We ALL had to help my brother finish his science projects all the way through high school. It always involved frayed nerves and late nights. He works at an innternational satellite firm now and lives in a cool house in Holland and gets to travel the world, so there you go.

Is there stuff you can take back, vw?

vw, is it stuff you can return? Even if only one thing is returnable, bringing that one thing back might go a long way towards making you feel more in control of the situation.

I worked with a woman who used to go out at lunch and buy things (and this was in midtown NYC, so she used to go to Bloomies and pricey little boutiques) when she was feeling blue and return them the next day.

ETA: Having worked in retail, I promise you stores don't care if you return stuff as long as it is in good condition.

Is there stuff you can take back, vw?

Not really. The yarn I'd only get store credit for, and the other place I wrote a check, so they won't let you return it till the check clears... And by that time I'll be ok again, 'cause I get my SS check on Wednesday. It'll be ok. I just feel stupid.

And some cookbooks from the 60s.

My mom has one called "Cooking for orgies and other large parties."

Probably too long for tagging:

"Misquotation is, in fact, the pride and privilege of the learned. A widely- read man never quotes accurately, for the rather obvious reason that he has read too widely.'

- Hesketh Pearson

Not really. The yarn I'd only get store credit for, and the other place I wrote a check, so they won't let you return it till the check clears... And by that time I'll be ok again, 'cause I get my SS check on Wednesday. It'll be ok. I just feel stupid.

vw, I've done this several times. I know the feeling.

Betsy, I hold out no hope for you. It just gets worse. Bright kids are hell to raise and just try to motivate them. Hah.

Been there, done that. My kid turned out ok. Will tell you the whole gruesome story sometime.

Allyson, You have trained yourself to be an observer. Don't fret, it is very likely you are seeing and remembering just fine. My husband and I used to play games. We would walk down a street and one of us would say now! The other one would have to describe everything they could remember about the last few feet. This always involved the store front we were passing. We got pretty good at it too.

The other one would have to describe everything they could remember about the last few feet. This always involved the store front we were passing. We got pretty good at it too.

I think I could do this with jewelry or shoe stores.

Others would probably blur.