When Boomer and I went shopping a few weeks ago, I saw these interesting window shades that “stick” up instead of needing nails or screws and hardware. They were inexpensive so I bought two to try.

First, these would never work in my living room or other common area. They’re made of a heavy paper material, or at least they feel that way. Between the kids and the dog, they’d be down in a day. My bedroom, on the other hand, is a better fit. It’s street level so I have to keep my curtains drawn. But then the room gets no natural sunlight. Quite the dilemma.

The package instructs you to measure the size needed and then trim them with a utility knife. I couldn’t find a utility knife but I did find a box cutter and used that. Couldn’t have been easier.

I hung the shades on my bedroom window and - don’t laugh - I love them! I don’t care that they’re cheap paper shades, they look great. They allow sunlight into my room while still keeping my room private. And did I mention, they look great!

Now the bad news. I went back to pick up a few more since they are paper and I know they won’t last forever. I couldn’t find them. I don’t know if they’re in a different aisle or if someone came and bought them all. Either way, I want more of these. For cheap paper shades, they really do look nice.

Just don’t tell my husband they’re paper. He’d think I was crazy.

I’ve been walking. I love to walk and was looking forward to walking on the bike and foot trail down by the river. Kendyll doesn’t do well on the trail, though, so I’ve been walking with her around the neighborhood. That’s a big deal for me because I don’t usually walk around here.

I’ve enjoyed our neighborhood walks, though. I’ve chit chatted with people I don’t see often these days and even ran into a neighbor I hadn’t seen since his extended stay in an alcohol rehab facility last year.

Most important, though, is that Kendyll is really enjoying our walks. We talk and sometimes we stop to look more closely at a flower or a dog. Once, we even saw a rabbit hop across the road toward the woods.

I can’t think of a better way to get my exercise than walking with Kendyll. I need exercise and I love my grandbaby. That’s what I call a perfect combination.

When I picked up my daughter at school last week, we drove the long way around to get home. I was in one of those reminiscent moods and wanted to look at some of the places we used to go as kids.

I’d forgotten that one of the town’s bowling alleys no longer exists. And the discount furniture store where we got our first living room set is now a convenience store. My, how things change!

My kids, of course, don’t really care about the way things used to be. My daughter enjoyed the extra time we spent together but wanted to do most of the talking, not listen to old mom remembering the way things were. I wonder if Levi would be interested in a ride down memory lane with me.

I have to take Boomer to the doctor this week and I’m kind of dreading it. Why doctors have such awful magazines in their waiting rooms? Is there some doctor rule about that or something?

The last time I saw the doctor, I was stuck reading celebrity news and crafting magazines. The ads for Branson homes for sale were more interesting than the gossip and how-to articles.

I have to remember to pick up a couple computer magazines and maybe Popular Science before Boomer’s appointment. Or I could just sit there and tweet from my cell phone. I’m sure all my twitter friends would love to keep up with the ticking clock as we wait on Boomer’s doctor.

When Maggie, Levi and I went to the mall last weekend, we took our time and looked around at just about every store. We even walked through K mart and looked at everything from fishing gear and exercise equipment to baby cribs and ceiling fans!

Usually we’re in a hurry to get home but since I don’t have to rush home to make supper while Brian is in Hawaii, I can take my time and “window shop” or even just stop and visit when I see someone I know.

I’ve always enjoyed walking through the mall but had grown to hate it because I was always in a rush. It’s really nice to just take as much time as I want, no rush, and enjoy the kids. I think we’ll do this again next week.

I’m trying to cut back on my Excedrin usage but so far I’m not having much luck. I get the worst headaches!

Right now I think I’m dealing with a sinus headache because the pain is mostly on my face and over my eyes. I’ve gotten tension headaches in the past, too. My sister and nephew get migraine headaches and have even looked into the use of Botox for migraines. From what I understand, those headaches are much worse than my little sinus or tension ones.

I know that meditation can help for my tension headaches but it doesn’t do a thing for the pressure of a sinus headache. I’ve heard that acupressure helps, though. If only I could convince one of my kids to learn how to do acupressure, I’d be good to go!

Every time I drive through town on my way to my mom’s I can’t help but look over at the building where I used to work. I spent seven years at that job, going into that building every day. I suppose it’s normal to look in that direction as I drive past.

Strange thing, though, is that very few of the people who worked in that building are still there. The lawyer who owns the building and his associates are there, of course. One business who took our former upstairs office is still there. But that’s it. The United Way, Building Development and Chamber of Commerce are gone. I imagine the SBA agent who performed Small business valuation there once each week no longer meets there now. So much has changed. It isn’t the same place that it used to be.

I’m trying to detach from places and things. I’m trying to not allow the past to hold more meaning for me than is necessary. I think I’m going to try to drive by the old building this week and not look in that direction. I’m going to release that memory. And move on.

We have TVs all through the house but mostly I watch the one in my bedroom. I see the kitchen and living room tvs thoughout the day and sometimes sit and watch them. Mostly, though, I watch in my room.

I noticed today that my bedroom TV is the only one in the house that displays closed captioning whenever you mute the sound. I don’t know if that’s a setting on every TV or just this one. Either way, I like it. A quick glance at the text and I can decide if I want the sound on or off. I’m going to check the other TVs to see if they do the same, but I don’t think they do.

Last weekend we got a small pool and set it up out back for Kendyll. This week we waited for the temperatures to get above 60. And we waited and waited. It just didn’t get warm enough for a two year old to swim.

Instead, we went shopping. In keeping with the theme of summer and swimming, we browsed the aisles of “seasonal” merchandise like inner tubes, inflatable boats, yard sprinklers and the beloved slip ‘n slide. Kendyll wanted everything she saw. I just wanted the warm weather.

If you’re like me, you use one search engine consistently. You get pretty good results so there’s no need to search elsewhere. So you don’t.

Yesterday I was researching the best acne treatment for my daughter when I accidentally used a different search engine than I typically use. I’ve conducted this search before so it was no surprise that some of the sites listed had bee visited. The surprise was the number of results that showed up at this new search engine that hadn’t been on the first few pages of my usual search engine.

Maybe the usual isn’t the best after all. It’s definitely time for me to branch out and try a few different search engines. How about you? Have you looked around to see what else is out there?