Tuesday, August 21, 2018

When the Going Gets Tough...

... the tough go shopping!  A little retail therapy never hurt anybody.  Oh, it might put a little dent in the budget but do no lasting damage.  Last week DIL1 told me that all of the Crocs factories are closed so there'll be no more Crocs.  I love my Crocs.  When they first came out I thought they were stupid.  Who'd wear plastic shoes?  Wouldn't your feet get all sweaty, smelly, and stinky?  (they do but you can wash your feet and the shoes)  Then I was up at The Clearing one fall and went into Fish Creek to the Oilerie and the bookstore next to it.  Across the street a store was having its "end of season" sale so I wandered over and bought a pair of Crocs for less than half-price.  I loved them.  They're a fairly ugly green--and I didn't want to take them off.  I've bought some Crock knockoffs since then but they're just not as comfy as the real thing.  I bought a pair of lower profile black ones at Fleet Farm a couple weeks ago and then today I had to go to the mall (ugh) to cancel Durwood's Direct TV (because they had to see a death certificate, and I had to go to a corporate store not the outpost 2 blocks from here, to cancel the contract) and walked past Famous Footwear.  They had a "buy one, get one 50% off" sale and they had Crocs in the window.  I went in and left $100 later with 2 pairs in boxes and one pair being shipped.  Eeee!  The pair coming in the mail is garnet, which is another name for red but a more subdued, mature red.  Can't wait.

Today I started on all of the things that have to be changed now that I'm not part of a couple, all of the bank accounts, the company pension and insurance that needs forms and certificates faxed in, the cable parts that need mailing back.  I'll have to watch to see which bills come in Durwood's name and get those changed.  This is going to be a lot of futzing around on the phone and waving death certificates at every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a nametag and a company polo shirt.  But tomorrow I'm taking myself to our broker's office to sit down with her and work together to make sure that I have enough money to live on for a long time and also how to protect it and me.  It only took Durwood 41 1/2 years to teach me about money but it turns out I was listening and learned not to be quite the spendthrift I was in my younger days.  

Last week I made up a batch of chicken spaghetti that DD and I only ate on for one meal so I portioned it out and put it into the freezer.  I've got some chicken tenders and boneless thighs marinating that I hope to grill out tomorrow or Thursday so I'll have that to build meals around too.  I figure that my best hope to get back to healthy eating is to have things on hand that I can grab that aren't ice cream and cookies and do have things like veggies and meat in them so I'll be eating better and feeling better, at least physically.

Oh, when I went to get some fabric yesterday (because I bought a culottes pattern on Saturday when I was there with DD and didn't buy any fabric for it; I bought black eyelet and black twill, boring I know, but they'll go with everything) I picked up a couple of these scary-looking Teeny Tys for OJ (their big eyes kind of creep me out).  Turns out he has some and LOVES them, makes up conversations and activities for them, so of course he needs a couple of them at Meemaw's house.  I was looking at them this afternoon and finally understood Mom's compulsion to buy each and every Star Wars guy for DS when he was little.  I was calculating how many different ones were in the display at Joann's and how much money I have in my wallet and...  ohhh, slippery slope ahead.  Backing up.

I am happy to report that I fell asleep on the couch around 9 o'clock last night, woke at 9:30 and went to bed, and didn't wake up until 6 o'clock in the AM.  Hooray!  Over 8 hours sleep.  Plus I dozed off at the kitchen table this afternoon for 45 minutes or so.  DD commented that she was glad that someone is taking over the kitchen table napping duties now that Durwood is gone.  I'm just glad to sleep more than 5 hours a night.  Pretty soon I'll get back to prompt writing but I figure sleeping's more important right now.  Right?
--Barbara

1 comment:

Aunt B said...

Right, right and right. You're doing all the right things. Shopping, cooking healthy stuff, managing finance stuff and buying only two toys for OJ. AND sleeping for eight whole hours. Definitely on the right track. XXXXX