Otherwise know as Babies R Us is the devil.
As usual, everyone around me is pregnant. I was forced to make a trip to Babies R Us this week to purchase gifts for two different prego friends of mine. I assumed I would pop in, print the registries, grab some stuff and head out in ten minutes flat. Little did I know that I would not exit the store until over thirty minutes later with tears in my eyes and bags on my trembling arms. But I am jumping ahead. Let's start at the beginning.....
I happily skipped into the entry of Babies R Us. Ok, so I just walked in normally but I was in a pleasant mood. I headed over to the registry area to print off my two lists. I quickly found the first one and printed it off. Five minutes later I finally found the second registry after trying about ten combinations of first name and last name. I mean really....how many girls with the exact same name are pregnant in the state of Missouri???
I quickly scanned the lists to find an item in my price range that sounded cute. Conveniently the registry even listed what aisle I could find said items in. I was standing right next to aisle 20 which the registry listed as the place where I could find the blanket I was looking for. I quickly walked into the aisle and looked up to realize that the aisle was full of car seats. Only car seats. Nothing else. Clearly this was not where the blanket was to be found. I quickly grabbed an employee that was walking by and asked for help. She grimaced and pointed to my registry. Apparently the tiny star next to the item meant that they had either clearanced the item or they didn't have it in the requested color. She walked about five aisles over an pointed to the spot where the item was. They had it in black instead of the requested brown. She handed it over saying that was pretty much the same thing. Considering everything on this registry was brown, I did not think changing it up for black would be a good idea. I decided to try for my back up item. The girl said that all the bedding items should be in the correct aisles and sent me off to the other end of the store in search of bedding.
This would work out well since the second registry had a lot of bedding items in my price range. Two birds with one stone right??? I quickly made my way to bedding and started searching for my item. This should be easy right? I had the brand name, the price, and the color. Except that everything in the aisle was the same brand. And everything was the same price. And about half the aisle was the requested brown shade. Great. I started scouring tags looking for the exact wording off my registry. After about five trips down the aisle I finally found the blanket. Success!!!!
Now just a quick jaunt over to the next aisle to grab whatever a playard sheet is and I'd be out of there. I stepped into the listed aisle and started scanning the shelf. I quickly realized that everything is this aisle was labeled as a crib sheet. Now I might not know much about babies but I know that crib sheets and playard sheets are probably not the same thing. I continued searching anyway because this is the aisle that the registry listed. I compared every tag in the aisle with my registry definition. Nothing. I scanned the area but there were no employees anywhere. I decided to try out the next few aisles. I mean how hard can it be to find the area with the sheets. I searched up and down every aisle in the bedding section. And then I did it again. My eyes started to well with tears and my frustration level rose. And I still couldn't find an employee to help me! Before full on panic hit I decided to take a break and go grab the requested bag of Pampers I needed for the shower.
Thankfully there was a giant sign labeled "Diapers" off in the distant corner of the store. I made my way over trying to forget about my need to return to bedding to find my gift. I stepped into the diaper aisle and, as luck would have it, Pampers were the first brand of diapers I came to. I started searching for the cheapest bag I could find since I didn't plan on buying the economy sized crate of diapers. I found a small bag but realized it was for preemies and that probably wouldn't do so I moved to the next package over. This bag was labeled "cruisers" which based on the picture I assume means toddlers. And that was it. There were no more bags. The store was completely out of normal sized baby diapers. The baby store was out of diapers!!!! Now I was getting angry.
I finally spotted an employee moving rocking chairs around. He was clearly busy but I didn't care anymore. By the way, why is a guy working at a baby store? Does anyone else find that a little weird? Anyway, I walked over and plainly told the man that I was about to lose it and needed some help. I showed him my registry and asked him to help me find anything that was listed in the bedding section. He said that they playard sheet I was looking for was at the end of the aisle with the car seats. Back where I first started in the store! Then he walked me over to bedding and started pointing out a few other items on my list. None of which were in the aisle listed on the registry. After pointing out several items I told him that was enough and that I wasn't planning on buying out the whole section. I ended up grabbing a crib sheet because at this point I could care less what I was picking up. I still had one stop to make.
