For someone who doesn’t have anything to do, today has been a busy, expensive day.

So, I can’t think of a more unpleasant way to start my post, but…

I realized this morning that sick dog=stinky house.

And my carpet shampooer was at my sister’s house.

So, after calling to make sure she’d be around, I headed up.  On the way, I saw a TON of cops.  I even met one.  It turns out that when you forget to register your car for a year, you’ll get a ticket.  But thank you, Detective who’s name starts with a “J” and signed the rest of the way with a squiggly line for not impounding my car.  I can handle the $40 ticket plus the registration fees if it means I don’t have to get my car out of impound.

He was cute, too.

So, disgusted with myself, I finally got to my sister’s house.  After loading my shampooer into the car, and collecting G from preschool, I mentioned to her that I wanted to check out Piper’s Quilts and Comforts, and I have to say, I could spend a LOT of money there (I didn’t, Mom, neither Sis nor I spent a dime).  The store is full of super-cute patterns and fabrics, (MUCH better than JoAnn’s) and wonderful yarns.  I am absolutely in LOVE with that store–it’s enough to get me to figure out how to use my sewing machine.  (It’s also in the same neighborhood as a vintage store that both Sis and I want to check out, but G was being G.)

Sis and I had a good talk on the way to the other side of the valley and back, and she convinced me to apply to both SLCC and UVU.  It’ll take a couple of days for the applications to go through, so I won’t be able to start the first block of summer classes–but I should be able to start school in the middle of next month.  I still haven’t decided where I want to go.

I spotted it, but Sis was the one who managed to snap a picture. Out of the windshield of her truck while stopped at a stoplight. I totally could have gotten this shot, but it was probably more important to answer the phone call from my mother...

We were also treated to the rare sight of a sun dog in mid-May.  Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen one of these since coming back from Canada.

So back to Sis’s house, where G decided that eating and sleeping are actually good things, and I slipped out while G was down for a nap–back to my house, but stop and get the car registration taken care of first.

So, I don’t really know why I go to the place I do to get my car registered and inspected, except it was the first “on-the-spot” registration place I spotted when I moved to Utah County, and I know the Grandfather of a guy who worked there 5 years ago.  But it is next to a big-box store that appropriates some of its parking spaces to turn into a garden center on a yearly basis.  I was feeling anxious about all the money I’d be spending today, so I wandered around the plants and flowers trying to calm down.

It’s crazy how cheap bedding plants in a Shop-ko parking lot help center a person.

I managed to take some pictures, before the batteries on my camera died, too.  I figured if anyone gave me any grief about it, I’d say I was planning my garden, and needed some time to think about the plants that I wanted.

I seriously LOVE gerbras.

I was hoping that I could take care of all my registration needs at the Lube Doc, but, unfortunately, I had to go to the DMV.  Always a treat, that.  Especially when you only have a vague idea of where it is.

So, I came to a couple of conclusions while waiting at the DMV

1. The kids running around, screaming and being kids are a lot cuter to watch when you’re not in charge of them.
2. Max owes me BIG TIME for not draping him over my arm and dragging him everywhere, like the lady with the pomeranian

The woman at the DMV was impressed that I’d managed to go a year without getting caught with my expired registration.  When I explained that I got caught today, she was also impressed that Detective J didn’t have my car towed, and said I had a nice cop.  I agreed, and told her I thought he was cute, too.  She laughed and asked if I told HIM that–that maybe that’s how to get out of a big ticket, by telling the cop he was cute.

I’m not sure if that would work, but, much to my sister’s consternation, I don’t know how to flirt.

So finally, back home with a legal car, a dog with disturbing noises coming from his gut, and a carpet that I’m trying to work up the motivation to shampoo.   It’s been a stressful day, and I’m glad to be home.

Or not, depending upon what Max does next.

I haven’t gotten forgetful in my old age. Really.

Saturday, I crashed.

When I say that, I don’t mean I wrecked my car, or my depression got the better of me (at least not until the evening) I mean a physical crash–I spent almost all day lying around my sister’s house, recovering from the whirlwind that was my birthday.

Speaking of my birthday, it was one of the best I’ve had as an adult.  Good job, Sis!

Sis and the Bro-in-Law first took me to lunch at Red Iguana, which is very probably my favorite restaurant in SLC, but one I don’t get to eat at enough.  I was very brave there, and tried something new–I’m not an adventurous eater.  I’d like to be, but that’s how I find out about food allergies.  Guess how I know I’m allergic to lychee?

