Those 70ish Girls

By Valerie Halla

There’s a great store nearby that’s called The Outside In and I can identify with that name. I’m not sure what that refers to but maybe it means you can bring outside things like fresh air, plants or beautiful flowers from the outside indoors. I’m thinking of other things though. Have you ever worn anything inside out or backwards or upside down? I’ve done it without even realizing that I had goofed.

Once I went to work with my blouse on inside out. It was buttoned so I just slipped it over my head and off I went, except with an inside out blouse. Maybe you have tried that also or maybe you weren’t as tired and bleary eyed as I was. Having three little kids and trying to get them ready for school and out the door at the same time I was going to work, made mornings hectic not to mention crazy, with a capital K.

A nice friend and coworker mentioned my inside out blouse later that day and sure enough, I looked down and the seams were showing on the outside and even though I was comfortable, the blouse just didn’t look right. This was probably on a Monday since Mondays can be pretty tough when you have had a great weekend watching tv, staying up late, sleeping in, and just trying to do all the chores and kids’ stuff in two measly days. It’s insane insanity with a capital E.

I didn’t learn my lesson though. A few months later, I went to work with my earrings on backwards. Another loyal friend and teacher mentioned that my earrings were on backwards. I quickly fixed them and no harm was done except to my modesty. The earrings actually looked good either way. No one cared.

Turns out I did not change even into my 70ish years. You would think getting wiser follows along with getting older. No, that logic doesn’t work for me all the time. I think that I started out a few cards short of a full deck into my 30ish years, then I was always a bit behind mentally, with a capital B. The other night I was so tired that I slept all night with my pajamas on inside out. Sheesh. I still slept fine.

I remember my cousin made some inside out and upside down Halloween costume a while ago and she even did a video with instructions on how to make that weirdly unique outfit. I’m not sure it caught on but she thought it was a winner in the world of Halloween originality. The pants were the top and the top was the pants part. She can probably revive her idea for her upside down backwards costume if we ask her. Maybe I will ask her with compliments first, a lemon bar offering and suggest nicely that she should redo her costume idea. She’s always ready to share her expertise with a capital X.