ONE OF THE BEST DAYS EVER

Post from Sunday, December 28, 2008

I have to admit, today was one of the best days I have had lately…..heck, it WAS the best day I have had lately, or possibly even ever.

I had planned on getting up early and going grocery shopping. But when my alarm went off, I looked out the window and it was dark, drizzly, foggy, yucky. I hit the one hour snooze alarm and went back to sleep.

An hour later, I hit the one hour snooze alarm again. I finally got up at noon. After making sure I was fully awake, but not out of bed yet, I called my daughter to see if we were still on for lunch today at Cracker Barrel. She was already up and awake, which is strange for my child, lol. She said she wanted to go with me to eat, so we made a date for 2:30 pm.

After showering and dressing, I drove over to the restaurant and went on in to put our names on the list because there was such a huge crowd. My daughter arrived about 5 minutes later, and then about 5 minutes after that they called our name.

I usually love the store part of the restaurant, but today I didn’t see anything I wanted. So I figured we would spend the whole gift card on food and tip. And we did, lol. We both had a scrumptious meal, great conversation, and no arguments. I didn’t want the time together to end.

I gave her some jewelry I had gotten from work, like a pair of Georgia Bulldog earrings, a necklace, and a pink-stoned butterfly belly-button ring. My daughter’s belly-button isn’t pierced currently, but she has said she wants to have it redone when she loses some weight. (It brought back memories of when she had it pierced the first time………when she was 16 and still at home. I went into the bathroom to get something and she was in the bathtub. She has always been modest about people seeing her naked, but usually didn’t freak out when I went into the bathroom while she was in the tub. She screamed at me and bent over, like she was hiding herself from my sight. I found out much later that she was hiding her belly-button ring she had had done the day before without my knowledge or permission. Back then I was furious, but now I realize that it wasn’t one of those battles I should have fought so fiercely. But hey, hindsight is 20/20.

She gave me my Christmas present, which I told her wasn’t necessary. It was a nice card with 2 Wal-Mart gift cards inside, each worth $25. It was a really nice gift. I have the $55 gift card from my boss still unused, so figured I could do some damage at Wallyworld.

After we finished eating and taking some time to just sit and talk, we went to Wal-Mart, which is right next to the restaurant. She had said she had to get groceries while over that way, and I needed to get some things as well. So we both drove over to Wal-Mart and went in together. I followed her through the food section and picked up a few things here and there. It was sorta cool watching my baby girl buy groceries. Out on her own, alone, for the first time in her life. Atta girl……….

She ran into a few people she knew and talked briefly to them, and a couple of my customers from the SA were there as well and we talked briefly. A woman my daughter and I both knew called out to me and came to hug me. She is part of my depressing history from a few years back. It wasn't really great that we ran into her.

My daughter had wanted to purchase a new vacuum cleaner but they were out of stock on the one she wanted. I told her to check it out online to see if it is on sale there, and if so, they have to ship it to the nearest Wal-Mart for free.

After completing our shopping spree, we went to 2 different cashiers because she had much more stuff than I did, so I was done before she was and was able to help her put her items in the buggy (yes, buggy, a southernism, lol). We went out to our cars, unloaded, hugged, kissed, and said our goodbyes. She was headed home to put up her groceries and take a nap, while I was headed to another store to pick up a couple of things and then home. I was still full when I got home, so didn’t fix anything to eat until later. I fixed a banana sandwich for supper.

It was a truly amazing day for me. I am sure that my daughter didn’t enjoy it as much as I did, but she didn’t seem too anxious to run away from me the whole time, which, in my book, is a real plus. We have had some rocky times over the last 8 years. Just being together without fighting or getting upset is a real blessing. I think we both have matured.

Well, I am going to try to post this while I have a wifi connection. I have to work the next 3 days. My mindset is to not let anyone over the next 3 days steal the joy I have felt today. I know they are going to try, but it just ain’t gonna happen………..

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