Anyway, I ordered a dish called chilaquiles.  It was tortilla chips with chorizo, egg, salsa espanolia, and mole pobliano.  I’d had an investigator make mole for me on my mission, but I didn’t like it then, so I was a bit hesitant to try it here–despite Guy Fieri raving about it on his show.  My verdict?  The first bite was amazing.  The second bite was good.  The third bite was okay.  By the fourth bite, I was wondering if I had to finish it.   If anybody at Red Iguana is reading this, chilaquiles would work better as an appetizer.  It’s too…flavorful for a main course, and there really isn’t anything to cleanse the palate between the bites of amazingness, so it gets to be too much too soon.

We then went to the zoo.  G is a funny kid.  He’s the only kid I know who will get more excited about seeing a firetruck driving on the road outside the zoo than the actual animals at the zoo itself.  I had fun though–the weather was perfect, it wasn’t too crowded, and the animals were lookin’ for love, which meant that they were rather demonstrative.   G even noticed that the penguins were giving each other ‘piggy back rides’.   Yeah…

After the zoo, we headed back to Sis’s house, where I watched Sis and the Bro-in-Law work in the garden.  Technically, I was watching E while Sis and the Bro-in-Law worked in the garden, but we were outside so we could keep talking to each other.  My parents then showed up, and we went to dinner at my other favorite restaurant in SLC, Sampan.

I was still feeling adventurous, and wanted to order something I’d never have before.  The Bro-in-Law suggested ordering something I didn’t even know what it was, like “Baawwk Chow and abe-alon-ee mushrooms”.  When I told him that I knew a) the correct pronunciation of bok choy and b) that it was cabbage, he changed his mind.  I ended up ordering Empress Duck and miso soup.  I’d never had duck before, or miso for that matter.

So, miso is made with tofu.  I learned that if you are allergic to soymilk, you are also allergic to tofu.  Fortunately, Dad had a benadryl in his pocket for his hay fever, that I was able to take as soon as I felt my throat starting to close up. The soup was good, though.

The duck was AMAZING.  It was greasy, and I don’t know how much of that was the meat itself or how it was cooked.  Either way, I now have a favorite dish at Sampan.

While we’re on the topic of food, I didn’t even get a cake.  It just didn’t turn out.  We were going to make cake balls, but by the time we got back from the restaurant, we were all too tired for one more project, and we just didn’t get around to it the next day.

Saturday, I helped Sis get ready for HER birthday party.  I was born exactly one week before my sister’s first birthday, so for one week out of the year, we’re the same age.  I turned 29 on Friday, so Sis will turn 30 this next Friday.  She’s celebrating by going into hiding for the whole week.  We started to plan a menu, then decided we should go to NPS to see if there was a good deal on meat.

What is NPS?  Well…in the Bro-in-Law’s words, it’s a store that sells whatever fell off the back of a truck.  It sells food that is slightly past it’s expiration date, or that the containers have been damaged, that grocery stores can’t sell.  It also sells a variety of other stuff.  Going there is a bit like a treasure hunt.  You can find good stuff and good deals, but mostly…well…

Mom and Dad had never been there before, and had a lot of fun looking around.  I did too, for that matter.  I think I won, though.  In a shelf full of books that mostly had titles like The Virgin’s Wedding Night, I found a copy of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. For 50¢ each. That’s less than I could have gotten them for at a thrift store, for new books!  Never mind that I’ve read them both before.

I do have to give credit to Dad for that find.  I glanced at the dirty-sounding titles of the books, and decided I wasn’t interested.  He spotted Fahrenheit 451, but because he already has a copy of it, he wasn’t interested.  It made me look closer though, and I found the Steinbeck.  And those were the only two books on the whole shelf that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen reading in public.

I came home on Saturday evening, to find that a) my lily of the valley had doubled in size while I was away for two days, and b) my internet wasn’t working, and my back-up plan, aka, piggybacking off my downstairs neighbors, was no longer an option.  They went and set up a password, the little stinkers.  Hence the late update on the weekend’s activities.  Still, a little time away from the internet never hurt anyone, right?