I headed over to the the toy aisle in search of a book to go along with my gift. That should be easy. Find the books, grab a small color or shape recognition book and head to the checkout. When I arrived at the books I saw a lot of shelf. There were hardly any books to choose from. I started mumbling curses under my breath as I started sorting through my measly selections. I picked up a book on shapes that looked basic and baby appropriate and flipped it over to see the price. Ten bucks for a four page book with basic shapes printed in it. Seriously? I could buy a full on chick lit novel for that price. Heck, I could buy some cardboard and make my own damn book for about fifty cents. I quickly started flipping books over in search of one that seemed a reasonable price for what the book contained. I finally settled on one that made me giggle, which was quite a feat with the state I was in at this point. For any Friends tv show lovers out there you might remember the episode when Rachel was pregnant and Joey gifted her with a dramatic reading of a story. I had picked up that story. The book is actually really cute so I went with it.
I was finally headed to the register and thankfully there was not a line. I guess everyone else knew better than to shop at this hellhole. I plopped my items down and started digging for my wallet when the chipper clerk asked if I had found everything alright. With a blank stare and tear stained cheeks I responded honesty with "not really". She looked a little alarmed. I guess they don't get that response too often. Being the good employee she was she proceeded to ask if she could help me find something. I responded with "no thanks, I would just like to leave now and never come back". That should send off the message of ring me out and leave me alone right? But what words came out of her mouth next you ask? "Do you have a rewards card with us?" Now I was the one with the shocked expression. Once I picked my jaw off the ground I responded with "Do I look like someone who has kids and shops here often?" But she was having none of it. In her still perky tone she replied "You can use one to buy gifts for friends or family". Well, well, can I now? I replied, "No thanks, I don't plan to come back. If anyone else gets pregnant they are getting condoms as their gift". She finally gave up an proceeded to ring out my purchases. But she couldn't help getting in one last jab by offering me a coupon to use next time. I abandoned the coupon on the counter and stormed out of the store only to realize that I didn't buy a gift bag or any wrapping paper. Since I refused to re-enter the store I resigned myself to just grab some later when I had to shop for Pampers.
I have never been to a Babies R Us before and I don't plan to return even if I do have a baby at some point in life. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a cute baby just as much as the next girl but I am definitely not in any rush to bring one home.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Never Going Home Again
I don't travel often but when I do I seem to have the same problem each time. I can never seem to get home. Something always happens to delay my return.
Those who know me know that my personality is pretty quirky and my mood shift sudden. I love vacations and I enjoy going on trips but when I am scheduled to go home, I want to go home. I want to get there as soon as possible and not delay the end to my trip. My curse however will prevent that, the Gods punishing me by throwing everything at me to prevent me from coming home.
Sometimes the challenges are simple. On the way home from a girls weekend someone remembers they left a phone charger at the hotel causing a 40 minute driving excursion back to the hotel. Driving home from Branson my friends decided it would be a fun idea to take an hour long break at Bass Pro. Who stops at Bass Pro during a four hour drive? Really? Driving back from Chicago we drove down every road in Illinois that was under construction as though someone planned our route based on the construction.
Other challenges are more frustrating. On the way back from Vegas with my mom we were informed that the plane we were on was broken and that we were delayed until they found another plane for us. Having spent a solid week with my mother this is not what I was wanting to hear. I had enjoyed my trip but I was ready to go home. I lost it. I started bawling my eyes out in the middle of the Vegas airport. The clerk gazed at me amazed that a grown woman was crying about a delay. To this day my mom references this experience as the most embarrassing thing I have every done to her. I just couldn't contain myself. That hour long delay threw off my entire plan for getting home and that was not to be tolerated. But that was not even close to my worst travel experience.
The worst challenge was more of a duel. To this day I insist that someone was out to get me. I made it home that day but the ridiculousness that ensued was traumatizing. I had just spent a week in California with my mother, a friend from school, and her mother. I would never speak to this friend again after this trip. The trip itself if another story but lets just say that I desperately wanted to get home and away from these people. This was by far the worst vacation that I have ever taken. We arrived at John Wayne Airport in California and were informed that there would be a delay in our flight. It would be a few hours at least. We were scheduled to have a layover in Arizona and the president had conveniently decided to fly there himself causing the entire airport to shut down. Our flight would be delayed until the president had landed and vacated the area. Great! We settled into the uncomfortable airport waiting area seats and proceeded to glare at each other for what seemed like hours. That is when we got our second bit of news. Our flight to Arizona was canceled completely. A monsoon had struck and the Arizona airport was closed. Yes, a monsoon! Since when do monsoons hit Arizona? Still think no one was out to get me? It gets better.
