Day #4. The Sally

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Each day I try and get another chore done - a chore, any chore which has been bugging me for a long time. I am great at starting lots of things, and then either getting bored with the project, or running out of time to finish it. Today it was the two bags of clothes to go to the Salvation Army which had moved three times to three different rooms before they got moved to the car where they lived for another three days.

They guy at the Sally knows me and probably wonders where the hell I get all this stuff? Bags and bags of donations. I have a friend and a sister who give me their clothes, and I go thru them, keeping what I like, and then packing off ones I don't, or ones that I am tired of in my own wardrobe. I try and be feng shui about it because these old houses don't have a lot of closets, and the attic is overflowing with BOOKS and PAPER LARRY, so off the clothes keep going. And folks, my donations are one of the few tax deductions I have left besides my house and struggling art business.

I go in there fairly often, both to donate or to look for an odd thing or two that I might need in the studio for some project. Hot plates, glass jars, old frames. I won't buy clothes there as I don't like the smell in there. I know, I am weird. But just ask my husband about my nose and he will raise his eyebrows and tell you that I should have been hired by the FBI for my sense of smell. (my kids hated it because I knew exactly what they had been up to in the party world).

In all my trips I never remembered seeing the candy machines near the door. But leave it to a 4 year old who is at eye level with the machines to find them. "Yes, of course you can have those jelly beans Alanna" I reply, and dig in my purse for some money. I flash back to being her age and a bit older, and remember all of the candy machines I stared at in my life and dared not ask for a coin to put in them. I think I spent most of my life yearning for things. Candy. Horse rides. Hugs. Boyfriends. Love.Guess it explains some of my hedonistic behaviors....

Because of my crusty eye syndrome, it was off to the Doctor's office where I learned that you can get a form of conjunctivitis from allergies, which is probably what I have. I got meds for both just in case, but can't wear my contacts. There are worse things. There Alanna scored scads of stickers and a lolly pop. Man, maybe I could pimp her out for stuff.

Karen invited us to the pool, where Alanna wore swimmies and waist floats and for the first time was not afraid to get her head wet when she jumped into the water. Ah, the joy of discovery and adventure.

It was my first time all summer in the water, and it was warmer than I had expected with all this rain. I bet if I had her all summer, she would be swimming by the end of it.

It has been a delightful time thus far with her. I get to be the parent I never was with my own kids, due to the lack of tools that I had when I was a single parent, and the stress of my life. Now I know what battles to pick, what not to worry about, and say I yes a lot more than I say no.

Patti O Sage

Comments

Shady Grove Eye Vision Care said…
Your first line of defense is to avoid the cause of conjunctivitis, such as contaminated hand towels. Both viral and bacterial conjunctivitis, which can be caused by airborne sources, spread easily to others.
3:58 AM
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