Shopping...

Well you know that it's going to be alright.        

I think it's gonna be alright.        

Everything will always be alright.            

When we go shopping....       

I used to be a champion shopper. I liked them all, from the department to the discount stores. My car seemed to automatically swerve towards a WalMart if there was one on the way to my destination. I knew the layout of the mall and every store within. I don’t know when it changed but something happened and shopping didn’t seem as much fun anymore. It could be the lengthy lines of people waiting to get out of the store. Often it takes longer to get out of the store than to do the whole shopping tour. Or maybe it’s the apathy of the store personnel. Then again, it could just be the rudeness of people in general. Whatever the reason, I just don’t like to go much anymore.

This year most of my Christmas shopping was done online. It was so much easier to sit in the chair, click a few times then have whatever delivered to my door, or at least to my husband’s office than to go out hunting and fighting the crowds. It worked really well until I messed up and accidentally had things delivered to an old address on one account. The stuff went to another town. Luckily, the people living in the house knew my name and delivered everything to my daughter!

Maybe not having a willing shopping partner has taken some of the joy out of my quest. There were times, years ago, that my friend Debbie and I could stay in a small town WalMart for two or three hours, just looking at ‘stuff’! But there’s nobody to shop with nowadays. My husband would rather go to the dentist than take a trip to a mall! Now make it Academy or Tractor Supply and he’s a world class shopper! Sometimes my daughter will go with me. Otherwise, I’m on my own. I really don’t mind shopping by myself, most of the time. I can take my time, look at what I want, for as long as I want, try on, dawdle, and generally, just do my thing! But it’s fun, with the right companion, to shop away!

After all the Christmas visitors left, we (my husband and son and I) decided to take an impromptu shopping trip. My oldest son is a great shopping buddy. He could win a prize in the shopping Olympics! So we got a hotel room, piled in the car and took off to San Antonio for a shopping day. We were up relatively early the next morning and headed to an outdoor mall called The Shops at La Cantera. It’s semi upscale, with Neiman Marcus (a good store for me to walk right through) to Macy’s. In fact, we even saw a Payless Shoes there so there’s something for everyone. There happened to be a Bass Pro Shop down the way and an Omnimax theater, so Alan just dropped us off and our fun began. We were looking for bargains and we found a few!

The Shops at La Cantera

Perhaps my favorite treasure was a faux fur coat in a leopard print. Why? Because I could I guess! It was 85% off the regular price. As my sister always says, I couldn’t afford not to! Bryce thinks it’s hideous. And it could be, but I’ll wear it anyway. It’s just for fun. And when I’m in the nursing home I’ll make sure to wear it whenever he comes for a visit!

Fake leopard and I love it!

Quite the haul!

We found a lot of things and had a good lunch. That was our recharge and we went until we couldn’t go anymore. There were so many stores and not enough time! Seriously, even if we had taken another day and night, we still would not have seen everything. Finally, with both of us near exhaustion, and Alan Bass Pro’d and Imaxed out, we headed home. One stop at Rudy’s Barbeque and four and a half hours later, we were snuggled deep in our beds with visions of bargains floating in our heads! It was a good trip.

So shutup 

And never stop. 

Let's shop 

Until we drop...

After that little jaunt my shopping interest is renewed! Of course, I’ll have to wait until I’m in another town because Odessa is severely lacking. One thing I did (sadly) miss out on is the “Happy New Year and Sale” at The Tinsmith's Wife in Comfort, Texas. All their yarn is discounted 25% throughout the rest of 2011 (Wednesday, 12/28, through Saturday, 12/31). That place is one of my all time favorite yarn shops. Their selection is unbelievable. But I really don’t need any yarn anyway. (What? Who said that?) So it wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t have a project in mind and I would have bought yarn so it saved me some money! (Insert a small sob here.)

Speaking of projects, I had a Christmas knitting success! Ty’s friend Jenni, came home with him for the holidays. He had requested a rainbow scarf for her so I knitted one. It was fun and turned out pretty nice. I decided to add buttons on the end so that she could button and loop it, making an infinity or eternity scarf, or leave it unbuttoned and wear as a regular scarf. That’s about the only Christmas knitting I did this year and I’m sure glad I did! She liked it.

Wrapped three times

Up close of buttons. Crocheted loops to fasten

Worn like a regular scarf

Buttoned and looped twice

It's never enough 

Until you've got all the stuff.

When the going gets rough 

Just shop with somebody tough...

On The Road Again

When you live out here you find out quickly that anywhere you want to go requires a drive. I drive almost 100 miles a day just to go to work. School activities are, on a quick trip, at least 100 miles. The real grocery store is 40 miles away. It’s just a fact of life.

It’s interesting how people measure distance out here. For instance, instead of my 45 mile trip to work it’s 45 minutes to work. It takes four hours to get to San Antonio. It takes six hours to get to Austin. I’m not sure why it’s measured in time instead of distance. Distance is a lot more accurate.


The drive to San Antonio is a solitary drive. There’s not much to see but wide open spaces. When you get closer to the Hill Country there are green rolling hills. And the wildflowers are amazing. It’s pretty here this time of year.


Lady Bird Johnson is probably the reason we see wildflowers blooming along the highways. I don’t know if the wildflowers are a national thing but its fact here in Texas. The Beautification Act of 1965 was a result of Mrs. Johnson’s campaign. Known as “Lady Bird’s Bill” because of her active support, the legislation called for control of outdoor advertising and encouraged scenic enhancement and roadside development. When the wildflowers are blooming there is no mowing in the median or on the side of the highway. Wildflowers are probably just weeds. But they brighten up an otherwise somewhat boring drive.

On the knitting side, I’m keeping up with knit a year, as far as the knitting goes. I need to schedule my time so that I can write about it more often. I am keeping track though.

Monday was a frisky day. Strawberries, chocolate, champagne and leopard print. Enough said! The yarn is a novelty yarn from a magic ball exchange. It is leopard colors with gold and silver threads included. It’s fun. Tuesday was a generally bad day. Work related. Black eyelash yarn. Wednesday was the drive to San Antonio. Purple and green variegated for the wildflowers and green grass and trees. I enjoy the sight.

Today is a bright green handspun with touches of pink and yellow. It’s a Fiesta yarn and is so San Antonio. This trip has been fun so far and it’s definitely a fun yarn!

Tomorrow is the drive home. I’ll be…

Goin' places that I've never been.
Seein' things that I may never see again
And I can't wait to get on the road again.