Category Archives: shopping

Thursday Thoughts

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I finally gave in yesterday and bought myself a new pair of walking shoes. My old tennies had broken down and not good for the walking I’ve been trying to do. I tried on several pairs and ended up with a pair of Avia walkers. I usually love New Balance, but my heels slipped in every single pair. I’ve had Avias before, too, and liked them. So I put my new shoes on this morning and guess what. My heels are still slipping!!! Doesn’t it just figure that the one skinny part on my body is going to make getting the rest of my body skinny more difficult.

While at the shoe store – Famous Footwear, to be exact – I spied about a bajillion pairs of shoes I love. Good thing for my budget only my tennis shoes go with my various sweats and athletic pants. Of course, there are my jeans…

***

Speaking of jeans and sweats and shoes and such, Katie and I are going to NYC in a couple weeks to see Wicked. Guess where we’re staying. Go ahead. Guess.

Give up??

Only the Waldorf Stinkin’ Astoria!!

Which means I need to buy some clothes before we go because they do have a dress code. Oh, the price we have to pay for living like the other half. Gotta love those Hilton points, though!

***


Sookie has been reminding me of some of the reasons I didn’t want a dog. Lucky for her she’s so incredibly cute. Todd’s coming home from a business trip this afternoon and I can’t wait. I’m not sure if it’s because I miss him or if it’s because HE can deal with the dog then. Probably a little bit of both.

***

My friend, Kris, is turning 40 tomorrow. I think that’s very sporting of her because it means a girls’ night out at The Cheesecake Factory tonight where we’ll all complain about our weight over a big bowl of pasta and a giant piece of cheesecake. It just doesn’t get much better. Except for maybe going to see Wicked in New York City and staying at the Waldorf. But the jury’s still out.

***

Remember a few weeks ago I told you we had the kids from the youth group tech team over for burgers? I forgot to tell you that as Todd was putting the burgers on the grill we ran out of propane. So we improvised:

Gotta love the Foreman Grill!!

***

It’s brisk and very windy out today, but the sky is a beautiful blue with white fluffy clouds.

I think it’s really, really fall, now!

I’m all thunk out now.

Girl and/or Flower Power

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There’s this girl – we’ll call her “Girl”, which is really funny when you consider her screen name is Girl – who moved to this area fairly recently. A couple weeks ago or so ago I thought I saw her at the grocery store with a new do. I wasn’t positive it was her, I only caught fleeting glimpses of her and never straight on, so I followed her around in a non-creepy kind of way. Mostly because if Girl saw me and saw that I saw her, but I didn’t say anything then that would be totally rude. But I didn’t want to just come up behind her and be all, “Hi Girl! What’s going on?” and then have this person who may not even be Girl turn around and think I’m crazy. Her hair was short and spikey and Girl could totally pull it off so I really thought it was probably her. My attempts at stealth were unsuccessful, however, and I left not knowing for sure if it was her. A few days later I saw her at church with the same hairstyle she’d had the week before so there was my answer. It wasn’t Girl at the store.

Fast forward to today. As I was putting my groceries on the belt a woman came up behind me in line. She was looking at magazines and stuff so I didn’t get a good look at her and I thought it might be Girl. She had a ball cap on, but the hair looked very Girlish. Again, I just wasn’t sure if it was her or not. This person was wearing glasses and I’ve never seen Girl with glasses. But she had a pretty tattoo on her arm and Girl has a pretty tattoo – I just couldn’t remember what Girl’s tattoo is. I got up to the cashier while the woman was putting her stuff on the belt and I said, “Girl?” She just kept putting her stuff on the belt as if I wasn’t talking to her. So I don’t think it was Girl.

Hey, Girl. I promise I’m not trying to stalk you OR your doppelganger. Though isn’t a doppelganger an evil twin? ‘Cause these ladies didn’t look evil. Geesh. The next time it probably will be you in the store and I’ll just totally ignore you because I don’t want to make a fool out of myself. So you’ll have to say hello first, ‘kay?

