Monday, February 9, 2009

Thoughts, rants, and observations...

It's been one of those days. It is warm outside (I think around 70), it feels humid, and the wind is just horrendous! (Blew my shopping cart practically out of my hands at Target as I walked to the car). I opened my bedroom window just a smidge so that the room can get some fresh air circulating and the wind is just howling as it courses by. Not to mention, all the pets in the house are trying to squeeze into the small space in front of it, knocking things over, just because of the scents wafting in...

I chose today to run my errands, and I ended up with three pairs of slacks (St John's Bay, J.C. Penney's) in Black, Khaki, and Navy blue, in a lycra enhanced twill; 2 identical white blouses (because I liked them), also St John's Bay brand; a beautiful buttercup yellow lacy cardigan sweater with three-quarter sleeves (from Christopher & Banks); 2 plain white camis from Target (to wear under the blouses); and THREE pairs of shoes (2 pair were on clearance). One pair is in black, a shoe-boot style with a low-moderate heel; one pair is in brown, also with a low/moderate heel in a slip-on style; and the last is an adorable pair of medium heels, strappy backed, to wear to church, in brown. I had to throw away a number of pairs of shoes because they had been soiled by the dogs when they were on the floor next to some boxes, and while I probably won't replace all of them, I did need a couple of pair for work that I can stand in for long hours, and I wanted the heels--contrary to public opinion, black does NOT go with everything... Sometimes you need brown! I have some other white collared shirts packed away in the garage if I can get to them, so I think I am now set to start working on Wednesday.

My one vent about shopping is this: if the average woman wears a size 14, with the bulk of women circling sizes somewhere around that (12-16, or if we want to be generous in our range, 10-18) why is it that you can never find decent priced clothing within those sizes? Macy's was the worst about it today when I was looking... The few things I found in my size and the style I was looking for were so out of my price range I just had to laugh! And I was shopping in the Women's Department, not Juniors... Even at Penney's, where I found exactly what I was looking for, they had only ONE of each pants in my size, and I really had to hunt to find them! I found it to be highly discouraging. Now I admit, I would like to be a minimum of 20 lbs lighter, and if I can ever get there again I would love to lose a total of about 40 lbs. That would certainly make shopping easier, as those sizes are everywhere. But even when I was lighter I had a hard time finding clothes that fit because I have a bigger frame (broad hips and busty)... It gets so discouraging sometimes to shop. No wonder when my mom found something she liked she bought it in 2-3 colors!

I don't remember if I posted in here about the bad accident I saw the aftermath of near the air force base last week, but today while I was driving to Target I saw a cross and flowers there at the site. I guess I was correct in assuming the driver of the car that rolled over didn't make it. From the damage I saw I had thought it would take a miracle for the driver to get out ok... Made me sad though. Brought back memories of Liisa's friend Matt dying almost a year ago in a similar type of accident, and of how blessed my friend Erika was to survive her roll-over in November.

Other sad news we received, my much-loved sister-in-law Jenna lost her mother the end of last week to cancer of the liver. My heart just hurts for her loss. I remember how hard it was to get over losing my dad 14.5 years ago. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. This is the first major loss my two nieces have experienced in their young lives, and I know it is hard on them as well. Jenna's mom had a long, full life, and I certainly have some nice memories of her the few times we all got together over the years. She will be missed greatly.

My husband returned safely to Arkansas Sunday night, and now I think he'll be there through the end of his training. It's ok, the kids and I are managing fine. Just so long as they help out a bit more now that I will be gone some. I am really excited to start working and now that I have my wardrobe figured out, I am ready to go! The biggest issue will continue to be transportation for everyone, but hopefully we can juggle things so that it all works out until we get the CRX fixed. Once Eric is back 2 vehicles won't be quite enough for all of us!

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