Big Lots

     I'm not a big shopper for many reasons.  This means if I don't have a specific mission I don't really get to many stores.  This time I had a few reasons (and therefore justification in my own mind) to go to a place called Big Lots.  It was entertaining if anything.  Never before had I seen such a sampling of low budget international snack foods...let alone right there in the same store as "leather" couches.   It took extreme measures to get me there and would probably take even bigger ones to get me there again! But it's new and sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do!

The Lumineers

     I have heard bits and pieces and little hints of their music but today was...

     ALL THEM, ALL DAY.

     The way to work.  The way home.  If I was in my car I was listening.  Tomorrow is a busy day of running around and guess what we will be listening to?  They make you want to smile, drum along and sing at the top of your lungs with the sunroof open.  I may be a little late to the party for you super cool peeps who know the new music before it's even written but I'm showing up when it's gettin' good!!!!  For the rest of you too busy to concentrate on things like the next big band be sure to give them a listen!!!!

Epsom Salt Foot Bath

     My dogs have been barkin'.  Last year I had a great deal of pain in both feet and after some self diagnosing I took the steps to get better.  This summer I seem to have some new issues and by the end of the day I need ibuprofen and ice to soothe my little piggies.  Why do our feet have animal references anyway??? Recently I came across some information about epsom salt.  Turns out it is great to reduce inflammation and nice for exfoliating as well.  Out came the bubbly machine of wonder and pedicure time was born.  A rainy Sunday is a great excuse for some mama/daughter time.  Feet were soaked, heels were scrubbed, nails were done.  My feet feel refreshed and the cost was almost nothing.  We are thinking of implementing a new routine since we could get used to this.  Sometimes the new thing is a classic old thing that you've just never tried.  All I know is this was a salt themed weekend.  Maybe the next salt themed weekend can include the briny water of an ocean and some sweat from walking in the sand...

Skinny Margarita

     We had things to celebrate today and we found ourselves at the Olive Garden with a gift card.  I was the girl who would have her signature picks at her specific places.  I didn't deviate much.  This new thing has made it fun to branch out.  Today, I picked a "Skinny Margarita" from the drink menu.  The rim was loaded with salt and it was a delicious little treat without the guilt.  Here's a toast to the universe and a shot of tequila with some sweet agave nector to do it with!!!

Safety Not Guaranteed

     How many of us would use time travel if given the option?  What exactly would we go back to do? Would we tell people the things we should have a long time ago? Would we risk our own lives to save someone else?  More importantly who would respond to an ad in the paper looking for a partner to travel with?
     There are days I would.  I would take the risk and the machine and go back to do things differently.  I might save people.  I might save myself.  But you know some of us do time travel all of the time and don't even realize it.  We are on repeat.  We stay stuck in a place that passed us by.  We cling to a moment, a scent, a song, a memory, a person and go back whenever we need to...machine or not.  If we are trapped in a moment that "defined" us then we have traveled back over and over again to the past.   
     But the time and the people and the places are all a part of who we are now.  We don't know which one leads to which but if one were missing everything would be  different.  Could be a detriment  or a blessing but integral just the same. 
     Some of us spend our lives trying to go back in time to save the ones we love.  We try to help them get past the things that hold them hostage.  We risk life and limb and measure quantum physics.  We change calibrations and new approaches.  We write code.  We steal supplies.  Sometimes we hide to protect.  But basically we try to bend dimensions and go back in history hoping to right the wrongs...and we do it without the big machine.  Sometimes creating a big machine seems more plausible because the struggle seems far too complicated to handle without it.  Either way...safety is not guaranteed. 
     The movie itself was terrific and so was my night with my friend.  Hey Jenne, thanks so much for the big discovery at the end that made it even more brilliant!!! 
    

Facing Alzheimers

     For the past few years I have had many things to conquer.  They served as distractions.  Sometimes we just don't face things that are right in front of us.  Denial is a beautiful and wicked thing.  It gets confusing for me and my 86 year old father because I never know where the depression of a widower ends and the forgetfulness of an old man begins.  They blur.  Plus, he was always a little forgetful to begin with and has been the focus of many a teasing joke. 
     Tonight I will start to read "The 36-Hour Day".  (A family guide to caring for persons with Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementing Illnesses, and Memory Loss.)  This is all extra hard because I thought my mother and I would bounce back and forth with eye rolls and giggles to at least lighten the mood.  I thought we would be a team of advocates for his needs.  Turns out there is only me. 
     I know to be grateful each day because he is still quite lucid though the signs are building.  I try to remain patient but it is one of the trickiest things I've ever had to contend with.  I fear the day he forgets the big stuff.  I dread the day he forgets me.  I worry because he confuses children in photographs and calls my daughter by my nickname at times.  His past is getting blurry.  His today needs a steady reminder of the date and what we are all doing.  As for his tomorrow...none of us will know until another sun finds us in the morning sky.  I look back at my sweet memories to fuel me.  I try to remember that it is my turn to take care of him.  But the slow and steady loss is harder than any sudden loss.  The man he is becoming is not the man I've known.  This poses a conundrum.  Just like everything else... I will face it one day at a time...even if I have to remind him of what day that might be. 

Choklad Mork

     Had the meatballs.
     Had the lingonberries.
     Bought the random pillow.
     Got a dresser because my kid shouldn't still be getting his clothes out of a laundry basket.
     Should've gotten the last dresser at the place of the Dala Horse.
     Had a frozen yogurt in a cone.

     All been done.

Therefore....a choklad mork was purchased.  New thing done for the day Swedish style.  And yes  I thought about the classic 80's show because how could you not?!?