My "brush with death" at the mall. . .

213.0 (nice)

I'm feelin' good about myself this morning. For the first time in weeks, I actually got up within 10 minutes of my alarm and took Sebastian for a little 15-minute walk around the neighborhood. It's surprising how just that little bit of exercise makes me feel more alert. . . and makes Sebastian more chill when I leave the house for work.

Had some excitement yesterday. I met two friends from work at a mall in a "nicer" part of town to shop for an outfit for my lunch with J on Wednesday. As we were trying to leave, people were running and screaming from the Dillard's department store. I heard someone yell "someone's shooting," and my friend says she heard gunshots. The two of us ended up "locked down" in the Godiva chocolates stores for 15-20 minutes because of the confusion. By the time we were finally allowed to leave the mall, there were police everywhere outside and news crews were filming.

My poor friend E nearly had a panic attack; she was very upset. Also, there was a huge line of cars in the parking lot, as everyone was evacuated and all the cars were trying to leave the mall at once. E was almost out of gas, so an additional anxiety for her. The whole thing was pretty crazy while we were stuck in the Godiva store; we really didn't know if some nutjob was on a shooting rampage or what.

In typical me fashion, after dropping E at her car, I calmly called my parents & sister to tell them what had happened, then continued on to Lane Bryant & DSW and finished my shopping. Blame it on all my years of working in hospitals in high stress, life/death situations. . . I am a major under-reactor in stressful situations. (Or maybe I really am "dead inside," as my sister likes to tell me.)

The shooting was in the news this morning. Apparently two people shot at each other in the Dillard's, which is just off the food court. A bullet grazed a bystander and two other people were injured. Police arrested two suspects and believe the shooting was gang-related.

On a tangent. . . . I did buy some cute clothes yesterday (after the shoot-out, lol). I'll be wearing a wrap style cotton blouse, black capris, some very cute strappy black sandals. I even bought a necklace and earrings to match. I think the outfit is flattering, but doesn't make me look like I'm trying to look good. . . which is perfect. I also bought a navy pair of capris in a similar style and four other tops. (OK, I went a little overboard. :) )

It's supposed to be 109 degrees today and 114 on Wednesday. Ugh. I'm sure Phoenix will be even hotter on Wednesday. What joy.