Boots and belts

Today, for the second time, I went to a warehouse scratch-and-dent sale for this boot company that I love, Tecovas. I was going simply to meet my mom and stepdad and see if he might be able to find a pair of boots – his first pair of western boots, actually – for the upcoming rodeo season. He’s on a committee with us all now, so he needs to have at least one pair for the shifts he works for the committee.

Anyway, I went for them, grabbed some things to keep them available while waiting on them to arrive, since I live much closer, and I also grabbed a few belts for my man’s and for me, since the belts were half the price today that they had been Friday. Eventually, they arrived, and my stepdad liked and bought a very nice pair that I had grabbed for him. (When he tried them on and walked around, my mom and I both were impressed with how nice it made him look as a whole – what we wear truly does make a difference!) I was there an hour before they arrived. Then we three spent about forty minutes working on my stepdad’s boots.

However, it took me another two hours before I left. Why?

Because I asked my man about a pair of men’s loafers.

He got too stressed, so, yet again, I got to wait at this sale while he went to the regular store beer our house to try on boots in the store in order to confirm fits and sizes. And yes, you read that correctly. We did this already on Friday for a couple hours. One benefit, though, was that prices dropped while I was waiting, so we got them all for even less than they already would have been at the already-amazing prices.

Eventually, however, after four hours of being in the store with no bathrooms (because it’s a pop-up shop situation, not a real store), I left with, for the price of one pair of boots new at the store – approximately $300, though they are $600-$700 comparable quality – one pair of loafers, two pair of men’s boots, and five very nice leather belts belts. Not bad. Not bad at all.

I actually had a really great time doing it all, too. I also noticed how much I like to help people. I was consistently either chatting with a waiting person or helping people find what they were seeking or, get this, helping to organize the products. I even went through all the women’s belts to confirm that all but a few were size XS, pulled the few out and set them next to the huge plastic bins, and then adjusted the sign that read S to read XS, and split the XS belts in the two bins evenly. Yes, I pulled out a pen from my bag to write the X on the sign, very similarly to how they were adjusting all the signs around (one-time paper signs, you see). So, anyway, I had a good time helping people. And I also found great satisfaction and delight in getting things for someone that are both useful, solid quality, wanted, and a treat all in one.

Thank you, God, for such a lovely start to the day today, and thank you for the lovely continuation and finish it has had. Thank you for this beautiful life. Please, heal those in need of healing and help them to ask for healing and forgiveness in all ways. Thank you for this love I receive. Please, keep my man safe. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Getting closer…

One more day, and then he’ll be heading back to me. I can hardly wait. I’ve never missed someone – not even him – like this.

God, keep him safe, please, and give him a safe and easy passage back here this Friday, along with all his things and the car and the dog – keep them all safe and well and together, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

So much

Do you ever have so much that you want to say and share with the world that it just feels like it would take far too much time and effort, either for yourself or regarding the other person’s time and patience, and so, you just say nothing at all?

Or when, simply out of some degree of fear, you just don’t say what you really, truly want to say in a given situation?

I wonder how many wonders in life are lost that way, how many friendships never discovered nor deepened…

Perhaps it would be a service to all creation, if we were to start asking people directly and openly what they would like to share with us today, each day we meet them. And then, if we actually listened to what they had to reply each time.

That could be spectacular, I do believe.

Post-a-day 2021

Irony

I went to an outlet mall today (filled with almost no one, actually), to go specifically to Lululemon for some sports gear.

You see, the bras I have from there are spectacular.

But my workout have been so good this past year that, well, they don’t fit anymore… they are too big on me.

So, I needed to get some new sports bras, and I wanted to get good quality for something like that, that I would use so often.

So, we go to Lululemon, and sign up on the digital waitlist… the wait is estimated at two hours, because so few people are allowed in the store at once, right?

Right.

Like at certain busy restaurants and eateries, we were to receive a text message when an estimated ten to 15 minutes remained in our wait time, and it would say this and that we should return to the store now.

Unlike these restaurants and eateries, we also received a link that we could refresh at will in order to see where our party was “in line”.

We started at spot number thirty.

We walked around outside a long while – around 8,000 steps worth – before heading back toward the store (where we were parked), and verifying that we still were only around 9th in line.

The doorman told us that, since it was “parties” and not just individuals “in line”, we had plenty of time to go get the ice cream we were considering.

So, we drove to HEB, I did some quick research as to why I couldn’t find a childhood favorite anymore, and I got a very close alternative to it.

We then enjoyed our treats back in the car, and received our text message notification about 45 seconds after pulling into a parking space back at Lululemon.

I then had a blast in the store, and my friend, though not finding anything she was wanting inside the store, found a delightful time outside the store, practicing her handstands, and eventually being joined by one of the store’s staff – perhaps he was on his break? – to share in the doing of handstands, and to display free handstand push-ups (they are bomb, and it is a pleasure to witness anyone doing these successfully)(!).

We headed home after a good while, both of us quite satisfied, both in mind and in belly.

The irony?

If you missed it, the irony was that I was getting new sportswear, because I’d released so much weight/fat from my body through my workouts and healthy eating…, yet I went and had what was likely an extremely high-calorie tub of ice cream while waiting to purchase said new sportswear… 😛

But I didn’t finish it, so, that is good, and it is now in the freezer here, finding a new version of itself after having melted. 😀

Post-a-day 2020