Memories...like the corners of my mind...

Misty water-colored memories...
of the way we were....

Sing it Barbara!

So I went to PA this weekend to visit Carol - who is faring mahvelously, btw. She is kicking chemo's ass, making it her bitch...all of those powerful macho sayings you can think of. She looks great, she's feeling mostly good...we had a great weekend. Mostly I was there for entertainment, and entertain I did.

Thursday night we watched Idol eliminations and Are you smarter than a 5th grader (ummm, no.) and Nashville Star. Coolest thing on Idol EVER - when Leslie was doing her sing-out, she changed the lyrics to "Why on earth did I scat" "America doesn't like jazz" or something like that. Love that girl. Maybe they'll bring her back when they boot Antonella for her nudey pics and underage drinking....not that I agree with them booting ANYONE over that, but if you're going to ding the heavier-set black girl for the same offense, you have to nix the pretty white girl, too. The difference? Frenchie could actually SING, while Antonella is just eye candy for ... someone.

But this isn't about Idol! This is about my TRIP. This is about my entertaining skills - crazy mad skills of entertainment proportions. Friday found us at the wig store, and what a time it was! You can see my personal best on the right. I have plenty more where this came from. Long wigs, short wigs, curly wigs, straight wigs, pink wigs, two-tone wigs...you name it, we tried it on.

We got Carol's hair layered up a little more so she looks totally cute now...she felt like she looked like a boy, now she looks like a rock star. Especially since I put red highlights in both of our do's. My hairdresser is going to have a heart attack.

Driving through Mon Valley, however was just a little depressing. You know how when you're a kid, and there are things that are just, just...well, cool. Places you've been, things you've seen - and then you go to take YOUR kids there or share it with someone else and it's just not the same and you're like "how is my memory of this SO DIFFERENT??? I swear this mountain at this putt-putt course was taller than the Sears Tower!" Well - I had that experience a few times on this trip. One of the biggest memories of my trips to PA in my youth was the shopping Valhalla that was Gabriel Brothers - or Gabe's as we liked to lovingly call it. I can remember buying all sorts of designer goods there for nothing - NOTHING, I say. I think I even brought Jul back a shirt I bought her for like $2. I was so proud. The long and the short of it, Gabe's is a glorified bruised and reduced store - you know what I mean. Sometimes you go in and get lucky and find something for a steal. Mostly you just weed through the junk and wonder what you're doing there.

I went there in the hopes I could find a pair of sneakers. Because, well, mine are missing. Yes, it's true. Missing. I can't find them anywhere. It's been weeks, maybe months. At this point I can't remember the last time I wore them and they're just...gone. I've stopped looking and I'm just going to buy a new pair. I'm due. I bought those like 5 years ago, on sale, at Kohl's (Kohl's was having a SALE??? Shocking!) for $16. Yes...because they were breaking up with the Asics brand (they no longer sell them there for women) - I got these for a steal. And they were great. And now they're gone. Anyway...
So I went to Gabe's! The best.store.ever. The store of my youth! The store of bargains and great finds and...

hot dogs. People - I couldn't get past it. You know how you walk into a home improvement store and they're selling some sort of processed meat product and it smells so good you think "I have to hurry up and shop because I will just DIE if I don't get my hands on some processed meat with mustard and onions when I leave!!"

This was nothing like that. This was high school cafeteria meat smell. And it permeated the entire place. And it's not small...it's like warehouse huge and I was as far from the door as you could get and all I could smell were those damn dogs. Killing.me. Killing my shopping experience. And they didn't have any good kicks in my size. And they didn't have much of anything that caught my eye. I was depressed. I was lost....where was the fantastic bargain shopping of my youth where I would load up my cart while my mom smiled on???

So I grabbed some popcorn and a large fountain drink on my way out and sadly made my way back to Carol's. Maybe next time they'll have some shoes for me...or at least a belt. Something.