Early Christmas at the Tucson Mall

It wasn't in our plans to visit the Tucson Mall this weekend, but with the extended rains we were getting antsy to walk and so we went on Saturday.  I knew the decorations would be "up" and decided ahead of time to just go with the early "ho-ho-hos" even though, for me, the Season begins after Thanksgiving.  I have no plans to be anywhere near shopping next weekend, and then we have our anniversary (39 years) and Mark's dad's birthday (91 years) the next weekend....  So, just on the whim of the day, I did some holiday shopping as well and enjoyed myself.  As long as Mark can find a place to sit with his phone and do emails and texting, he doesn't complain but he is no shopper as our son is--and Aron and I had many good times at the Tucson Mall, lo, these three decades. 

Here are two photos by Mark that capture the Santa's Village scene from the second floor, and "just the tree" in at the west end of the first floor.  There were many shoppers, lots of families and kiddies (little girls with lavendar bows in their hair, boys riding on the "Safari animals" in front of JCP). 
It's not Times Square or even a town square, but in Tucson, it's good enough.

Keep Calm

It's been a bit of a slog this week since I came down with a respiratory virus and, besides the sneezing, stuffy nose and lingering cough, had absolutely no "zip" in my step or brain.  I notice that when I am not feeling up to par, one of the first things to go is my creativity; the second, is patience.  So I tend to just hunker down and watch t.v. and do the basics such as take care of Charlie A. Gray, water my outside plants and do laundry.

I did start reconnecting with friends toward the end of the week and found a bundle of three mini-journals I bought at B&N a few weeks ago.  I shared two with friends and kept one; all have the theme of bicycles on the covers.  While waiting for one to meet up with me yesterday, Mark took a photo of the journal cover I was giving to her.  As I began my day today, I decided its message is appropriate for me to keep in mind as I move through my day, week, life.  Maybe it will help you, too:).

Playground date

This week we were happy to spend time with 6 year old Izy.  We went to Foothills Mall for lunch and, after lunch, she played in the playground.  While there she met a young boy, Brendon, and we watched them exchange names and phone numbers to "get together again at the playground."  It was fascinating to watch how this relationship unfolded in 30 minutes, demonstrating how we humans socially interact with strangers and navigate from the unknown to connecting with another.

Here are two photos of Izy in "play and smile" mode with a bit of flirtation in her posture.  This is how little girls begin to bedazzle little boys!