Well guys, for the first time EVER I can say that I got all my Christmas shopping done before December 1st! Can you believe it? (To be perfectly honest, I guess I must admit I still don't have gifts for my brothers-in-law, but I'm talking about gifts for the kids and everyone else.)
For the past few months, Tyler's been picking up gifts here-and-there for the boys, you know, stuff that caught his eye or was on an awesome sale. So I knew that the boys were pretty much done, just needed a few little toys for them. But the bulk of my shopping was for No.3 and No.4, who had practically nothing. Mom and I made plans on Friday that we would meet up in Red Deer on Saturday, after Ard's hockey game (during which he got his hat trick AND three assists, woot!), and she would take No. 2 and No. 3 so I could shop. And boy did I ever!
First to Toys R Us, where I shocked and amazed both myself and the other shoppers with my massively overflowing cart. I felt like I had to explain myself to the lady behind me in line, "I have four kids" to which she nodded in understanding, "Ah, okay, that explains it. I was thinking you had one and she was getting spoiled!" We laughed. I didn't clarify that 95% of the toys were for TWO kids, not four. She's right -- my kids are spoiled! Haha. But in my defence, most of my cart was taken up by Ryder's folded-up umbrella stroller and his diaper bag. Because I'm an idiot and forgot that I should have just carried him into the store.
(On a side note, how friggin' annoying is it that everywhere you look in a TOY STORE are signs saying 'Stocking Stuffers'?!! Ya, lets announce it to all reading-age kids that their parents are the ones stuffing the stockings! What a great thing for a kid to learn at Christmas, and from a TOY STORE no less! Even GD commercials on tv say it. ARRGHHH! I'd like to encourage my kids' innocent beliefs in magical beings for as long as I can, thankyouverymuch advertisers!!)
Met up with mom afterwards at McD's (I was very proud of myself that I didn't eat anything besides a couple limp fries and half a chicken nugget), then she took the kids to Linen N Things (Ardan was disgusted) while I continued on to Canadian Tire. I was only going in for three things, came out with like a hundred. Typical. But at least the men on my list were crossed off (well, except for the brothers-in-law, I struggle every year with gift ideas for them). Then on to Payless for shoes and hikers for Ryder, and black ballet dress shoes for Lena. Left the store with those, PLUS two pairs of heels, a black clutch purse, and tons of jewelry for me. *sigh* What can I say, I'm a sucker for a sale. THEN, my last store, Marks Work Warehouse. Mom had given me a great idea for Scott's gift (Tyler pulled his name in the gift exchange) and, because I lead a "charmed life", it just so happened Mark's was having a One Night Only 25% Off Sale! So I was able to get Scott five gifts for the price of two!
And I just want to inform everyone that Mark's does not have shopping carts! Well, they do, FOUR. Which the employees use for stocking shelves. I walked in there carrying Ryder (remembering my Toys R Us experience), then frantically tried to locate a cart so I could plop my kid down before my arms fell off. An older saleslady took pity on me and rounded up a cart. I was so thankful! Until I realized the reason they don't have carts for customers is because the aisles are like six inches wide. Try pushing a cart loaded with stuff through those tiny aisles, knocking stuff over, bumping into people "Sorry! So sorry!". I found these awesome Helly Hansen under-armor hoody sweaters that I thought would be a great idea for the hubby and brothers-in-law, but there was no price on it. Couldn't be too expensive, I thought, maybe $50 each, with the 25% off that would be... um... *thinking*... you know what, screw math, it would be a good deal is what it would be, lol. (Hey, I never claimed I was a rocket scientist and for those who say that equation is nowhere near rocket science, bah humbug on you!)
I got up to the till, the cashier was a total witch to me, yelled at me in front of everyone that I was loading items too fast on the counter. Well, you would be too, sister, if you had a screaming baby trying to madly escape the cart as he rips the earring from your ear! But I felt her frustration, that place was PACKED, I've been there before when I worked at A&W and a huge tour bus would come in and the place would go from dead to insane in seconds. So I cut her some slack. Until she said, "Okay, you're total is $460." WTF?!? "Um, could you please tell me how much those hoodies were? They didn't have a price on them." They were $100 each! Gee, um, let me think, uh, NO THANKS!! So she made a big deal of taking them out of the bag, THREW them on the ground, heaved a giant sigh of frustration as she retotalled my bill. I just stood there and smiled. Honey, the only person looking like a bitch and a fool is you, and unprofessional as well. I can honestly tell you that during my working days, from A&W to waitressing at the Lodge to working at the Advocate, I never, ever took my frustration or impatience out on a customer.
Anyways, after that fiasco I met up with mom at Deanna's for a coffee and smoke and to be able to finally rest my aching feet. Ahhhh, Gramma Dea's coffee is the absolute best. Made the mistake, though, of taking a giant swig of my mom's PIPING HOT fresh cup thinking it was my lukewarm cup. Mom and Dea were laughing hilariously as I screamed with my mouth closed, cheeks bulging with boiling coffee, looking frantically for somewhere to spit it out besides all over those two cackling hyenas. Spat it back into my own cup, then sat there moaning for a couple minutes as I felt my tastebuds withering into hardened nubs. Even my teeth were burning!
Oh, and then Exorcist-Boy upchucked all over Dea's floor, and his NEW SHOES!!! Which is all I cared about. Grandma's got a tiled floor, no big whoop. But his new navy blue runners were covered with white chunks! Ugh!
So yeah, after all that -- shopping, driving in Red Deer's insane traffic, dealing with frustrated cashiers, searing my mouth lining, scrubbing puke (oh yeah, and did I mention that No.4 has THE DIARRHEA and I had to change him every 20 minutes the entire day) -- I was DONE. Game over. Mama hit her limit.
Went home, fed the kids, put them to bed, then remembered I had to haul in like a million bags from the vehicle, THEN remembered I had to sort and organize and make lists of who's-getting-what, THEN remembered I had to transfer those lists to the computer... Lets just say it was the wee hours of the morning before I was able to collapse in a heap on my bed.
But at least I can say that all my shopping is done!!!
Well, except for those darn brothers-in-law!! But I'm choosing to ignore that...
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