I carefully prepared my Sunday School lesson (but not as carefully as I should have, I realized when I was sitting in Sacrament that I had neglected to do two or three things that I meant to), only to have no one show up to my class.  EVEN THOUGH I saw every single one of my class members in Sacrament meeting.  It was okay, though.  I wasn’t really in the right mind-frame to teach anyway.  I did have a good conversation with my Temple Committee Co-chair.  He just got back from a mission to England, and has a cute little accent.  It’s not fair.  When I came back from a mission to Canada, I only brought with me a penchant to say “eh”.

This morning’s adventure has consisted mostly of Lulu’s digestive tract, so I’ll spare the details.  The other adventure was being on the phone for 45 minutes, at least 30 of which were spent on hold, and talking to five different people to get my internet working again.  So frustrating.  But, here I am, and all is well.

Computers and Cars

You just can’t get rid of me, can you?

A word of advice to all my single readers out there.  Or maybe my readers with single siblings would be more apt.   Marry (or encourage your siblings to marry) someone who works in the IT/computer engineering field.  As soon as my sister got home yesterday, she suggested to my bro-in-law that he build me a new computer.  She’s called a couple of times this morning to give me updates on it.  I asked if the B-I-L was having fun, or if she was having to crack the whip.  She assured me that he was having fun–he wouldn’t be spending his day off working on a computer for me if he didn’t enjoy it.  AND, it’s making my sister happy because it’s getting rid of  some of the random computer parts that are cluttering up her storage room (that’s why I’m encouraging siblings to marry computer geeks–you get all of the benefit, and none of the clutter!)

So, yes, my family is amazing.  I honestly don’t know what I did to get so lucky.

Maybe it was timing.

So, my parents bought a new car yesterday.  It is gorgeous!

In an effort to keep their yard from being cluttered with cars in various stages of workability, Mom suggested that Sis and the B-I-L buy the car that they were replacing.  It might have come back to bite her, though, because as part of the sale, Sis and B-I-L traded the car they were driving back to my dad. This had the added benefit of confusing the heck out of G.  Sis kept talking about her new car, and G kept insisting “That’s Papa’s car!”  I can’t wait to see what happens next time he comes down and finds the car his parents have been driving his whole life in Mom and Dad’s driveway.

So, to recap, Mom gets a brand new car, Dad gets a new to him car, and Sis and her family get a new to them car.  I get a broken computer.

I’m really not all that jealous.  Any car I could afford right now would be in worse shape then the one that I’m driving.

Um, obviously, I’m somewhere with access to a computer.  I’m still at my parents house.  Last night was as bad as I thought it was going to be, (I spent all day depressed about my broken computer, AND spending time with the kids) and I didn’t want to be alone.

That’s a good thing, right?  Normally, or historically, perhaps, when I’ve gotten really depressed, I retreat into a shell, and don’t want anything to do with anything.  It has to  be a good sign that when I knew I was going to be depressed, I sought out the company of others.

Superheros

My sister is always saying that she wishes I could put a “like” button on my blog.  Sis, I looked, but I don’t like the options that WordPress has.  I have learned, though, that I can automatically have my blog posts post directly to my Facebook wall, and, if I did everything correctly, this should be the first post to do so.  Of course, now, you do realize that you are now under obligation to click the “like” button for all my blog posts from here on out.

Today is my Bro-in-law’s birthday.  I was feeling sorry for myself a few days ago, so foolishly I volunteered to babysit while he and my sister went on a date to celebrate.  Of course, it couldn’t just be for a few hours in the evening.  He wanted to meet with his family for lunch, then take my sister out on the town tonight.  E is sick and had been fussy all morning, so I watched him while my sister took G on a picnic with the bro-in-law.  When they got back, I insanely suggested that G and I take Lulu, Max, and G’s dog Polly to PetSmart.  There’s at least four things in that sentence that would prevent a peaceful trip.

Actually, it wasn’t that bad, at least, once I got the kid and the dogs loaded into the car, and they all figured out where they wanted to sit. Before that happened, though, I said out-loud to myself, “I’m crazy to be doing this.”

G heard me, and answered, “Don’t be crazy.”  That’s the best advice I’ve ever gotten. G also kept insisting “Polly is my dog.  She needs to sit next to me.”  Well, next was a good idea.  Polly though she needed to sit ON G.  I should probably mention that Polly is a mostly corgi mutt–about thirty-five pounds.  G is tall, but really skinny, and weighs in at about 40 lbs.  Polly thought that G’s car seat made a great step to look out the window on the way to the store. Fortunately, G thought that was hilarious.

