Sometimes, things in life blow, sometimes they glow.

Like the passenger front tire on my family van.  Picked up two shiny nails and a pothole in a construction zone, last night, and that was it.

The tire lasted through the off-ramp, and nearly to my friend needlewomyn 's house a block or so away before going completely flat.  I parked the van down the street, and walked the length of the street to her house.  We ate supper, and she watched Sparkle while I waited for AAA.  The AAA guy was friendly, and changed the tire for the donut.  I am ashamed to say, that while I might be able to change out lug nuts and tire given the proper tools, I had no idea how to even access the spare tire from my van.  This is why I have AAA.

We went shoe shopping for our daughters.  Sparkle disdained the Hannah Montana brand shoes, and several other utilitarian types.  She really liked the Tinkerbell shoes, but they were out of her size.  Bratz - I wouldn't ever let my child wear such things - ugh.  needlewomyn pointed out a particularlyappalling pair of size 13s (that's shoes for a 4-5 year old) that were tennis shoe/ platform heels, all sparkly.  Who buys these things for little preschool girls?  Eww. 

Luckily, we found a pair of girly athletic shoes labeled "Flashdance Sparkle," which are white, with pink and purple pin-striping, and include hearts that flash whenever Sparkle takes a step.  Were these made just for Sparkle?  I think so!  She didn't want to take them off at the store, so we boxed her old shoes in the packaging, and let her wear them, still with tags on.  This confused the checkout clerk briefly, but he cheerfully scanned her shoe, (still on her foot, kicked up and held high) and all was well.

We ended our (very late) evening at Graeter's, an ice cream shop with a children's play area inside.
Afterwards, watching my laughing daughter skip and jump and stomp in the dark, lights flashing, gave my heart a warm glow.