Older and Better with Shelly

I'm not a big shopper, never have been. When I was a kid my Mom used to run to the store and buy stuff. Then, the next day, she would return it. I made a promise at a young age that I would not follow in her footsteps. When I bought something it wasn't getting returned unless there was a very good reason. Fast forward years later and along comes the mall. It was a wonderful place for people to meet, take walks, eat out and go to the movies. In cold-weather states it was great. You would park and go in, and you could be entertained for the day. Or, in the heat of summer, you could stay cool. You might just get a cup of coffee, wander around, and meet your friends. I went to my neighborhood mall today. I hadn't been in a few months. The big major department store that has been there for maybe 30 years, or more, was empty. I never thought that I would be so sad. I walked around and all of these sales people were running after me trying to help me. I'm ...

Have you ever noticed this world has become one giant spice? For several years I've been seeing jalapeño everything. Now this past year everything is Sriracha! A few years ago we were at a fair where they sold homemade jams and jellies. For the life of me I could not find one jelly or jam that was normal. How about jalapeño, lemon pepper, red pepper flakes and hot pepper jams and jellies! Not one normal jelly in the bunch. Normal barbecue sauce. What's that? We have Sriracha barbecue sauce, honey barbecue sauce, hot and spicy barbecue sauce, and vinegar barbecue sauce. How about a normal potato chip? We have salt and vinegar potato chips. Who in their right mind wants to eat that? Then there's ranch potato chips, barbecue potato chips, hot and spicy potato chips, and crunchy chips. All potato chips are crunchy what's that about? Potato chips are wonderful all by themselves even without salt. Did you know that they have barbecue sauce ranch...