Saturday, July 11, 2009

More decadence

Got another pass on the camping for today. Garrett isn't feeling great enough to be out in the woods, and it's sprinkling outside. So, while the kids are on the lake fishing with their new poles that Mom and Dan got them, they are happy about a few rain drops as it is a relief from the heat. For Garrett, it wouldn't be quite as fun.


I am trying to convince myself that it's OK that I am not joining them for the family camp out...can you tell? I know that they are having fun. I have received about a hundred texts from Gavin giving me a play-by-play on everything they've been doing. Dalton's been gorging himself on marshmallows. Shelby refuses to pee in the outhouse. They brought their bikes and have been biking on the trail around the lake. With Dan and Mom, Kristen, David and Gavin, I have no doubt that they will have the time of their lives. Shelby has a new sleeping bag that she was excited to use for the first time. Dan had bought a truck load of food, and was going to be making a pancake breakfast this morning, grilling steaks for dinner, and using his dutch oven for desert. Mom is always fun with the kids. Guaranteed she is knee-deep in mud, collecting bugs, or bear hunting with the kids.


Do I wish that I were with them? Truthfully- no. Garrett woke up this morning at 6:30. I gave him a diluted juice bottle and it kept him occupied in his crib until 7:00 a.m. We watched the Wiggles until I regained consciousness. He had breakfast: a banana, strawberry yogurt, apple sauce, and a chicken hot dog. I had an Oreo. After breakfast I grabbed a banana and a milk bottle for Garrett. I put on my flip flops and we headed out for a walk. Up and down the streets we went. I munched on my banana as Garrett babbled to the birds. I keep heading up a particular street. There is a house that I am in love with. It is a two story salmon-colored brick box. I don't know how else to describe it. I love the simplicity of it. The owners have done some cool things to the house. Instead of swirly wrought iron and fancy details, they have gone minimalist. The front walk is lined with a row of purple lavender on each side. No roses, no peonies, no fancy rock work. The doors are very sleek..even the garage door. It is on a large lot and backs up to the elementary school. It is on a quiet small tree lined street. I will go sneak up to the house and take some pictures. I already Zillowed it and looked on the County Assessor's site as to all the specs. Needless to say, it is way out of our price range for now. But, a girl can dream. So, we wander, I gawk. I talk to neighbors. We head back at 10:00 a.m. and the baby goes down for a nap. I should clean the house, but instead I surf the internet...utahrealestate.com- and see ALL the homes that are out of my price range that are for sale right now. With all the Virtual Tours, it's like walking through the homes..I love it!


Then Garrett wakes up. And instead of cleaning, we get in the car and go...to the mall. I know...this is really not me. Maybe it is because I pretty much grew up in a mall, with my parents owning two retail stores most of my childhood, that I am scarred. Yes, when the lady who hands out pretzel samples is like your second mother, and the ladies at Sees Candies are like your second grandmothers, and you are being asked out on dates by the Mall security officers...you know you spend a little too much time there. I can't stand the parking lots that stretch for miles, or the kiosks (the stores in the middle of the hall where they assault you with flat irons and Green Tea diet crap).


I hate all the Food Court "restaurants" with their MSG-laden guck. The music, the lighting, the desperation in the eyes of the commission-sales-seventeen-year-old-employees, the bathrooms, the teenage lovers intertwined, walking at a snails pace or loitering outside a Hot Topic store.


So why on earth, with a free day to myself, would I head there of all places?...because it's raining, so I can't go to the Farmer's Market, or the stupidist-Mall-ever-created-Gateway, because it's outside, and I don't have the two big kids with me so I can go for the two things that I need that I can only get at this dag-blasted place: Chick Fillet, and Pro Active.


Garrett watches My Little Pony on the DVD player on the way down...nice. Once we get there, and find a parking place that appears to be in the same time zone we get out, and I notice that Gavin's mountain bike is on the back of the car...nuts. I have no lock. So I have to take the flippin thing off and wedge it in the back. Normally, I would just take the chance and hope it didn't get stolen, but thanks to Murphy's Law I am parked right next to three teenagers who are sitting with the tailgate of their truck down, smoking and probably calculating how many cigarettes they could get for hawking the bike at the nearest pawn shop...so I load it in.