The airline was very apologetic and offered to put us up in a hotel overnight if we would wait to fly out the next day. Everyone was scrambling to get flights and they were desperately trying to get rid of some of us. But I was having none of it. I wanted to go home and I wanted to go right that second. After a lot of checking and cross checking the clerk with the airline found a flight for us through Colorado with another airline. The problem....the flight was leaving out of LAX....in less that an hour. They immediately shoved us into the back of a cab with our luggage and told the cabbie to book it to LAX through L.A. traffic. I have never been so terrified in my life. I have also never made it from Anaheim to L.A. in 30 minutes before. The cabbie screeched to a halt in front of LAX and we ran with our luggage shoving past people waiting in line. Thankfully we got to cut right to the front, check in and make our run for the gate before the flight took off. We barely made it and were on our way to home. Finally!
I just planned my anniversary trip for this year. We are approaching five years so we planned a big trip to Michigan to celebrate. We are making the eight hour drive ourselves and I am already anticipating the adventures that await attempting to drive home.
Those who know me know that my personality is pretty quirky and my mood shift sudden. I love vacations and I enjoy going on trips but when I am scheduled to go home, I want to go home. I want to get there as soon as possible and not delay the end to my trip. My curse however will prevent that, the Gods punishing me by throwing everything at me to prevent me from coming home.
Sometimes the challenges are simple. On the way home from a girls weekend someone remembers they left a phone charger at the hotel causing a 40 minute driving excursion back to the hotel. Driving home from Branson my friends decided it would be a fun idea to take an hour long break at Bass Pro. Who stops at Bass Pro during a four hour drive? Really? Driving back from Chicago we drove down every road in Illinois that was under construction as though someone planned our route based on the construction.
Other challenges are more frustrating. On the way back from Vegas with my mom we were informed that the plane we were on was broken and that we were delayed until they found another plane for us. Having spent a solid week with my mother this is not what I was wanting to hear. I had enjoyed my trip but I was ready to go home. I lost it. I started bawling my eyes out in the middle of the Vegas airport. The clerk gazed at me amazed that a grown woman was crying about a delay. To this day my mom references this experience as the most embarrassing thing I have every done to her. I just couldn't contain myself. That hour long delay threw off my entire plan for getting home and that was not to be tolerated. But that was not even close to my worst travel experience.
The worst challenge was more of a duel. To this day I insist that someone was out to get me. I made it home that day but the ridiculousness that ensued was traumatizing. I had just spent a week in California with my mother, a friend from school, and her mother. I would never speak to this friend again after this trip. The trip itself if another story but lets just say that I desperately wanted to get home and away from these people. This was by far the worst vacation that I have ever taken. We arrived at John Wayne Airport in California and were informed that there would be a delay in our flight. It would be a few hours at least. We were scheduled to have a layover in Arizona and the president had conveniently decided to fly there himself causing the entire airport to shut down. Our flight would be delayed until the president had landed and vacated the area. Great! We settled into the uncomfortable airport waiting area seats and proceeded to glare at each other for what seemed like hours. That is when we got our second bit of news. Our flight to Arizona was canceled completely. A monsoon had struck and the Arizona airport was closed. Yes, a monsoon! Since when do monsoons hit Arizona? Still think no one was out to get me? It gets better.
The airline was very apologetic and offered to put us up in a hotel overnight if we would wait to fly out the next day. Everyone was scrambling to get flights and they were desperately trying to get rid of some of us. But I was having none of it. I wanted to go home and I wanted to go right that second. After a lot of checking and cross checking the clerk with the airline found a flight for us through Colorado with another airline. The problem....the flight was leaving out of LAX....in less that an hour. They immediately shoved us into the back of a cab with our luggage and told the cabbie to book it to LAX through L.A. traffic. I have never been so terrified in my life. I have also never made it from Anaheim to L.A. in 30 minutes before. The cabbie screeched to a halt in front of LAX and we ran with our luggage shoving past people waiting in line. Thankfully we got to cut right to the front, check in and make our run for the gate before the flight took off. We barely made it and were on our way to home. Finally!
I just planned my anniversary trip for this year. We are approaching five years so we planned a big trip to Michigan to celebrate. We are making the eight hour drive ourselves and I am already anticipating the adventures that await attempting to drive home.
Friday, February 3, 2012
The Scar
Like most people, I have scars. I have a lot of scars. I have a chicken pox scar on my cheek. I have a burn scar from an oven on my arm. I even have a scar on my forehead where I hit it while playing as a toddler. But my worst scar by far is on my leg and it appeared less than a year ago.
