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The Reluctant
I don't know if it's my age, my affinity for imitating a sloth, or my overall reluctance to spend any money on myself, but lately, I don't seem to be my same old adventurous self.
BC (Before Covid) I'd be packed and out the door at the drop of a hat, but I seem to have lost my hat. My aversion to leaving town doesn't have anything to do with the pandemic now although it did in the beginning. I guess I got so used to staying home with only occasional trips to the big box store for groceries that I lost my will to seek new horizons.
A perfect example of my malaise over the last few years is an out-of-state wedding we recently attended. BC I'd have been shopping for weeks for just the right outfit to wear to the wedding. I might have even purchased some new makeup. (Something I have to do anytime I get the notion to wear any since it expires before I wear it again.) Instead, I dreaded even thinking about it. We have very limited resources in town these days and I don't care to shop for clothing online. I need to be able to touch it and try it on. Anything that catches my eye always looks fabulous on the models but doesn't look so fabulous on me. Even with the new 'try before you buy' option I hated the thought.
The fact that I've gained considerable weight since I started cancer treatments could have something to do with it. Okay, it has everything to do with it. When you wear 'Size Tent' shopping just isn't much fun. I know there are large women out there who don't let size factor into their lives. They dress beautifully, apply their makeup every day, fix their hair, and set the world on fire. I really envy them. I'm just not one of them. I'm more like a glowing piece of cheap charcoal briquette that just won't quite catch fire without a lot of help. I just can't get the flames of enthusiasm going.
Anyway, we finally got the suitcases packed and loaded into the car. By the looks of it, you'd have thought I was going on a month-long journey to the far side of the earth instead of a long weekend to a neighboring state. I can't help it. It's the Girl Scout in me. My motto is 'It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.' The fact that I took two pairs of dress shoes and two pairs of flip-flops for a three-day weekend ought to tell you something about me. It's a good thing I did, too. I managed to break the middle toe on my left foot just by entering our room! How graceful is that? LOL It was a lovely outdoor wedding but as soon as it was over, we were ready to head back home like a racehorse galloping back to its stall. Maybe it was the influence of driving in Houston traffic, but David tends to turn into Mario Andretti as soon as we hit any kind of traffic.
At our age we have to make frequent pit stops to stretch our legs and relieve ourselves of the drinks we purchased at the previous station which adds quite a bit of time to our travels. We made a quick stop at a small station, grabbed a bag of chips even though we didn't want anything but felt like we must since we used their facilities and headed for the register. The clerk said, 'Six dollars' and I blinked a couple of times, swallowed hard and squeaked, 'Did you say six?' Six dollars for what I figured should have been a two-dollar bag, but it was clearly printed on the side of the bag. Shaking our heads, we hit the road.
One thing we discovered is there is no way to avoid running into road construction. We traveled on the turnpike between Lawton and Oklahoma City where we ran into miles and miles of orange cones lining the road squeezing the traffic into one lane. No construction in progress. No big equipment in sight. No people except in cars. Just miles and miles of orange cones and signs promising 'Road Work' ahead and a $10,000 fine if you hit one of their (non-existent) workers but no actual work being done. I'd like a refund for every mile per hour under the speed limit we're required to drive.
After many side trips and stops, we made it back home in one piece only a few pounds heavier from all the snack stops. For the sake of our waistlines, I think we're better off staying home. It'd be cheaper too.