When we got to PetSmart, G insisted on holding Polly’s leash.  I was leery, because I know that Polly is stronger than he is, but I also know how good she is with him, so I let him keep track of her.  They were so cute together.  They would run up and down the aisles together, and when I lost track of them, I could call “Here Polly!”.  Polly, as she should be, is more loyal to G than to me, so she wouldn’t come, but she also wouldn’t budge from wherever she happened to be until I found them.

I took a picture, but the camera on my phone isn’t very good, and they were about 20 feet ahead of me when this picture was taken.  Still–can’t you just see how much these two enjoy spending time together? And fortunately, the drive back to G’s house involved much less three-year-old being squished by a dog.

A few hours after I got back from the store, my sister went to pick up the bro-in-law from work, then go out to dinner.  I stayed to watch the hyperactive ball of…hyperactivity that is G, and the sick baby.

This is where the title of this post comes in.  My sister is a superhero.  She takes care of G and E all day.  Every single day.

The more I thought about it, the more I decided that ALL Mommies are superheros.  Especially the Mommies who don’t get enough or any help from the Daddies, and/or have to work all day at a job, then come home and take care of the kids. A single day watching those two–and half the time I only had one of them, and I’m worn out, and asking myself why I want one of my own.

I grumble about Max and Lulu being four-legged two-year olds, but I can also count on them to fall asleep after 20 minutes of hyperactivity.  Or lying around doing nothing.  Whatever.  I can also leave the house when they get to be too much, and not worry about them.

So, yay for Mommies!  Yay for Daddies, too!  Yay for all those who selflessly give of themselves to make this world a better place, for us and for the future generations!

Y’all wear me out.  I’m going to bed now.

Edit:

Apparently, I didn’t do the Facebook thing correctly, because my blog isn’t showing up there.  Oh well, I’ll keep working at it.  Sooner or later, I’m bound to figure it out.

When the two worst things in the world collide

I hate shopping at Wal-Mart.  I do because it’s the closest store to my house, and it doesn’t make sense to me to drive a mile or more to the next nearest grocery store when Wal-Mart is in walking distance. Not that I walk.  It’s at the bottom of a hill, dammit, and I know I could make it there okay, I’m just not sure I could make it back carrying groceries.

I also have the biggest case of pyrophobia of anyone I know. Any fire bigger than a candle flame terrifies me.  I can handle campfires and fires in a fireplace (especially if they are gas log) but bonfires? Fuggitaboutit. I know it all came about as a result of the requisite field trip to the firehouse that I took in kindergarten.  It also didn’t help that in the next few years the mountains around my house burned.

So, has anyone put together what happened when I was grocery shopping at Wal-Mart today?

I was proud of myself for getting there in the morning, but cursing that I waited so long.  I found a good parking spot, and spent 45 minutes carefully comparing prices and choosing what I needed.  Then, on they way up to the check-stand, I overheard the chatter on the employee’s radio saying there was a fire, and the store had to be evacuated.  Crap. No, actually, shit.

A few moments later, the PA called a code red, and said that all the employees had to come to the front of the store.  About five seconds after that, a guy who sounded like he was about 17 came over the PA announcing a “small emergency, please abandon your baskets and exit the store.”

I was proud of my composure as I made my way to my amazing parking spot, and headed out of the store.  I figured maybe it wasn’t a fire when the first emergency vehicle on the scene was an ambulance–maybe someone had gotten hurt (I was actually rooting for someone to have gotten hurt rather than there being a fire–does that make me a bad person?)  My composure was then shattered when a firetruck, sirens blaring and lights flashing came speeding by–and honked when it was parallel to my car.  I’m still shaking–and fighting back tears.

I let you know if I find out anything more about the fire.  Hopefully, it was small, and they’ll be able to open the store again soon–but the number of sirens that I’ve heard heading toward Wal-Mart kind of point against that.

Okay, I’m off to see if I can calm down now.  Wish me luck.

Update:

Well, now I feel dumb.

According to the Daily Herald, something burnt in an oven, causing smoke.  The evacuation was per store policy.

