We Don't Realize How Good We Have It

I was reminded today to be thankful for what I have.  I was working at Hy-Vee when two women, a mom and daughter, came up to customer service.  They wanted to purchase money orders.  The mom said that she needed to have the money orders in her hand before she was giving the daughter any money.  Well, we need the cash before we can print the money orders.  This caused a major scene between the two.  The daughter said, "It's my money, give it to me now!"  The mother said, "I'm leaving!"  She didn't get out before the daughter ran after her.  They were arguing in front of everyone in the store until an employee who knew the daughter asked them to take it outside.  It wasn't long before the two returned.  This time the mother gave my co-worker over $1,000 to purchase money orders.  After they received them, the daughter asked her mother for the rest of her money.  The mother again refused.  The daughter then called the police.  In the end I believe the mother gave the daughter her money and left her at the store.  The daughter took a straight shot to the liquor department of the store upon reentering the store.

I have seen the daughter in the store before.  One night she came in the liquor department when I was covering a break.  She came up to the counter and said, "I want something quick and cheap."  I showed her the cheapest liquor behind the counter.  She ended up buying some vodka for $4.69.  It is obvious to me that the daughter was an alcoholic and/or drug abuser and the mother was trying to save her.  It was a hard love approach.  The mother did not yell.  It was the daughter who made the scene.  At the counter the daughter said to her mother, "I'm never going to be able to show my face in this store again."  She was the problem not the mother.

It makes me wonder how people get this way.  What happened in their lives that made them this way?  Did they lose a child?  Did they lose their love of their life?  I would love to hear this woman's story.  It just makes me so thankful that my life is not like this.  So thankful for "normalcy" in my life.  We take our lives for granted.  It takes an event for us to stand back and look at ourselves.  Why does it take a tragedy for this to happen?  Love your family.  Tell them often.  Hug and kiss them every day.

Love and Basketball

My husband coaches the 8th grade team that my son Dalton plays on.  Jeff has been coaching my son's teams since Dalton was about 3rd or 4th grade.  This weekend we had a tournament in Ankeny.  Dalton's team lost their first two games.  Jeff and I missed the first game because of his work schedule.  In the second game Dalton played with all his heart.  None of any of the player's shots were landing and they lost by about 10 points. 

We were done for the day by 2:30 pm and checked into our hotel.  The hotel we were staying at was having some kind of hunting convention.  There were dead stuffed animals everywhere.  I am totally against hunting and can't stand seeing animals stuffed and mounted.  Not my thing at all.  We relaxed for a while and then headed out to dinner.  We decided we wanted to eat at a buffet.  There was a buffet that we used to go to when we lived in Clive, so we decided to go there.  It ended up being very gross.  It was the kind of place where you worry you'll end up with food poisoning.  Once we had paid though, we were stuck eating there.  It was the kind of buffet where you're not really sure what the food is the container was.  It was like on "Vegas Vacation" where Eddie says, "Give me some of the yellow." lol!  Scary!  We would have been better off with fast food or pizza.  Oh, well, live and learn.  That night we just layed around the hotel room watching basketball and having a few beers.  We were too tired to go anywhere or do anything.

Our last game was today at 8:00 am.  We almost over slept, but made it on time.  The team we played was not as advanced as our team and at first they couldn't score at all.  It ended up being a 20 point win.  We could have left our second string in for the entire game and won.  We came back home right away and it is good to be home.  Our 17 year old daughter Elle stayed home alone.  She slept in our bed.  It was cute to see her stuffed animals still in the bed.  Now we are home and Jeff and Dalton are passed out sleeping.

I am relaxing watching one of my favorite reality tv shows, "Real Housewives of Orange County".  I think that it is a form of voyeurism, living through the rich bitches on tv. lol  There was a store that they went to on the show and I looked it up online.  It is called Recycled Rags.  It is a used clothing store of high-end items ranging in place from $75 up to likek $6,000.