Retail Therapy

A couple of weeks ago I was battling an episode of depression. When I finally overcame the inertia that accompanied it, I did what every red-blooded American woman does when faced with a difficult situation--I went shopping.

First I stopped by a consignment shop just to kill some time and found a lovely hand-decorated vase for only $8. I checked in at Target, WalMart and Kohl's but found nothing I felt like spending money on. Even all the low-priced items at Dollar Tree didn't tempt me.

Then I went to Hamrick's where it was Senior Citizens' Day, got an extra 10% off already "on sale" items and paid $100 for clothing (2 swimsuits, a pair of capri pants and shoes) that was already cheaper than at almost any other place in town. Finally I ordered on line a couple of more pairs of capris, in colors I hadn't been able to find locally, for a "bargain" price even including shipping. (Just hope they fit!)

WOO HOO! I felt better than if I had spent the same amount of money with a professional counselor--and I got new STUFF to boot!

It's not as if I really needed those things--except maybe the swim suits. And some of the capris in my closet are looking a little "tired" so I just bought their replacements before they completely gave out. It didn't help the U. S. economy much--the clothing was made in China, Guatemala and Dominican Republic--but it brightened my outlook on life considerably.

I'm fortunate I can afford some "retail therapy" once in a while. Maybe I should budget for it under "Medical Expenses".

Murder, They Write

One of my favorite pastimes is reading, specifically mystery books by female American writers. They seem to have a way with plots and words different from men. They create quirky characters and delightful dialogue in interesting settings both in cities and small towns. Rarely is there graphic sex and/or violence (rather than a murder or two, of course). A few of my favorites are Susan Wittig Albert, Marcia Muller and North Carolina's own Margaret Maron. I can go to the library's Mystery shelves and find more enjoyable books by other authors than I can possibly read in my lifetime.

I've written before about the pleasures of using the Public Library. In a cost/benefit analysis it beats buying books or downloading them to a Nook or Kindle hands down. The choice of publications is amazing, and includes "talking books" and videos in addition to standard fare.

But, best of all, there are lots of mysteries. Yay!

Funeral Favors

In the past couple of years my collecting obsession has extended to buying decks of playing cards--mainly Congress brand bridge cards by the American Playing Card Company. It is amazing how many designs have been printed. I have only a very few. Because they sometimes came along with the Congress cards I bought on eBay, I have acquired a number of other decks from other manufacturers--single decks as well as double decks and gift sets that include a score pad and sometimes bridge tallies. (I have a small collection of tallies, too.)

I had originally planned to give them as gifts, but now I have more decks than I have friends. Daughter Cathy, ever the planner, says that when I die she's going to give them to funeral attendees as "funeral favors". Hope I have time to collect lots more in the meantime!

Will's Egg Salad

Grandson Will is so funny making egg salad for himself. Perhaps he is dreaming about becoming a chef. I have to mash up the boiled eggs. Pieces fly all over the kitchen when he does it. Then he adds mayonnaise and mustard and dashes of every seasoning in my spice cabinet except cinnamon and nutmeg. He says it tastes great. I'm just glad for him to eat it. Like so many kids, he's a picky eater. Now if he would just get interested in cooking vegetables....

Just Gotta Write

Every once in a while, as I have been lately, I get on a writing kick. Don't know where it comes from. All I know is it's there and I have to give in to it. I can understand writers needing to put pen or pencil to paper (or fingers to computer keyboards these days) to share their thoughts or tell a story. I'm no good at thinking up and/or telling stories, but I do like to preserve my mental ramblings from time to time. That need I have to express myself with words--whether anyone reads it or not--is being satisfied by my postings to this blog. Thank you blogspot.com!

I can't compose on the keyboard. I have to write it out in longhand first. I use a lot of notebook paper which I buy on sale at the beginning of each school year. I read, re-read and edit to try to make sure I've used correct grammar and sentence construction. I had some good English teachers more than a half-century ago who helped me learn that. (Thank you Iris Hunsinger at Central Junior High School, especially! Whenever I split an infinitive I think of you!)

Now I'm off to think and write about some other subject. Can't wait to see what it is, can you?

Y'all Come!

I love entertaining. That means cooking for someone (besides myself) a special recipe or two, or an old family one, setting the dining room table with china and silver and enjoying unhurried conversation and fellowship. It can also mean preparing goodies for lots of people to choose from in a buffet setting. Having an event catered takes the fun out of it.

People make jokes about Martha Stewart's entertaining style, but I appreciate the effort and attention to detail she and other TV hosts like Sandra Lee expend to make a meal visually enjoyable as well as tasty.

I love eating on china with silver (or silverplate) utensils and drinking from goblets instead of glasses. The only down side is having to clean up afterward. (Where are the butler and maid when I need them?)

People of my generation received china, crystal and silver as wedding gifts. Mostly it's packed away "for the kids/grandkids" or displayed in a china cabinet and brought out only on rare occasions. What a shame! It was made to be used, folks! And what better way than by entertaining.

So come on over, y'all. Just let me know ahead of time so I can get the table set!

Hail to the Pill Container

One of the world's greatest inventions (along with the microwave bacon cooker) is the divided plastic pill container. I was going to say "pill box" but there are different meanings for that phrase. It comes in a variety of configurations, but my favorites are the single daily dose boxes that hold a week's worth of pills. I have one in the kitchen for morning meds and one in my bathroom for nighttime pills. There is a third one for pain medication so I can keep track of how many of those I've downed during a day.

I load them once a week. Then I can see whether I need to order prescription refills or stock up on any supplements in plenty of time before they run out. Recently I did forget to re-order my sleeping medication and realized it on a Saturday night at bedtime. Thank goodness CVS is open 24 hours!

By looking at the container(s) I can tell if I've taken my daily doses--great for those of us who get short term memory losses.

My containers are fairly large to accomodate multi-vitamin pills, calcium plus D tablets of a size that would choke a horse, plus fish oil capsules in addition to my smaller prescribed medicines. I won't bother listing the other supplements I take hopefully to make up for an inadequate diet or improve some condition or other in some small way.

What I haven't been able to find is some pill to safely counteract my craving for sweets and other fattening foods. Believe me, my pill containers would be full of those!