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With only one college student left in the mostly empty nest, the family and I took on our civic duty of back-to-school shopping at Nebraska Crossing Outlets and scored all kinds of deals at Under Armour, Nike, and Polo. But let's not forget that requisite selfie I captured while sporting a swaggy Ralph Lauren hat, looking all Indiana Jones-ish when I was actually going for more of a Jennifer Lopez-like vibe.
Must go back for selfie redo purposes, I guess. *shrug* (click photos to enlarge)
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 This photo collage is just a peek into all of the excitement I had partying it up on and around my actual birthday. Still coming down from all of the party goodness, I have to admit that shopping, food, and time with my people will never grow old, and neither will I.
What better day to shop for new eyeglasses than on Martin Luther King Jr.'s holiday, the day upon which we celebrate the life, actions, and words of a leader who inspired all with visions of hope and unity. So in honor of MLK Day, the family and I took advantage of my newly acquired vision benefit by getting fitted with these swanky new glasses. And not only did I feel all excited about getting huge discounts, but I also felt special in having a paid holiday on which to celebrate and shop.
"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope." — from "I Have A Dream" speech, Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963  When the heavens opened today and dropped me and my peeps right smack down HERE for the day, you'd better believe we loaded up on all kinds of Nike, Under Armour, and Columbia goodness - all washed down by an Iced Camelicious from Scooters. (Ok, that was the oldest peep's beverage since I'd already imbibed a triple-shot espresso before leaving the house and didn't require any more caffeine, but it really was a necessary part of the adventure and worth mentioning, nonetheless.)
And then as we were leaving, not so strangely the idea of taking up residence at the nearby Super 8 crossed my mind - for future convenient power shopping purposes, of course. That along with my own personal U-Haul truck to transport everything home. Hmmm... new bucket list item? Check.  There's never a boring moment while shopping at Target with an English major, and yesterday's trip was a perfect example, as evidenced by this Entenmann's chocolate doughnut shelving label photo. After snapping this picture, the English Major and I took "dont" as a subliminal message encouraging us to stay on the straight-and-narrow and walk right past this frosted goodness.
Thankfully the wine aisle was free of any hidden messages. This week's shopping trips to Target and Super Saver have been particularly photo-worthy, as noted by the above gallery of images, all of which had me picturing possible scenarios leading up to each shelving fail. Not only that, but I was also left wondering how much clean-up is left behind on a daily basis... and who is at home enjoying that extra egg.
We shall never know.  This selfie taken with my college-aged daughter who is home on summer vacation more than adequately captures the unbroken spirit I'm feeling - because while yes I do miss certain elements that are now missing from my daily life, I also still do love the good stuff that remains and feel grateful for so much of it... like being able to take filtered snaps in the Target parking lot without too many people thinking we're a couple of weirdos.
Oh, and s'mores - feeling super grateful for those, too. ... but I'm still experiencing slightly rollercoaster-ish times as I navigate this whole landing-a-new-job ordeal. In fact, today I even dragged myself to church to pray, but while trying to put up a decent prayer, I found myself all distracted by the Cute Baby situation going on in the pew directly in front of me. It wasn't exactly Cute Baby who was shifting my focus, but all of the nearby parishioners ooing and ahhing over Cute Baby. They couldn't stop themselves!
People. Yes, it's a BABY and babies are CUTE. But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what it was that made Cute Baby so incredibly magnet-like. I mean yes, I'm all for the appreciation of baby cuteness, but wow. *smh* Back to focusing... well, I tried focusing at least, but praying while people are rubber-necking over a Cute Baby? Almost impossible, I tell you. So here we go, I hunkered down on my thoughts and crunched out a mental list of positive things for which I am thankful during this freakishly bumpy ride:
Meanwhile, back to job searching with a vengeance... minus Cute Baby distractions, THANKFULLY.  Feeling all exuberant after the 12+ hour road trip bringing this lovely chica back home from college for summer break. So here we are back in shopping mode again, complete with testing Snapchat selfie filters. Perfectly legitimate way to bond, IMHO. Now if I can just get her hooked on sushi... we have plenty of time. *fingers crossed*
 Spring Break brought this peepster back to the homestead for a week, and as you can see, we are all smiles about spending some much needed family time together. And I seriously believe this particular Koala-filtered Snap accurately reflects how thrilled we are to be back in our Saturday shopping routine, even if it is just a trip to the local Target. (Having that added stop to Starbucks just inside the door is a definite bonus making our smiles that much brighter - must acknowledge that little perk.)
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AuthorI am Brenda Swenson and sometimes I blog. Archives
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