The Mean Reds

My mother always says that hamburger and a chocolate milkshake will cure what ails you ( in a stressed, upset, feminine hormonal moody sort of way). While I am a firm believer in this philosphy I must admit that I tried something a little different to cure the mean reds today.

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Instead of a (well-done) burger, I went fresh with a Subway sandwich. The lady behind the counter was very friendly and I could feel a bit of happiness seeping through and tugging at my saggy mood while I sat in the sun, read a book and ate my sandwich.

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I then had two hours to kill before "babysitting my brother-in-law" (that's a story for another time).. so i went for a stroll through Wal-Mart- always a good place to waste time and spend money on things you never knew you needed.

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In desperate need of a good pick-me-up, I picked up the phone and called my grandma Jean. She was a bit confused as to who was calling until I explained that it was her favorite granddaughter on the phone- that cleared things right up ;)

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After catching up a bit we got to chatting about life and the way things were back in the day compared to the way things are- which is pretty darn good. I have often felt lonely, out of place, etc. living at home, but she helped me to see how truly fortunate I am. I live with a lively, loving bunch - and at when else in my life would I have the opportunity to just bask in the inside jokes, delicious food, fun memories and loving bonds of my family? I mean Raffi alone would be enough to keep be happy, but when you throw the rest into the mix, you have the recipe for extreme and utter bliss (not to mention a whole lot of laughs)

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After a marvelous chat with my wise and ever-so-understanding grandmother, I finally found my way to the 50% off Halloween candy table (my initial reason for going to Wal-mart). As I made my way to the check-out, candy bags in arm, a couple with a very full cart pulled in front of me. Although they appeared a bit tough on the outside, they graciously offered to let me go first, as I had fewer items.

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We easily fell into friendly chatter. We talked about how much his daughter loves Sour Patch Kids, how much his son eats in a week (wow) and how weird it is to have applesauce in a CapriSun-type pack (now that's just wrong).

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Point of the story- when I climbed back in my car I realized that the clouds had lifted and the blues were gone. I guess there is more than one way to cure the mean reds... I really need to get out of my box more and take a look at just how good I really have it!