And now, I kinda want a burqa

When I was at Wal-Mart the other night, I saw a couple of women wearing burqas, each leading a flock of kids.  Okay, so the garment in question wasn’t exactly a burqa, I’m not exactly sure what to call it.  It was like a headscarf with a veil across the woman’s faces, and it covered their chests and down to their torsos.  I could see that they were wearing tunics and loose trousers underneath–and a burqa is from head to toe.

I saw these women from the back in the parking lot.  My first thought was annoyance–their kids were between the ages of 10 and 3, and they were at Wal-Mart at 11pm on a school night.  I’d seen headscarves at Wal-Mart before, and didn’t think anything of the moms–except that they had their kids out at what I thought was way too late.

It wasn’t until I saw them in the store, and saw what they were wearing that the reason for having the kids out so late became clear to me.  They were at Wal-Mart as late as I was for probably the same reason I was–to avoid the crowds.

There weren’t many people there, but I saw these women getting glared at.  I think I had a different take on how they were dressed than anyone else in the store.  I kept thinking about how genius their garments were.

I was there as my mood was starting to head south, and I was feeling shy and withdrawn–and I was slightly jealous of these women’s clothes.  You wouldn’t have to do your hair or makeup before going out (not that I do anyway) and people might stare at you, but they would just see your clothes, not YOU.

Honestly, I don’t have a problem with burqas or headscarves or anything similar.  In fact, I applaud women who are devoted enough to their religion to wear such outward signs, especially in a time and a place when such garments are frowned upon by the general public.

And I want to know where I could buy one.

Beer tastes on a tapwater budget

My sister is in a position where her family is going to by a new(er) car in the next few months, one that will better fit her growing family then the Dodge Neon she and her husband bought when they were in college.  Sis and I have had fun wandering through virtual car-lots together, looking for vehicles that meet her requirements, regardless of price.

The last time we were together and both had our laptops, I decided that I couldn’t let her have all the fun, so I started looking at cars for me.  I drive a 14-year-old Geo, and would like a new car, but, my car runs fine and still gets 30+ miles to the gallon, so I have no real need to replace it.  That is, even if I had the funds to spend on a new car, which I most definitely do not.

So, off to carmax.com to see what I can find.  What kind of car would I like?  A sporty 2-door coupe would be nice.  So would a convertible. I like driving a manual transmission.  Leather seats? Why not?  And so on and so forth.

I came up with a list of absolutely gorgeous cars, ones that would turn my head if I saw them driving down the freeway, with names like Porsche and Lexus and BMW.  The thing is, though, I started picturing the kind of person, especially a woman in her late 20’s, who would drive cars like that, and it definitely wasn’t me.  Not only am I not that kind of woman, I have no desire to be that kind of woman.

So, off to look at cars that were more my style.  You know, the ones made by Volkswagen and Toyota.  Again, nice cars, but…eh, kinda boring.

Then, I thought, I want something that I can take out exploring.  You know, a Jeep!

Finally, I found the cars that I could get excited about.  A car that I could fall in love with.  Specifically, this car:

So, if either of my readers have an extra $15,000 lying around, and want to do something extra nice with it…

For those of you keeping track at home, if I had all the money in the world to buy a car, I’d turn down the $67,000 Porsche 911 in favor of a $15,000 Jeep Wrangler.  Although, granted, if I had all the money in the world to buy a car, I’d probably be looking at them new, rather than used.

Oh, Amazonia, how we love thee.

First off, I want to thank everyone for the love and support they showed me after yesterday’s post.  Anyway, I’m feeling much better now, thanks.  I know I missed at least two, possibly three days of medication last week, and I think it all just kinda hit on Sunday, and I needed Monday to recover as well.

So, the Lexapro is back in my system, I’m happy, sane(r), and, not sleeping.  So I figured since I was up at 4am, and probably not going to get any sleep before sunrise, I might as well take this time to update my blog.

I thought I’d do a lighter post today, to make up for all the depressed angst of the past few days.  So, 116 words later, here we go!

One of my favorite things to do online is to browse at Amazon.com.  It is one of my favorite sites.  I’ve been shopping there for almost 10 years now, and have had only one bad experience with my purchase, and that was with a third-party vendor, who was probably just selling stuff out of her basement.   I’ve watched Amazon grow from an online bookstore, to the place to go online to find diapers and caskets, as well as everything you’ll need in between.

