Frogs in My Viola Garden - Summer 2007

Word of the Day

Conaster - With star, antonym to disaster. The fortunate outcome of an almost imminent disaster; the sensation of a catastrophe narrowly averted and later remembered from the vantage point of safety.

HTP and I took #1 Son out to eat for breakfast. Another opportunity to over-indulge on calories. To make up for all the caloric intake, HTP and I are skipping lunch and supper. After our Sunday brunch, we wore off a few calories when we took #1 Son shopping for some new clothes. He mentioned that all his socks are getting holey and that he really didn't have more than a couple of outfits that were appropriate for his job. JC Penney's was having a really good sale (Back to School Sale), so we took advantage of it. The sale was so good that beside the jeans, pants, shirts, etc. that we got for #1 Son, I bought three new pairs of jeans for me. Men's jeans.

Men's jeans? I've given up on buying women's jeans. I have a really long waist-line. Combined with a really long inseam, I have a hard time finding jeans that actually fit AND that I can afford. Today, I actually found three pair of jeans and I paid less than half of what it would have cost me to buy one pair of the women's jeans that fit me. I'm tired of all these low-rise jeans! I hate these styles. When you're as long-waisted as I am, low-rise jeans end up REALLY low. And then, I get to choose between three lengths. Petite, Average, and Tall. Petite...well...forget it. I stopped being petite in the fourth grade. Average is too short before I wash them. Tall? My legs aren't THAT long. I've already told you how phobic I am around sewing machines and jeans are kind of hard to hem by hand. When I did finally find some women's jeans that fit me, they ended up costing anywhere from $75 - $100...or more. Plus, these women's jeans just aren't designed to last all that long...at least...not the kind of punishment that I tend to put them through. So? I finally gave up today and bought three pairs of men's jeans. Levi's. 501 & 517 . It took me a while to figure out the sizing but the lady who was guarding the women's fitting room didn't seem to mind me trying on all those jeans today. I knew my approximate size but I wasn't too sure of the inseam thing. 30" was too short. I went up to a 31" but that still wasn't quite right. 32" was just right. Even pre-shrunk jeans tend to shrink a bit...or is that shrinkage thing another women's jeans problem?

But you want to know another nice thing? Once I did finally figure out my size, the jeans all fit consistently. I think it's because men never like to try anything on. They enter the store of their choosing. They go directly to any rack in the men's department. They grab their size and they're out of there. Bam! And me? When I finally figured out the sizing, I was able to grab my size off the rack and check out. Outta there. Bam! Woohoo! Love it. Oh...and the zippers are heavier duty on men's jeans than women's jeans too. Bonus. Another bonus? No more hemming. Men's jeans come in an incredible variety of inseam lengths. I guess men have sewing machine phobias too.

Murphyism of the Day

Murphy's Tenth Law of Food

Coupons always expire before you have a chance to use them.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it. -- Christopher Morley