Spicy Dragons & Dinosaurs

I love getting comments. I love it when friends stop by and just say, "hi," I'm thinking of you. It is so cozy to read a few kind words before I start to write. I do appreciate it. Really, I have so much to appreciate. Friends who call to check on me. Friends who make sure that I am doing a little something. You know, I am busy, I have many tasks, but I get lonely -- I know I can be a complete bore when someone says, how are you. I tell them. I hope my friends don't stop asking.

Today, after therapy, Julia and I went out for some shopping and a movie. And she did great! We both need some spring shoes -- or new shoes in general. Somehow Julia has really plugged into Sketchers, and because the store we go to does a one pair of shoes at full price and the second at half, when I buy shoes, Julia's sketchers are not extraordinarily expensive. They are cool.

We found 4 pairs for her to try on and then I made her pick her favorite. This is still hard for her, but she did it. We did a bit of elimination so it was down to two pairs to chose between. And then she carried the box around with her as I shopped. She found at two grownups to share her news of new shoes. Oh, that girl can be friendly.

And then we went to the mall to buy some spring clothes. I usually don't take Julia shopping, in fact, I avoid it like the plague, but . . . BUT she is tall and skinny and I really don't have a handle on what size to buy for her. So, armed with ear plugs in the ear, Julia and I ventured into "children's place," a clothes store. They were have some sales and I had some coupons. We picked out a pretty dress -- sort of for easter and dressy dinner. Dress: size 8. We found sweat pants -- well, sort of, sweat pants, fancy stetchie pants: size 6x. We found a few shirts: sizes 8 or 10 for length. And an adjustable skort: size 8. And, bring on a drum roll, a pair of spring pants and can roll up to be capris. This is the first time that Julia has tried on and agreed to buy (and wear!) pants. We have been inching towards pants with leggings under dresses and skirts, and stretch pants with sweaters, but these are real, button and zippered pants. But sizes are still crazy -- anywhere from 6x to 10, depending what the garment is covering. I swear we tried on at least two or three of each item in different sizes before we put something on our pile. The dressing room was a mess by the time we left.

Now to see if she wears those pants.

And she looked so good trying these clothes on.

It was more like going shopping with Cheshire when she was about 7 or so, than going shopping with Julia last year.

Small step for Julia, giant step for my sanity.

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Just to add a bit to this after two comments from long time readers: I am not a shopper by any means. I hate malls and would rather walk around with hole-ly jeans and underwear rather than to take time to shop. Online shopping has proved to be boon, but when sizing it tough, I just gotta see it on. And so, to be able to go to a store and try clothes on seems really wonderful.

The other kink in the thread here is that with school, home, and Julia and no David, I've been too busy with chores and necessities to make time to shop. I also haven't felt like it at all -- not that I ever feel like shopping but the resistance has been much higher. And the shoes I replaced yesterday showed it.

There was a bit of time right after David died that I thought I was getting into retail therapy, but I think that was just the shock and severe disassociation. Smile. It was really not me at all and lasted a very short time.