys, a hired child, and I worked on putting in the new turtle pond today. (I hired a friend of the youngest to help. He is a great worker!) We actually were able to get the hole dug, the pond in, and the rock around it. I say "we," but the boys did 99% of the work. I used a shovel, hoe, and pick ax a few times, but mostly I ordered them around.
The boys also helped me clean out the breezeway with the exception of the leaves. We will get those tomorrow.
The boys and I moved my picnic table out to the area behind the new pond and under my favorite tree, and I was very excited about that too.
We took lots of breaks, and even went into town for supplies and for lunch. We met the friend's dad and brother at Wendy's and had a great time.
It really was a great day, even though my back is killing me.
I let the boys climb in my favorite tree, I have never allowed that before, in fact, my boys have not had a lot of opportunities to climb trees in their life. The youngest was so excited. Here are the pictures from that adventure. NOTE: Since the oldest has his own website with pictures, I don't mind his face being on my blog, but the youngest is still under cover.
Fall has always been my favorite season. Texas falls are not as pretty as the ones I was used to growing up in Ohio. I miss the many colors we had in the fall there, especially the maple trees.
In Kentucky the colors were often iffy where I lived, but there was one mountainside between my home and college that was always glorious. To this day I can remember how my breath would catch as it would come into view. How I would love to see that again, but I am afraid if I went back the mountainside would be covered with houses now. Better to remember it as it was.
I do have some color in my back yard. These trees soothe my soul.
