Yesterday was a fun day. The only negatives were the cold and wind, along with a few kids here and there who were just as uncivilized and animalistic as they usually are. At least there are not zillions of them everywhere you turn like down in Arizona, and at least the one that started screaming when we were eating hushed up a bit when its mother told it to.

Anyway, it wasn’t cold to the point where I needed my ski jacket and gloves. I could get by in just a windbreaker, but it was the wind that made it seem rather chilly. When the sun came out, which wasn’t often enough, it was okay. But being both cloudy and windy for the most part, it wasn’t as nice as it could’ve been. Summer’s supposed to be back Tuesday. Let’s hope it’ll be for more than a week, too! It shouldn’t be in the low 50s in what’s nearly June.

We got off the bus which had been fairly crowded and checked out a flower shop. They had these colorful, hand-painted butterflies that were nice. Sometime I may pick one up for Joy to hold instead of the dingy white dove she’s been holding.

We ate lunch at what’s still my favorite Chinese place. I missed it a lot. He got American food, of course, and I got fried rice and egg foo young and found it to be just as good as always. The owner was there, as well as the waitress who waited on us the very first time we went there. She remembered us and said she saw us walking earlier.

I found myself half-wishing Jane had returned to work there, free of drugs and looking good.

We thought of how our lives were when we were last there a year and a half ago and were like, wow! You mean those two people were us? Those broke, homeless people who nobody gave a damn about were us? I still can’t believe his mother left us to starve and live in motels. As I’ve been saying ever since, may the rest of her days be filled with pain and misery! Some things truly are unforgivable, that’s for sure. I will never forgive her, and I sure as hell won’t forget either. The only thing that’s worse now as opposed to the last time we were there is my ear problems, and of course, God only knows how many more cavities I’ve got now. I’ve prayed for help with these things just to be ignored, so I’ve given up and have learned to live with it, though some days are harder than others. Why God would want me to continue to be plagued by these things is beyond me, but obviously He does. After all, if He didn’t care about all those who died in the tsunami or Hurricane Katrina, as I’ve always said, then why would He care if little Jodi S of Klamath Falls, Oregon suffered ear and teeth problems and continued to get more and more farsighted by the minute?

After we ate, we went to K-mart and found that they had many of those pink and purple bikes, but decided that Tom would walk up to get one today and then ride it back, since we knew we were going to be bogged down with grocery bags on the way back. The front half is pink and the back half is purple. The wheels are 26” like the wheels on Tom’s red bike, but a different brand. He’s watching a car race now, then we’re going to lower the seat, tighten things up, and head out. This is my first bike since I was 19. My hips and ankles sometimes bother me if I walk a long time, despite my jogging in place a few times a week. I used to have no problem walking long distances, but back then I wasn’t 40 years old and 25 pounds overweight. So this is why I hope biking will be better for me.

What I did get at K-mart was a Courtney doll. Guess she’s another new friend of Barbie’s. I got a new hairbrush there too, then it was off to Fred Meyer. There, I got another Lea doll and fake eyelashes for Denise while he started gathering groceries. When I was done I went to help him finish off the shopping before we took the bus back. It was very crowded at this time, but it was nice to be dropped off right in front of the house.

The eyelashes turned out to be a bust which really sucks since they’re awesome. They have glitter on them. Because Denise has no eyelids, her original eyelashes are applied from under the rim of the top part of the eye. Ashley, who also has lower lashes as well as upper ones, are applied the same way on the inner rims of the eyes. I might be able to apply the plain lashes I got on Denise so she can have lower lashes as well, but if I applied the upper glittery lashes, the glitter would be on the underside and not on top. Perhaps if I get that mannequin I hope to get at the end of the year that gazes downward, she could wear them because half her eyes are covered by her lids.

Later…

Tom and I researched getting clear plastic tubes to use as doll covers for those dolls whose outfits are hard to wash. Those are usually the glittery ones. It doesn’t look good for us getting any because they’re typically sold in such huge quantities. I’ll probably get vinyl bag covers for them. They’re the cheapest I could find.

We also researched painting mannequins to sell and that didn’t look promising either. There was no set way to do it that we could find. I guess you just use whatever you feel works best. You can put any kind of coating you want over the fiberglass, which we’re now pretty sure both of these are made of. One company needed people to paint mannequins for them and out of the 130 applicants they got, one of which was an art instructor, not one of them could paint on a 3-dimensional surface. I don’t know if I can, but as Tom pointed out, I have a way of doing things most people can’t. Yes, and I also have a way of not being able to do things others can do, too!

I still have quite a bit more stuff on my list I want to get, so it’ll be a few months before I get a cheap form and some paints to practice on, but this is only if I think I can really sell any. It’s gotten to be a rather competitive business.

We took our bikes out earlier, and for a minute there I wanted to slap the person who said that one never forgets how to ride a bike! I’ve only ridden kids’ bikes before, so I had to get used to this adult bike. Tom said it was awkward for him at first too, but after a few rides, he was fine. K-mart said we could return it for a kid’s bike if need be, but I think I can get comfortable enough with this one. If anything, the seat was the most awkward. This fat ass could use a wider one, but I think I’ll get used to that, too. I just wish this place wasn’t so damn hilly! Even MA was flatter than this. Coasting too fast downhill can be scary, even dangerous, and there are such steep hills here that you have to squeeze the brakes all the way down to keep from reaching such outrageous speeds. On level or somewhat level surfaces, it rides smoothly. We just rode up and down some side streets, not wanting to ride on this street because it’s a busy one until I’d tried it out. Tomorrow we’ll probably go downtown. With it being Memorial Day, there shouldn’t be too many vehicles or pedestrians out. Let’s just say I already got enough of a head start to see where it really would be a wonderful form of exercise. Tom says he thinks it’s the best. Walking and swimming never did much for me, and neither did the jogging in place since I can only do it for so long before my knees get irritated. Too much walking gets to my ankles, knees and hips, and you’d have to swim for many hours to really get much benefit from that, not that I could just go swimming anywhere around here. With a bike, though, you’re using muscles you don’t ordinarily use and elevating your heartbeat without putting stress on your joints.