And how’s this for information you wish you never had. When you come out of the grocery store parking lot you can either turn left or right on a big street or go straight into a restaurant parking lot. As I waited for the light to turn green so I could turn left, a nattily dressed man on a cell phone walked out of the restaurant directly in front of me. He turned around and picked his seat, if you know what I mean. Right there in front of God and country! Why didn’t he do that inside the still-closed restaurant instead of outside on a crowded street??

Okay. Enough of that.

Look what I found:

Now how did that happen, I wonder?

The Latest

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Do you remember back in October when Todd fell in the Costco parking lot in the middle of a deluge and then later hurt his hand “helping Ben move“? That’s what he tells everyone, but in reality he was trying to break a bed slat with his wily ninja karate skillz. In his defense he did have a concussion.

But I digress. His hand is still bothering him and not just a little. He saw an orthopedic surgeon in November who didn’t see any broken bones on x-ray, so he gave him a splint to wear. Two weeks ago I went with Todd to see the doctor who is in a Beatles tribute band. Todd introduced him to me as Dr. Cash, a.k.a. George Harrison. He shook my hand while speaking Liverpoolian and I giggled like a school girl. One of my better “mature” moments. Anyhoo, George sent Todd for a thumb/wrist MRI last week and yesterday was the follow up appointment.

The MRI didn’t show anything other than a bit of fluid in one of his thumb joints so the Fab One injected a corticosteroid laced with a bit of Novocaine into the joint. I gave Todd my sage advice for handling injections and then cringed as I watched the needle disappear in his knuckle. He did so good, though! I was rather impressed.

The relief was immediate and he was so happy. Then the mop top with the degree told Todd it was only temporary. Once the Novocaine wore off he’d be sore for a few days. Hopefully the corticosteroid will give him relief after the soreness from the injection is gone. Poor guy.

OH! And get this. I was so nice to him yesterday even though compassion is very low on my list of spiritual gifts. I think I scored a 5 out of 30 for compassion, only to be superseded by organization/administration which was a 2. It’s nice to know I have it in me when it’s needed, though.

***

So today was my bone scan. I had to be at the nuclear medicine department at 9:30 for my injection. After getting shot up with a radioactive dye which bonds to the bones I was free to do whatever I wanted to for the next three plus hours as long as my plans included drinking a lot of fluids. ANY fluids.

This time I knew right where the Starbuck’s was so I hung out there for about an hour with my book, a cinnamon chip scone and… what did I get… let’s see… oh yeah! A Venti White Chocolate Mocha with whip. Yeah, yeah. Not conducive to losing the weight that has taken up residence and really likes the neighborhood. And why shouldn’t it like the neighborhood? There’s always some type of a party going on!

After that was a trip to the biggest Bed, Bath and Beyond I’ve ever seen. Of course, I didn’t see anything I needed or even wanted. Until I was about to leave, that is. I decided to make a quick perusal of the clearance section and I found a beautiful Gorham Lady Anne tall vase to go along with the rest of my Lady Anne pieces. It’s a $60.00 vase and they had it on clearance for $20.00. Isn’t it beautiful? How could I refuse??

My last stop on the way back to the hospital was Panera Bread Company for a delicious sandwich and a soda. And another 30 lovely minutes with my book. Of course, I had to wait about 30 minutes in the nuclear medicine waiting room so that was more time with my book. Do you see why I really don’t mind these doctor’s appointments and such?

The scan was no big deal at all. The technician straps you onto a very skinny, hard table with a wedge under your knees making you bow legged and a big rubber band around your toes making you pigeon toed. Quite the picture, isn’t it? The whole thing took about 45 minutes and I was never so happy to get up from a nap as I was then. My entire body ached from staying perfectly still the whole time.

As I’ve said, I’m certain I’m still dancing with NED (No Evidence of Disease), but I can still feel the tension in my shoulders and it’s not from laying on the table. It’s not something I’m worrying about, but I know I’ll be relieved to hear the doctor tell me tomorrow there was nothing more than a little degenerative bone disease. Funny how “degenerative bone disease” doesn’t sound so bad in relation to cancer.

I will, of course, post after I hear from the doctor’s office – hopefully tomorrow, but maybe on Thursday. For now I’m going to bed so I’ll have all the energy I need to catch up on laundry and ironing tomorrow.

