Courtesy versus the lack of

While at Target the other night, I noticed a new thing to be annoyed by while shopping. I'm always amazed by people's lack of courtesy or public decorum when they are in the middle of a store. My mother taught to watch around me, always knowing the whereabouts and movement of the people around me. Having witnessed many things in malls and stores, there must be some mothers who didn't see this as part of proper child-rearing.

Last Saturday I was standing in front of the socks at Target. You know, they have some cute socks! Anyway...while searching for the ones I needed, a noise kept piercing through the normal store sounds of music, cart squeaks and kids yelling for their mom. I looked to my right and saw a woman. I could tell by the mouth movement she was chewing gum. No biggy until I watched her make a bubble, pull it back into her mouth, then pop it. I had found the source of the noise.

You might think, Mindy, come on, it's only a bubble. People, I've never been around someone who popped so many bubbles in a row, so loudly! It was a constant stream of pop...pop...pop, pop...pop...pop, pop...pop... And she never noticed the MANY times I glanced her way, hoping it would cause her to stop.

Maybe it's the vigor of youth...or something...but how difficult is it to slow down as you approach the end of an aisle, as not to run into someone crossing your path in the main one? I know you have to stick your cart out into the aisle some so you can see if it is clear to go, but if you do this action slowly, you give the other person time to stop or slow down themselves. Otherwise, you end up running over someone, and if you are said youth, you never look back or even notice there was someone there.

This might be something unique to me, I don't know. I try to follow road rules when choosing each side of an aisle to travel down. Wouldn't it make sense to stay to your right? That way you avoid running into people or carts.

Talking on the cell phone seems to bring out the loud voice in people. Please remember that most of your fellow shoppers don't want or need to hear about your plans to go downtown tonight or the details of the show you played last week in Austin, Texas. Use the same level of volume as if the person was right next to you, because in essence, they are. That little cell phone of yours can pick up lots of noises, and seeing as how your mouth is right next to the receiver, it probably has NO trouble relaying your voice to the other person's ear. :)

Rare glimpse

OK folks, I'm gonna share some pictures on here that most will never see. I know, you say it's the internet, ANYONE can see them. But...these pictures are showing only a small part of other pictures I'll never share. :) Coming soon are more rounds of laser treatments on my birthmark. I go to the dermatologist on Thursday to check on some issues I've taken meds for the past two weeks and to schedule the first treatment. I may have the first one during the second week of February.

What you see here is one, small dot on my chin. We did a test patch at the beginning of January to see how my skin reacted to the laser. So far, so good. Each picture was taken a couple of days after the previous one, for the most part. These are not the prettiest pictures of me, for sure. So...just know I'm totally opening myself up here and letting you see a not-so-great look for me. When I get a full treatment, the dot you see here will be multiplied by 50 to 100. The birthmark on my chin or cheek will be covered with those dots after each treatment. I'm anxious. I know the pain and irritation that comes with each treatment. Imagine having chicken pox, all in one area, on your face. Yuck and ouch!









Notice the last couple of pictures look as though nothing has gone on. What happens is for about a week, the birthmark looks normal, like the treatment never happened. Over the next couple of weeks, the spots hit with the laser show lightening. I'm still waiting on that part of the test patch we did.

Off to a not-so-good start

I joined a group on facebook to create some accountability in my Bible reading. The group is reading through the Old Testament together. I haven't kept up with the reading schedule very well. I'm putting this out there just so more people know of my commitment. I'm determined to get back on schedule!