Remember when...

-
Sunday late afternoon while the girls took a rest, Dina and I made our way to the mall. Shopping with someone over the age of four gave me time to look at shoes in my size and to examine jeans without elastic or some form of an adjustable waist. I was having flashbacks to my teenage years when I'd patiently peruse the racks of clothes in Vanity in search of the perfect Hypercolor shirt. I found one, by the way. It was stormy sky blue and deep purple and cost a whopping $30. Despite the birthday money I'd stocked away in my room I still didn't have enough, so my Hypercolor shirt was put on layaway. And I diligently returned each Saturday to add another $5 towards making that shirt mine. Sadly, right after I finally bought that shirt I jumped a wire fence while playing with friends and ripped a hole in the front. My heart still aches when I think of it. The word love is overused today but I can honestly say I loved that shirt.

Dina and I visited several stores and had lots of laughs trying on gaudy glasses and oogling over electric blue, high heel shoes that upon wearing in the slightest bit of rain is sure to result in a broken femur. It was a fun afternoon.

Earlier in the day we visited Fall Fest in LPC. Kate and CJ ran through this hay maze a few dozen times.

Despite the fact I was deep in a rare shopping-without-the-girl outing I found myself spending the majority of my time in the kids' section wondering if that green, flower dress will fit Kate or thinking CJ does need some hot pink, zebra print tights. I even wandered into the men's department to pick-up some things for Matt. (I've started shopping for him since his pants-without-a-zipper and shoelaces-held-together-by-duct-tape incidents. But that's a story for another time.)

In the end I left the mall with two shirts for myself so it's not as if I completely forgot to self indulge, but I also walked out with a little excitement in my step. I was returning home with gifts for everyone. I was so anxious to show Kate her treasures I woke her at 8:30 to surprise her with these...



CJ hugged her new jeans this morning and although Matt would have preferred his gift to be a certificate for a round of golf or an ISU autographed football, he left the house looking quite handsome in his new sweater.

I sure as heck don't see anything wrong with indulging in a little shopping for myself, but I really like the fact I had an inner drive to think of my family during my time away. Despite the times they drive me crazy, and I do the same to them, I ache for my wild monkeys during a few short hours away from the circus that is my house.

This is a particularly good feeling as we start the week with a cold and rainy, dreary Monday morning. We are celebrating with a movie, Reese's Peanut Butter cookies and a fashion show. I hope your Monday is just as good!


Comments

Great Gramma Smith said…
I think your girls could be farm kids.

Glad you got to shop without the girls. that is treat!
September 26, 2011 at 9:22 AM
Life of the Lorenzens said…
My hypercolor shirt was orange and yellow and about two sizes two big. I, too, had to pay for mine. It probably didn't go away soon enough. ;o)

I know what you mean about shopping for others even when you're alone. I'm planning a solo shopping trip to Kohl's this weekend but the list for everyone else is longer than for me. :o(
September 27, 2011 at 9:00 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The dark day of June 27th...

-
 June 12, 2023 We typically don't share a lot of updates about Kate's health, primarily because she wants to remain "a normal teenager." However, we still get asked how Kate is doing and I started thinking maybe it's okay to share updates now and again. Most people care about her and our family, some others could maybe be labeled as "tragedy junkies," but I'm going to operate under the assumption that most people have the best of intentions.  Today is June 12th and we are quickly approaching the dreaded dark day of June 27th. Have you watched, "Gilmore Girls?" It's a witty, comforting television show from the early 2000's. In it one of the main characters has what is dubbed, "a dark day." This is a day the character dreads each year and in response he goes into hiding from the world with no communication. Well for Kate, and the rest of us to some degree, the dark day of the year is June 27th and that date is closing in on
Read more

The other side of the dark day...

-
 Kate's dark day of Jun 27th came and went like any other day. Kate swam 100 fly in the Independence meet and finished 1st (she was the only swimmer in her age group to sign up, but who cares about details) and then she and Matt hopped in the car to drive up to Rochester for next-day appointments. The worst part of Kate's dark day was probably Matt trying out the Grimace meal at McDonald's. It was death by milkshake and yet he drank the whole thing. Can't let food go to waste, or something.  We braved June 27th with dread and came out on the other side. We enter year three into the cancer life. Two years of appointments, scans, blood draws, IVs, endless chemotherapies, daily medications. It is difficult to remember life before all of this, when Kate was able to get up at 6 a.m. to swim, play basketball, ride her bike, go to school and chase her sisters. We've all adapted even though no one wants to. Hand to God I keep hoping to have a tantrum and wake up from whatev
Read more

October things...

-
Image
It has not been the easiest October on record. Kate had a couple of hospital visits to Rochester but she is somewhat better at the moment. She continues with chemotherapy and has not been back to school for quite some time but she is doing her best to set aside time for online school work between naps, loving on cats, and hanging out with her family. I was able to get the girls to visit their great grandma in western Iowa a few weeks back. Here's Claudia shortly after arriving at great grandma's house. She is very into jewelry and lots of it. Grandma had several questions for her about the number of bracelets and thankfully Claudia loves talking about them. Many she has made, some were gifted to her...it's a lovely hodgepodge of middle school girl goodies. Clearly the girls and I were blessed with height genes from relatives not named great grandma. We spent time relaxing, taking four wheeler rides, eating candy and we also received a visit from my aunt and uncle. Aunt Deb
Read more