My Bad

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My fans are clamoring for me to write another post. They both think it’s been too long since my last one. I’m sorry to tell you, Mom and Aunt Thea, that my posting is going to be mighty sporadic until after the first of the year. No doubt most of you can relate. Christmas is closing in on us and there’s always so much to do, so little time. I do believe my shopping is finished which is a huge relief. But I haven’t even done my Christmas cards and it’s looking like it’s not happening this year. Maybe I’ll do a “Happy 2008″ card in January instead.

I have so much nothing to say. Having trouble getting to sleep at night? Just keep reading.

School was dismissed two hours early on Thursday due to bad weather. Thankfully Todd was already home because he was sick. Not thankfully he was sick. But thankfully he was already home. Though I don’t believe the streets ever did get slick, it was still fun to have a family evening at home on a cold night, watching Transformers. Except for somewhere along the line we lost both the kids – Katie to bed and Taylor to a phone call with his girlfriend – and Todd and I finished out the movie alone.

The kids went carolling at a nursing home with some of the young adults from church last night. They had a blast. While I sometimes pine for my babies or toddlers or preschoolers or elementary age kids, I also thoroughly enjoy having two teenagers. No, I haven’t caught Todd’s fever. I really mean it. The only thing I truly get tired of is playing chauffeur. Sometimes I can’t wait for Taylor to get his license just so I’m not constantly driving all over the place for him and Katie. And when I need a gallon of milk. Rationally, however, I’m not excited about that prospect at all. I know how I am and I’ll be a nervous wreck when he’s not home exactly when he said he was going to be. It will be time to step up the hair coloring regimen, I’m sure.

Anyway, they were gone so Todd and I got a Hawaiian pizza and watched Mr. Brooks last night. I’m pretty prudish when it comes to bad language in movies and there were a lot of F-bombs in this particular flick. But we watched it anyway and it was okay. Not the best movie I ever saw. Not the worst.

I have thrush again and this time I have absolutely no idea why. I haven’t been on any antibiotics and I don’t think my white count is low because I’m pretty sure I’d be sick if it was. My tongue has been more swollen than normal for the last week or so, but last night I had a lovely yeasty coating. So I’m downing yogurt and drinking Swizzle (Thanks, DebC) by the teaspoonfuls. It actually seems to be helping, but my tongue still hurts from pushing so hard on my teeth. I would really like to know why I’m still dealing with this two years after chemotherapy, but my doctors don’t appear to be interested in finding a reason.

Katie and I did a little bit of shopping today. We went to the Outlet stores and froze our patooties off. While I love the new outlet mall, I do have a gripe. It’s an outdoor mall which means today it was freezing between stores. To keep warm while you’re walking around you need a good coat. But the stores are kept so warm that I’m surprised people weren’t passing out from heat stroke. So Katie and I decided to leave our jackets in the car. Which meant we were like icicles running around outside. We did warm up in Starbuck’s after we finished our few errands and then, fortified with liquid heat, made a bee-line for the car. Except we couldn’t find the car and it was windy making the 32 degree temperatures feel more like about 22 degrees and we were in long sleeved t-shirts and sweatshirts. I think our reason centers were frozen or something because we were laughing like idiots while Katie held my keys up over her head and continually hit the alarm button to no avail. Finally we realized we had come out the wrong way and were in the wrong parking lot altogether.

I am having to endure hockey on TV. I love hockey and, in fact, am going to a hockey game tomorrow. But I hate sports on TV. My unreasonable husband won’t even look for something we both might enjoy because I’m typing on my computer. He didn’t even care when I said I was almost finished. I think his recent illness caused a spike in testosterone or something. I could take advantage of his weakened state and make a grab for the remote…

I suppose this is enough mundane for one night. Until the next time.

I Picked The Wrong Day To Stop Drinking

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There is very little caffeine in the house right now save an outdated can of International Foods Sugar Free French Vanilla Cappuccino. I was even at the grocery store yesterday and completely forgot to pick up some coffee. So this morning, instead of making up some of the frothy, guilt-free, goodness, I went without any caffeine.

Preschool this morning was a bit more challenging than usual. During one episode where I wasn’t quite fast enough to keep beanbags and a few kitchen toys from being thrown over the baby gate into the hall I told Beth, “I picked a bad day to stop drinking caffeine.”