We head in to the Food Court and get our Chick Fillet. Now one other thing that I do love about the Mall is the people watching. No where else is it as fun, that I can think of, than the Mall...oh, wait- maybe the water park or the carnival, and Disneyland. But the mall is the easiest and closest. I enjoy my sport of choice as I break Chick Fillet nuggets and waffle fries in to bite size pieces and feed them to Garrett. He has never had so much grease in his life. He is loving it! I descend to new lows when his bottle is empty and I put half of my neon-pink "fruit" punch in to it. Again...he is in a new world.


We then stroll over to the Pro Active kiosk, where a smooth skinned teenager helps me asses my skin woes. I am loving this kid because not only do his cheeks look like milk chocolate bars, but he is trying to talk me out of buying stuff...what the? I get a little enthusiastic and want to try a bunch of new stuff. "You know, we're not going anywhere. Don't get it all at once." Thank you darling silky milk chocolate cheeks...I could kiss you. As he rings me up, he pauses. "You don't look really comfortable with this amount, so I just want to make sure you are OK." And of course, he's right. Gavin would not be thrilled with me spending $70 for a few pimples, so I have him take off another cleanser. "Yes, that's better. And if this doesn't work, you have 60 days to bring it back." I wanted to hug this cutie. So I left with two products and a receipt that I wouldn't have to hide from Gavin. That was nice.


We then headed to Mrs. Field's where I got a milk chocolate chip cookie and a milk. Oh, the delicious depths I'd sunk to. But...when in Rome! Looked in GAP, but Garrett's "talking" was turning heads, so we headed out. Didn't want to attempt any other stores. I knew my time was almost up. It was approaching Garrett's second nap time. But I had to try for Forever 21. I mean, come on- that's the Holy Grail.
Oh, cute maxi dresses for my upcoming beach trip, and short shorts, and gold huarache sandals...I must get a few things quickly.
Again, Garrett protests. He has been in his stroller for over an hour and a half now. He is probably about to get bed sores. I rush in to the fitting room with two maxi dresses. I park Garrett in front of the mirror and dance along to the over head music as I take my clothes off. His yells grow louder. I am now practically doing the running man as I am trying to force this maxi dress over my head, to entertain the baby and keep him from exploding. He is semi-amused and laughing curiously as I tie the back of the dress and continue with full body writhing. But, it's not too last. My show has lost it's appeal and he now wants OUT-OF-HIS-STROLLER-RIGHT-NOW! Lest anyone think that I am abusing a child in the dressing room, I rip the dress off, put my clothes back on and bee line out of there with me yelling over my shoulder that I will be back later for the dress. Dag-nabit.


He did save me though, I realized as I speed walked through the mall, towards the parking lot. My mom and sister have a million of those maxi dresses that I can hopefully borrow for a week, and spare myself the costs of this summer's soon-to-be-replaced hot trend. Thanks G!


He had a dirty diaper. I drove home fast so that he wouldn't fall asleep with the poop stuck to his little cheeks. I made it in time. Changed him, laid him down, looked at my messy house, and decided to surf the web. Oh, the luxuries!


Now he's up. We'll put on some more Wiggles, while I finally get around to the house. The garbage needs to go out (I hate it when Gavin isn't here to do that gosh-awful chore).


It's still overcast, and muggy. Maybe we'll go for another walk. We're out of apple juice.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ashley!

I like reading about your life.

Any chance we can get paragraphs from you? It's hard on my eyes to stare at one large block of text....I usually make it through the first few sentences..and then fade off, as it's hard to follow, visually.

:)

(Do I sound bossy?) Sorry if I do!

Thanks for the laughter, and insights to your exciting life!

Ashley said...

Yes, I will do paragraphs. I am typing at the speed of light usually, so I am lucky to get the thing spell-checked, let alone do a hard return...but I know what you mean. Don't worry about fading off...my play-by-play of my day is about as boring as it gets. I don't think that Gavin would be able to hang in there and finish it.

dan shaw said...

All great thoughts for all of us to reflect on. Who knows maybe it is possible to change our lives for the better.