A middle-aged woman walks into a bar...

Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, right?

No joke, just observation.

Tuesday I was in Dallas and going to my favorite mall, NorthPark. I decided that Nordstrom's crab cake lunch sounded too tempting to pass up. Or, perhaps the cilantro lime salad with shrimp. I would win, either way. It was 12:30 when I arrived and no tables available, but I could sit at the bar.

I decided to join the other single, and for the most part, middle-aged women at the bar.

I don't do this very often, so I'm obviously ignorant of the rules. It seems that you can plop all your worldly goods onto the next bar seat. This keeps anyone from sitting beside you. Unless there isn't an option and then the newcomer can ask for the goods to be moved. I didn't have to do this because the young-enough-to-be-my-daughter woman was picking up her goods and leaving. The bartender was being most solicitous and she had two of those little chocolate minty stick dessert things, so I thought things were looking up.

I obviously forgot the 'middle-aged' part of my description. I cannot complain about the service--he was very busy because it seems every by-herself middle-aged shopper was at the bar--but solicitous isn't the descriptor I'd use. Ahem.

I settled on the salad, envied the glass of white wine the lady down the bar was having, and tried to listen at any/all conversations going on around me. (Eavesdropping is de rigueur for a writer.) However, everyone (except me) had their worldly goods on the next seat and there weren't any conversations.

Thirty minutes after I hoisted myself onto the bar seat, I was walking out the door. Check paid, tip given, and only one chocolate mint stick to my name.

The way of it

It's taken four years, but granddaughter Emily who will be 4 next week, has broken the code to her granddaddy's heart. And credit card.

Said granddad kept Emily and Jack this morning while their mom had an appointment. A grand time was had by all, I gather, and they eventually went out to lunch. Then Emily and her pigeon--uh, granddad--went shopping at the NorthPark Disney Store without mom's supervision.

Although warned via text from me to be careful in all non-approved parental purchases, my spouse texted back that he had learned one could never have too many shoes.

He also now knows the term "jelly shoes", an item NOT on mom's shopping list.

But then, isn't that what Granddaddys are for?

The little turtle that could... not

Does it look so unsurmountable? See the little turtle on the edge of the water, wanting to get to the top of whatever that thing is? How long before frustration sets in and he gives up?

Because when you see the bigger picture, it is daunting.



Maybe he's lucky he's so little and doesn't know he'll never make it to the top. That ignorance is not only bliss, but most of the time we wouldn't accomplish what we do if we really knew the odds.

Maybe he was just resting and couldn't find the side of this indoor pond inside NorthPark Mall in Dallas.

Or, maybe he just wanted his picture taken.

Killing time at NorthPark

Highway construction being what it is (unpredictable and time-consuming), I left the house extra early this morning to make it to a Dallas appointment on time. I knew I'd be early, but as so often happens, when one does not need the gift of extra time, one gets it. Traffic flowed like hot syrup and I arrived at NorthPark Mall in Dallas 30 minutes before the stores opened. The mall, of course, was open for walkers and employees, so in I went.

Having taken care of the basics--ladies' room and a Starbucks--I pondered what to do next. Retail mall shopping became an in-and-out get-it-done proposition for me when I discovered antique malls, so I never take time in a mall. I do what I need to do and then go on to what is, to me, a more fun venue. But I still had 20 minutes.

The mall is decorated for autumn, of course, but this morning, I actually looked at it and admired. One display in particular drew my attention, a large (10' x 10'?) horizontal display/flower box layered from one side to the other with gourds, mini-pumpkins, and I think bromeliads. How clever! There were larger pumpkins around the trees, bright mums everywhere. And I walked and window-shopped, noted that I'd seen all these styles before, the baby doll dresses and bubble skirts. I hadn't worn them then... I wasn't going to start now.

So I had to slow down and smell the mums, so to speak, get out of the way of the mall speed-walkers, try not to gawk at the young moms who'd pushed their strollers into a corner and were doing group stretching exercises.

So I don't guess I was really killing time. I was just finding a new use for the gift of it.

How does a week go by so fast?

It's been almost a week since I posted. How can that be? What have I been doing?

Well, I actually wrote some. That's a good thing. Worked in the garden quite a bit. Went shopping on the way to a wonderful Mother's Day afternoon with my granddaughter (her parents were there, too). Explored the public bathrooms at a mall, thought I'd remember all the particulars and then didn't, so I was back at square haven't-done-anything immediately.

But today I had my notebook in hand.

Nordstrom's NorthPark Mall, Dallas: The women's lounge. Right there should warn you you'll be okay. There were couches and a sitting room where I've seen mothers and infants before. It earns a 110 for the large baby changer and the auto-flush.

NorthPark Mall, Dallas: Public restrooms downstairs "under" the theatre. Gets a 100. They had separate family restrooms and a nursing room. I've seen this before, but never paid any attention to it until the granddaughter showed up.

Starbucks, Hardin and Eldorado, McKinney: -5 for being a one-holer (but they all are), +5 for the baby changer. 100.

Am I getting easy or just going nice places?