Probably a better example of my slow reflexes and cognitive skills would have been before school started. Another teacher, Joy, had been in our room writing down the names of all the teachers and assistants so we could each draw one for our Christmas party. Then she said, “You’ll have to draw today since you don’t work tomorrow.” I gave her a blank stare and said, “But I can’t draw.” Oy!!

After school I decided to run over to our very new Philadelphia Premium Outlets. They opened a few weeks ago, but I’ve been waiting for the novelty to die down a little before braving the crowds. The parking lot seemed pretty full, but the stores themselves weren’t too bad.

I made a bee line for Starbuck’s and ordered a venti non-fat White Chocolate Mocha. The lady making the drinks asked if I wanted whip and when I said, “no,” she started laughing. I think I sounded very sad. Not as sad as I would have sounded had I known how many points a venti non-fat White Chocolate Mocha, no whip is. Ten!

I did some window shopping while chugging my medicine mocha since I wasn’t allowed in the stores with a drink. Then I headed off to find some nice shoes. Todd’s company is having a thing at the Philadelphia Art Museum tomorrow night for the Renoir exhibit. I went to the mall yesterday and bought some nice slacks, a few nice tops and a new coat – all at incredible prices – but no shoes. I should probably feel guilty that though it’s Christmas shopping season, I’ve been shopping two days in a row and haven’t bought anything for anyone other than me. Hold on a minute. Let me see… Nope. No guilt whatsoever.

Okay. Back to the shoes. What I wanted was a pair of black, casual dressy heals and I found them at Naturalizer. Didn’t Naturalizer used to be strictly boring orthopedic shoes?? These shoes are not your grandma’s shoes and quite versatile. I can wear them with nice slacks. I can wear them with jeans. I can wear them with… I guess that’s it. Since the outlet stores are brand new they had everything on sale. I got these for 50% off. Even the beginnings of a migraine due to the late hour of caffeine administration couldn’t dim the joy I felt.

After that I went in search of a decent pair of jeans that actually fit me. I have the hardest time because I seem to be in between sizes. If I were to put on a size six, let’s say for discussion purposes, it would fit in the thigh and hip area, but be too big in the waist. The size four, however, while fitting perfectly in the waist, would be to small in the hip/thigh region. So I went to a shop that specializes in clothes for my frame – could be a petite store, could be a plus-size store, could be a store that caters to brunettes. I’m not saying.

Before I go on, I have to tell you another one of my less than brilliant moments. I have no idea where it was coming from, but the area around this part of the mall smelled like a huge pile of markers. I LOVE that smell. So I stopped walking, covertly looked around and took a huge sniff when I didn’t see anybody. While I enjoy that odor immensely, it’s probably not the smartest thing to do when a migraine is trying to grip you.

Anyway, I found the jeans I wanted, took a four and a six into the dressing room, and chanted “please fit, please fit, please fit,” while trying on the four, but no such luck. So I shucked them off and tried on the six. Oh my gosh! I couldn’t even be upset that it was the six and not the four because they fit PERFECT! When I got up to the register the cashier told me they were buy one, get one for half price. So I grabbed another pair of the exact same jeans.

There were other stores I wanted to check out, but by this time my pupils were dilated and I had that ice pick in the head/I just want to puke feeling. So I came home, took some Excedrin Migraine, sprawled out in my favorite chair and dozed off. All seems to be right in the world again. Good thing, too, because we’re shooting a movie for Katie’s Social Studies class in a little while.

Every time I have surgery – and we’ve established that’s quite often – I use that as a sort of detox period. I use the narcotics to ease me off of caffeine. It works like a charm. Apparently it’s time for another surgery because I’m obviously addicted again. Why do I do this to myself?? I enjoy a glass of wine or a bottle of beer now and again, but I can go days, weeks, months without alcohol and never miss it. I’ve never become addicted to the aforementioned narcotics, though I will admit to liking them when they’re needed! But I usually switch to Tylenol long before I have to. Heck, I can even go without sniffing markers and glue for years and be perfectly happy. But caffeine? I wish!