I love to peruse the pages of Amazon, in search of the most random items I can find.  Besides creating a very interesting welcome page, it is a source for hours of boredom-busting entertainment.  I thought I’d share some of my favorite recent finds with you today.

Clover Seeds

Shipping on a 1/4 lb bag of clover seeds is twice what the seeds cost. I'm gonna keep looking.

This first one perhaps isn’t so random, at least not for me.  See, for Christmas, my bro-in-law made me a ‘yard’, a box that sits on my patio where I could plant grass, so my dogs would have a place to potty when I’m not home.  Well, while I was at my sister’s house, I was flipping through one of her seed catalogs (which I also love doing) and came across some clover seeds.  I did some research, and discovered that clover is hardier, requires less maintenance, less water, and is more dog-resistant than grass, and has the added bonus of probably not being toxic to dogs. (I couldn’t find anything that specifically said otherwise.  Alsike clover is toxic to horses, but I couldn’t find anything about the dutch white variety pictured here being harmful to dogs.)

Toy Lunch Meat

It was the "Frequently Purchased Together" section that cinched this for me. Not only can you buy fake meat, but you can buy fake bread and fake cheese too.

Granted, I don’t know many children, but the kids, okay, kid, I know who would want to play with something like this would spend more time trying to eat it than constructing fake sandwiches.

When purchasing toys for my nephews, I have a few requirements that I try to meet.  First, because I love my sister and want at least one of us to be sane, I try to avoid toys that have blinking lights or make noise.  Basically, anything that requires batteries.  Second, it has to do more than one thing.  Third, it has to inspire the imagination. And Fourth, if it is educational, that would also be a plus.  So how does fake sandwich meat stack up? (no pun intended)

Well, it’s fabric discs printed to resemble meat, so no batteries.  That’s good. Can you do more than one thing with it?  Lets see…you could make a pretend sandwich.  You could make a pretend pizza.  You could slip some into a real sandwich or onto a real pizza as a practical joke.  You could throw it at your siblings.  And, I’m out of ideas.  Still, I suppose that’s more than one thing.

Is it educational?  Well, I suppose, if you plan on your child spending some point in his or her life behind a deli counter.  Still, sorry, sis, I don’t think I’m gonna spend more than $10 on this, no matter how much G thinks he needs it.

Gandalf Brooch

I'd probably wear it all the time.

I’ll admit, I’m nerdy enough to absolutely be in love with this.  There is a surprising amount of Lord of the Rings jewelry at Amazon.  Perhaps unfortunately, though, it’s all recreation of the movie costumes.

So, perhaps it’s time to make a little confession.  I like Wheel of Time much more than Lord of the Rings.  I can’t really say why.  So, when I saw the LotR jewelry, I immediately did a search for an Aei Sedai ouroboros ring, (huh, three words in a row that spell check didn’t like.  I wonder why…) but Amazon failed me on this.
*sob*

The closest thing I could find were these earrings:

I still love them though.  And I know you can by WoT jewelry elsewhere on the internet, so I suppose not all is lost.

I’d still probably wear these earrings all the time.  Besides the WoT thing, I think they look pretty cool. (Friends and family–my birthday is in April, if you’re looking for gift ideas…*nods head vigorously in the direction of the snake earrings*)

So, speaking of fantasy books…

Drunken Goat Cheese

why? just, why?

So, did anyone else see the movie “Coraline”? Or read the book for that matter? (I haven’t read the book despite it’s author, Neil Gaiman being one of my favorites.  I’m a bit leery about venturing into the children/young adult section of the bookstores and libraries) Anyway, remember the character, Mr. Bobo?  When Coraline meets him, she is taking the cheese samples that were mistakenly mailed to her house up to his room in the attic.   That’s what this particular seller reminded me of.  I was going to post a picture of the Limburger cheese they sell, but, I liked the name “drunken goat” better.

Okay, last one.

Bear Hug Hat

Couldn't everyone use a bear hug?

Okay, if you spend time in Saskatchewan when the weather starts to get cold, first of all, are you insane?!, second of all, you’ll notice that the locals call a sweatshirt with a hood a “bunny hug” rather than a hoodie like the rest of the world.  When I saw the name “Bear Hug”, I hoped it would be something similar.  Instead, it’s a hat.  With ears.  And claws.  And a 13 year old model who misunderstood the direction to “look fierce”.

Yeah, I’d probably wear it all winter too.