I love my dog a lot but she has caused me a lot of scars in her three short years. Picture a beautiful spring day in April. I thought it would be a lovely day to take Weezy out in the backyard for a quick game of fetch before I left to meet some friends. We went through our routine and she settled down excitedly at the back door to wait for me to put on her collar with a lead attached. Since we don't have a fenced in back yard we have a long wire cable lead that we attach her to so that she can freely wander around the yard without be able to chase down passersby in the street. I attached the collar and opened the door. Weezy eagerly ran outside and grabbed her ball and brought it to me. After a short struggle to get her to release the ball ("drop it" is not quite in her vocabulary yet) I tossed it around a few times and she galloped off full speed to fetch. Being the chunky pooch she is, she tuckered out after about three tosses and plopped down in the yard to bask in the sun and possibly roll around in some poop.
I had some time left so I wandered over to my garden to check on the progress of my blossoming tomatoes and other veggies. Not able to be away from my side for even a second, Weezy immediately jumped up to come investigate why I had disappeared around the corner of the house. We both admired the garden for a while when I realized that I needed to get a move on and go meet my friends. I told Weezy it was time to go inside and she turned to run back to the door.
And that's when it happened.....
I saw everything in slow motion. Weezy took off for the door, ears flapping in the wind. I looked down and realized that her lead was wrapped around my legs. I screamed for her to stop as I tried to disentangle myself. In the hour it took for her to slow motion run away and for me to scream I managed to free my left leg. But she had built up too much momentum and I knew what was going to happen. I was trying to lift my right leg out of the lead when the tension caught and the lead tightened on my leg and slide across my skin. I managed to stay on my feet and Weezy came running back to see why I had screamed.
I limped into the house to survey my leg and try to squelch the burning pain. My leg was bright red with what looked like a rope burn wrapping almost all around my leg. The cord had cut so deep I was worried I might need stitches. I cleaned myself up and poored a bottle of peroxide over my leg and headed out to meet my friends.
This was probably the worse injury I have ever had which makes me feel lucky. I was left limping for weeks and couldn't wear any pants that came down past my calves. My doctor ordered a dopplar exam to make sure the injury hadn't caused any blood clots (thanks for the $500 bill doc).
Eventually the wound healed but I have been left with a nice scar wrapping around my leg as memory. I don't blame Weezy but I make damn sure to stay out of her lead whenever I am outside.
I love my dog a lot but she has caused me a lot of scars in her three short years. Picture a beautiful spring day in April. I thought it would be a lovely day to take Weezy out in the backyard for a quick game of fetch before I left to meet some friends. We went through our routine and she settled down excitedly at the back door to wait for me to put on her collar with a lead attached. Since we don't have a fenced in back yard we have a long wire cable lead that we attach her to so that she can freely wander around the yard without be able to chase down passersby in the street. I attached the collar and opened the door. Weezy eagerly ran outside and grabbed her ball and brought it to me. After a short struggle to get her to release the ball ("drop it" is not quite in her vocabulary yet) I tossed it around a few times and she galloped off full speed to fetch. Being the chunky pooch she is, she tuckered out after about three tosses and plopped down in the yard to bask in the sun and possibly roll around in some poop.
I had some time left so I wandered over to my garden to check on the progress of my blossoming tomatoes and other veggies. Not able to be away from my side for even a second, Weezy immediately jumped up to come investigate why I had disappeared around the corner of the house. We both admired the garden for a while when I realized that I needed to get a move on and go meet my friends. I told Weezy it was time to go inside and she turned to run back to the door.
And that's when it happened.....
I saw everything in slow motion. Weezy took off for the door, ears flapping in the wind. I looked down and realized that her lead was wrapped around my legs. I screamed for her to stop as I tried to disentangle myself. In the hour it took for her to slow motion run away and for me to scream I managed to free my left leg. But she had built up too much momentum and I knew what was going to happen. I was trying to lift my right leg out of the lead when the tension caught and the lead tightened on my leg and slide across my skin. I managed to stay on my feet and Weezy came running back to see why I had screamed.
I limped into the house to survey my leg and try to squelch the burning pain. My leg was bright red with what looked like a rope burn wrapping almost all around my leg. The cord had cut so deep I was worried I might need stitches. I cleaned myself up and poored a bottle of peroxide over my leg and headed out to meet my friends.
This was probably the worse injury I have ever had which makes me feel lucky. I was left limping for weeks and couldn't wear any pants that came down past my calves. My doctor ordered a dopplar exam to make sure the injury hadn't caused any blood clots (thanks for the $500 bill doc).
Eventually the wound healed but I have been left with a nice scar wrapping around my leg as memory. I don't blame Weezy but I make damn sure to stay out of her lead whenever I am outside.
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