Stretch Marks and Booze

The holiday season is in full swing. We had our first holiday party on Saturday. You know what the best kind of party is? The open house kind that starts at 3pm and ends at 5pm. It eliminates any of the normal social anxiety. No pressure, no presents and good company.

Last night I got to spend a little time with Brogan. He’s been getting up early and going to the gym, then to school and working everyday. I feel like I never see him anymore. We went and had some retail therapy at TJ Maxx. I’m a sucker for dog sweaters. Of course I walked out of there with new bath mats, hand towels, and some other stuff I probably didn’t need. Oh, and the 3 new dog sweaters.

Sundays are shopping days for Chuck and I. Today we were able to avoid Meijer and just do Costco, Aldi and Sam’s club. The line for Aldi was insane. There was just one cashier for the longest time. It’s funny because once they announce a register is opening its every man for themself. There is no zipper merge or next in line order. We ended up in the very end lane. There was a sweet woman ahead of us with a few items. She was probably 70. Of course in horrible with guessing age so that could vary by a good 10 years. Anyway, she had a bottle of chocolate liquor and a little box of wine. The cashier asked for her drivers license. She explained that it was in her car. He then told her that he couldn’t sell it to her because it was company policy. She didn’t get nasty or mean. She understood but stated that she’d go without because it was too busy to go out to the car to grab it and come back in.

I didn’t have to make eye contact with my husband for him to know what was coming next. As she started to head toward the bagging area I walked up and asked her if she’d like me to purchase them for her. She looked at me in disbelief. I turned to the cashier and asked him to put them on my order. Of course my husband starts running his mouth about buying liquor for people is illegal and blah blah blah. The woman then said she didn’t have any cash. I told her it was on us. I can’t tell you how that small gesture made both of our days. She mentioned that she has done things like that for other people but has never had it done for her. She gave me a hug and thanked us several times. Even as we were going our separate ways in the parking lot she was wishing us a happy holiday. Today I bought booze for a woman who was absolutely of age and could definitely afford it. I don’t drink but that sure doesn’t mean she shouldn’t.

Meal prep is huge in our house right now. Not for us but for Brogan of course. The kid is so disciplined. Watching him try to eat 4000 calories a day is humorous. Apparently he has a hard time achieving this goal. Im pretty sure I could hit that by lunch. Chuck pointed out that he has a stretch mark on his arm today. I can’t tell you how excited he was to have a stretch mark. I actually wish I had video footage of the entire interaction. At one point I offered to show him what a real stretch mark looked like but he graciously declined. I mean what if we could look in the mirror and literally find joy in our stretch marks. What a change in perspective.

The puzzle still isn’t done. I’m really hoping to have it done before Christmas at this point. I have a cookie exchange party on Thursday. This is my first time doing this. Apparently you bring 11 dozen cookies and everyone shares them. I chose Spritz cookies. These were a staple at the holiday growing up. I can’t make a batch without remembering my mom getting frustrated with the cookie press, every single year. Those kind of memories are the best!