52 By the Way...
Ponte Vedra Recorder ·September 24, 2015
“It’s a pillow, Mackenzie. Not a husband.”
For a year, I’d been looking forward to taking my high school graduate granddaughter to Bed Bath and
Beyond to shop for her dorm room. I
had collected 20 coupons. So in June,
a-shopping we did go, two months before she’d be leaving for college. We
were too excited
to wait any longer.
Grandparents of
boys say their
grandsons grab a
big box and throw
a bunch of stuff
in it and they’re
Mims Cushing
ready to go. Girls
By the Way...
shop as though
House Beautiful
will be taking photos.
Entering BB&B, I asked, “Where
shall we start?” She knew. We headed
to the Keurig machines for free coffee.
Then to the jumbo-and- smaller plastic
or fabric boxes to stash under the bed
and around her room.
Along the way to bedding were slimline hangers labeled “BEYOND VALUE!” We picked up a box of 36. Then
we saw a “Jumbo Super Lap Desk” and
put it in the shopping cart for her laptop. She came upon a sensible shower
caddy to take her items to the dorm
bathroom.
Then we were in bedding. When I
was a freshman, Mom needed to buy
me three things: a mattress pad, sheets,
and bedspread. First things first: We
found a “Sleep Safe” dust mite protector that zips all around the mattress.
“You never know if dust mites were
sleeping with a student from last year,
Grammie.” We tactfully avoided mention of other creepy crawlies, the ones
making the headlines.
A sign said, “Make your bed better!
Cozy it up by adding layers and style.”
So we bought a gel mattress protector, a 3-inch memory foam topper and
some other layer of padding designed
THEME: FAMOUS CANINES
to make a freshman fall asleep at night
before finishing her assignments. “I will
be known as the person with the best
bed,” Mack said. I mulled over many
things I’d rather she be k nown for.
After choosing towels, we came to
pillows. Whenever Mackenzie comes
to stay at my house in Florida, she
growls about my pillows. I buy pillows for me that a baby would like —
squishy and small. She likes pillows
as rigid as a tree trunk, but they aren’t
ossified enough for her. She walked
up and down the aisles bopping every
pillow in the center. “No … No … No
… No … I don’t think so.” Then she
stopped. Had she found The One?
“How can I be sure, Grammie?” I
wanted to say, “Are you saying yes to
the pillow?”
Turning around, I found her lying
on the floor, cradling the pillow in her
arms. A look of bliss came over her.
She did look comfy, but how would
the salespeople feel about her “Co-
ACROSS
1. Ostentatious or
vain displays
6. Party barrel
9. *Garfield’s canine
friend Odie hates
taking one
13. Use a Bedazzler,
e.g.
14. Literary “even”
15. Native-born
Israeli
16. Salk’s conquest
17. Head of a country club
18. “Well-____
machine”
19. Vacation location
21. *Yellow lab of
best-selling autobiography
23. Dashboard unit
24. Nothing to fear
but this?
25. Fleur-de-____
28. Jellystone Park
denizen
30. Unlike Pinocchio
35. At another time,
to Romeo or Juliet
37. Margarets
39. Be undecided
40. UN civil aviation
agency, acr.
41. *Husky, the hero
of Nome
43. Australian palm
44. Fraternity K
46. “____ what you
sow”
47. Slender or thin
48. Acquiesce
50. A in B.A.
52. Tree juice
53. Gamecock’s spur
55. “____ show
time!”
57. *Most famous
fictional canine
character?
60. *Mystery-solving
Great Dane
63. Lifeboat support
64. Rub the wrong
way
66. Abomination
68. Plural of #2
Down
69. A guy’s ____
70. *Buck changed
his luck in film, “The
Call of the Wild”
71. Breaking updates
72. Born that way?
73. City in western
Germany
zying it up” on the floor? A shopper
came around the corner, and stared
down at Mack. “Mackenzie!” she said
cheerily, as though she always saw
people on the floor testing out pillows. Mackenzie, still snuggled up
with her pillow, said, “Oh hi, Mrs. S.
Grammie, this is Mrs. S. Remember?”
She had been one of Mackenzie’s
pre-school teachers. It didn’t seem to
bother her that Mackenzie was lying
on the floor.
We’d been shopping, and needed
lunch. I readied my coupons to use at
the cash register, but a sweet salesperson said, “You save those. I have ones
you can use.” We left the store with
three shopping carts and 20 coupons
for the next foray. That’s a good thing
because Mack still has many things left
to buy. I hope she can choose the next
items in a vertical position.
I hope she won’t be so comfortable
in the morning that she forgets to get
out of bed to go to class.
SUDOKU
DOWN
1. OB-GYN test
2. Detected by
olfactory system
3. Lawn enemy
4. Rainbow-producing device
5. *Schulz’ beagle
6. “Best ____ secret”
7. “Ever” to a poet
8. Fairytale garden
dweller
9. Get-out-of-jail
money
10. Goes with “willing”
11. 3-point shot
12. Owned
15. Feeling at a
funeral
20. Type of parallelogram
22. Express pleasure
24. Adam’s or Eve’s
cover plant
25. *Soviet space
dog
26. Pizarro’s conquest
27. Daytime entertainment
29. Necessary
equipment or
articles
31. Grandmothers,
in Britain
32. Pandora’s box
contents
33. Old photo color
34. *Lady’s boyfriend
36. No way
38. *Rin Tin Tin has
one on the Walk of
Fame
42. Relating to sight
45. Teenagers’ emotions
49. Thailand native
51. Larry or Curly or
Moe
54. Make believe
56. Coke and Pepsi,
e.g.
57. Use a ladle
58. Swear, not curse
59. Elton John and
Bono, e.g.
60. *Greyfriars Bobby, type of terrier
61. Overalls
62. ____ log
63. Knotts or
McLean
65. Street in Paris
67. They are from
Mars?