My New Favorite Safeway!

Remember The 70's? More specifically, remember shopping carts that you could sit and ride under while Mom did her shopping? Remember carts that were designed to hold the amount of food that an average family of four would need for a week instead of being these giant barges made for holding 6 months of goods? Remember when a six-pack of Coke was A LOT of Soda Pop?

And for those of you who grew up in Anacortes (like me)... Remember when the only two grocery options in town where Safeway on 11th and Thrifty Foods (which was connected to Thrifty Drugs), and all that was at the corner f 12th and Commercial was a giant empty lot where the Carnival would set up? That Safeway on 11th, which became several different discount clearance-type stores before finally becoming some srt of Marine Supply store?

THAT Safeway of 1976 (or so) is PERFECTLY PRESERVED here in Bothell! No Deli... no bakery... no specialty seafood counter... no Starbucks... no daycare center... just a Safeway. About 1/3rd to 1/2 the size of a modern Safeway, with a very modest produce section, butcher shop and standard dry goods. All the original "Starburst" linoleum is perfectly in tact and well maintained, as is the original shelving and check-out counters. Same prices as any other Safeway only there's no lines, plenty of friendly employees to help you and you can browse the entire store in 10 minutes flat.

I'm in love with it :)

Molly Halloween Cuteness

Molly is sitting in Crystal's lap, Crystal is teaching her Halloween stuff.

CRYSTAL: Say "Trick Or Treat"!

MOLLY: TRICK OR TREAT!

CRYSTAL: Say "Smell My Feet"!

MOLLY: (Sticking feet up in the air) SMELL MAH FEET!

CRYSTAL: Say "Give-me-some-THING-good-to-EAT"!

MOLLY: CA-a-a-a-A-an-DEEEE!!!

Nostalgiapressioncholic?

It's 11:30pm, and I'm all alone in the living rom watching The Brady Bunch on TVLand and eating Mac-N-Cheese with Meatloaf (the food product, not the rock-n-roll superstar).

It reminds me of "The Good Old Days" that were some of the worst times of my life that I miss dearly. Isn't that weird?

My head gets all fuzzy when trying to remember specifics, but I think it was around... 1998? Sounds about right. I had a crappy little one-bedroom apartment in Renton that I shared with nobody but my loneliness and my inability to get over THAT ONE GIRL... the same girl that all guys have trouble getting over because she was, aside from other monumental "Firsts", the first girl to dump me. But that had been THREE YEARS ago. I just wasn't very good at "Letting Go".

Other than work and the occasional pitty-visit from dotgirl and her husband, I spent all my time ALONE. I spent every paycheck on comic books, pornography and a Satellite TV Set-up... the most important part being The Satellite TV Set-up. It was The Golden Age of Nick-At-Nite with re-runs of Three's Company, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Beverly Hillbillies and... The Brady Bunch.

I was SO in to classic TV, I "skipped" Christmas one year and stayed home watching the Andy Griffith Merry-thon instead of spending any time with anyone real.

I can remember the weird self-hatred depression binge eating I'd do night after night... I was so FREE to do whatever I wanted and ends up that all I wanted to do was watch old TV shows and eat Hot Pockets! And thanks to all the depression/self-loathing going on, I kept convincing myself that this was what the rest of my life was going to be like. THIS was the best it was ever going to get. This was...

I can still feel it. It's burning, right down *there*, someplace behind my soul. That voice keeps talking to me, only now it says that without Crystal... without Molly... my life would go right back to that same dark, lonely place. And sitting here, in the dark, alone, eating "Comfort Food" I'm reminded of how EASY it would be to slip back in to those old habits.

Thing is, though... it's really *comfortable* here in the dark, surrounded by all the stuff I know. So I guess what's really bothering me is that I wouldn't be too shaken if it all just went away? Trying to put my finger on it here.

If I were to wake up tomorrow morning to find that it was all just some wonderfully cruel and ironic dream? If all I had to look forward to is going to work so I can come home and be alone and depressed again? I... I'm ready for it. I've been there. I'm *prepared* for the darkness. And that really kind of makes me scared and proud at the same time?