Post Christmas Blues

 

Christmas always comes to an abrupt end, it seems. For 2 1/2 solid months, the stores have been draped with garlands, dripping bright ornaments, while Halloween candy is in shopping cart marked "50% off". Carols of all types have been playing in a loop, but for some reason they have been classier this year.

Celebrating and loving with our family is a wonderful year long fest. So, pick up all that wrapping paper, down the eggnog, and finish up all those little chores.

Here is before:

Walmart sells everything.

Here is after:

after the Christmas rush

But, no one sees what is really left behind:

Dump site for carts from all stores
There were mountains of shopping carts tossed in the field.
After a month or so, these were all gone. 

Christmas is over, yes, but we will continue rejoicing for the entire year. No matter how strange and scary our lives are now, we will continue to rejoice. 

After all, Christmas is only 11 months and a few days away.

 

Forever is not Forever

Forever 21 was on the verge of bankruptcy when it was purchased by some company called Forever 91.  No one knew what to expect.  

Grand opening showed a line that stretched from Cheesecake Factory to Red Robin, with a mixture of girls and old ladies.  The girls clustered and giggled as they watched the old ladies laugh at the girls. Apparently they had worn that stuff in 1969, and they looked better in them, way hot. I know I did: hot!

The doors opened and the females moved in quickly and then they screeched to a stop.

When stores close

Where had the store gone?  Where were the skater shorts? Crystal Doll? City Studio? Swimsuits that exist in the strands of fabric only? Jewelry was obscene and expensive.

Forever 91?  The open door provided shopping carts and scooters ready for use, to be used by the 91 group.  Old ladies races to the carts, shrieking and laughing. The lady walkers were the best, quicker. 

styles across the ages

WELL, the carnage did not go well.  Old lady clothes someway appealed to the skinny giggles 16 year old girls. Why, it is not known. 

So there you have it. The Old may be old, but oh my, do not get in their way. The youngsters lost interest, decided to go to local arcades. 

I told my gr-daughter (8 yr. old) about turning store to a Forever 91 really upset her. We went to Starbucks, all was well with the world.

Just how much meat does a BBQ require?

Spectre aka Dementor, found in wikia.com
A part of Harry Potter saga

CostCo is a horror to experience on any week, any day, or any hour.  So much fortitude is required to gird up any given body part when entering its gates of hell.  Once a membership is flashed to an employee, air is sucked straight out of one's lungs and a spectre of doom hovers around anyone with money in pockets or purse.  

Common sense flees, prices seem reasonable, and the hunt begins.

We had a list given to us by his sister:  a specific list for specific number of guests.   Twenty hamburgers,  twenty hot dogs, and six chicken breasts to be halved seemed very reasonable. 

When reaching the meat section, my high I.Q. husband starts figuring and asking, "Does one hamburger really mean these? Where each is larger than my hand? Six pounds--is that enough?  Chicken? Nine pounds?  Can one chicken breast really be halved and be substantial? And, hot dogs?  Surely not the cheap ones, skinny and pathetic.  Let's buy these."

$25 + $25 + $40 + .... It was $175 totaled up for twenty people to eat just grilled meat.  What are our relatives?  Ravenous cannibals, piling plates with nine dollars worth of meat? 

Then John reasoned buns and condiments were necessary.  Throw in a jar of jam, a new purse for Mother's Day, a three-pack Redi-Whip, and some vitamins, our wallets opened as spectres vacuum green bills, and a nice cashier smiled, "Have a good one."

God help us.  We are too old to take this pressure.  When CostCo was Price Club 30 years ago, we called it the One-Hundred Dollar store, enjoyed strolling the aisles.  Now, it is closer to Two-Hundred-Fifty Dollars, and our legs hurt.

Still our car wanders there.  It is an addiction.

Wikipedia

Just a note: our BBQs usually end up with much charred meat.

Made with Love

Source

It is here!  Finally here!  This is time when all may hit the stores running.  Race up and down aisles with shopping carts rattling. 

It is also a time of befuddlement, when one will stand holding some inane present in the “one size fits all” aisle of decorative frames, pencil holders with fancy notepaper, or Christmas towels.  Toss it in the cart and mentally check a name of a long list.

Checkout and home-free!

Silly me, I think. Surely sharing my love for sewing through gifts would be better.  Silly me indeed.  My son recently told me that not everyone wants a gift made just for them and made with love.

It harkened back to the days of ugly sweaters and personalized odd stuff (a stuffed animal, like a dachshund, embroidered with one's name).  The recipient may nod and give thanks, but wonder What am I going to do with this?

Consequently, my adult children will receive gift cards and a magazine subscription each of their choice.  

So, here is my wise and sage advice: If one gifts another one with a "made with love" gift, be thankful and recognize the love that went into it.  Use it or not.  Re-gift it or not.

Maybe I will head to the stores with the indifferent, cold-hearted gift aisle.  At least I thought of those ingrates.

Shopping for the Dress

As we last left "Father Daughter Dance", Lisa and Mommy were locked in a battle of the dresses….

I was there, witnessing the whole thing.  Being Grandma, I had this same battle with the Mommy years ago, and knew how this would all go down.  Whoever holds the credit card wins the battle.  But it won’t be easy.

From this site!

As Lisa sobbed about the discarded hooker dresses, I picked one up and examined it.  The seams were already splitting, the threads were ragged, and one washing would rip this sad excuse for a dress apart. 

In the end, Mommy and Lisa took home a beautiful yellow eyelet dress tied with a spring green ribbon and a daisy, perfect for a Father-Daughter Dance.

Not the actual dress, but close enough

What bothered me about the whole dress saga was how girls are being bombarded with the image of sexy dresses as the acceptable fashion wear for under-teens. 

This development stage of giggling little girls is being ripped away from my grandchild.  Who she is and what she will be--all is being undermined by current societal standards.

She is being told that her value is in how she measures up to other females.  Her value is how she fits in with today’s market.  

Her value increases when she displays her 'goods', before there are any goods to display.

Females everywhere:  You are more precious than any jewel or gem.  
Who you are cannot be decided by the time you are 18 and eager to take on the world.  
Hold yourself tightly;\! 
Understand your personal value comes from within, not from the world. 
God created you and has a plan for your life.  
You are precious.

Dancing with your daddy in your pretty yellow dress is more important than one can ever know. 

Just You Wait

Source

Once a young woman,

I shopped alone with a confidence

Almost pride

That I was an adult,

Ready to take on a wifely role.

Once a young mother,

I put the children in the cart

And looked at my coupons,

Put away stray candy treats.

I looked at those young women alone.

“Just you wait.”

Once a mother of teens,

I pushed a heavy full cart

With gallons of milk, a few bags of

Potato chips/crisps,

And food for a giant refrigerator.

I looked at those young mothers with little ones.

“Just you wait.”

Now a grandmother,

I push a light cart with

Sugar-free, low-fat, full-fiber

Whatever.

I look at the other women,

With their struggles, their lives,

And their growing children.

“This will all pass much too quickly.

Just you wait.”