Quiet time

Yesterday my daughter and I had plans to "go shopping." That translates to: "Mom watches Child shop for herself while Child pretends to Christmas shop for others."

It was rather a typical day for us when we get together. First, we had to arrange a day when she got up before I went to bed. Keep in mind, I am a night person myself. Need someone to talk to at 1 am? I am up. However, Child is just going out for the evening at 1 am.

After we choose a day and she doesn't get called in to work or get a better offer, and I don't either, we try to agree on the time. She told me she would call me when she got up. So, around 11 am I went out to the grocery store, the library, and to the pet food store. I took my time, got everything I needed, and felt no need to rush. I didn't need to rush, either. She called around 3 pm. I asked her if she was ready, and she said she was up, but still had to get ready.

After that, we had to make arrangements for where we were going and who was driving. This sounds easy, doesn't it? I live close to one major mall, and she is closer to another. I actually wasn't enthused about going to a large mall the week before Christmas, and certainly not that late in the day. I don't work, I can easily avoid crowds. So she got ready while I drove to her apartment.

I hadn't been there before. She moved out of here, when, in the wintertime still? She has been there since maybe April? I waited for an invitation. It seemed the polite thing to do. The apartment looks very nice. It should. All her crap is in my basement, garage, and her former bedroom. After telling her how nice it looked, I reminded her that I am not a storage facility. She told me she didn't want to mess up her apartment. I growled. She backed off.

We went to the large mall near her place. I drove. We ate at the mall, then proceeded to shop. This mall is set up in an oval, approximately a mile per lap. Loop. Whatever. However, Child does not walk in a straight line. She has a homing device embedded some place that gravitates to scarves. Yes. Scarves. She had to observe and fondle every scarf in the entire mall. There must be 100 stores or more in there. I own one scarf for winter. It's cashmere and it keeps me warm, as is it's intended job. Child likes winter scarves for accessories. Whatever.

Eventually, I suggested she buy a scarf for everyone on her list, since she knew where they all were and what they feel like. She did not buy any scarves yesterday.

After a few hours of scarf-fondling, she bought one gift for one friend and we left that mall. We went back to her apartment after arguing over my route for driving to the other mall that is by my house. She wanted me to take the freeway because it was "faster." I said if she was interested in "fast," she should not have fondled all the scarves in the mall. She decided she wanted to take the freeway and had me drop her off so we could meet at the second mall.

Exactly. She would still have to wait for me, right? However, I was right behind her and we hit all the scarves in that mall. That is a very up scale mall, so she got to fondle all the cashmere and other much more expensive fibers. She bought one gift. It wasn't a scarf. She also bought some things for herself.

Finally, thankfully, the mall closed. We went into the restaurant where she works so we could have some drinks. I felt I deserved that - other than dinner, I hadn't opened my wallet. I wasn't shopping, I was just enjoying my daughter's company. The arguing was gratuitous and friendly. Really. No shots were fired. No blood was shed.

We had a few beers while her co-workers stopped by to pay their respects. One said he wished his mom would have beer with him. He figured the best he could get would be tea with his mom. Child and I spent the time after the alcohol hit our brains arguing over her totally not-expected wedding plans. She has no plans to marry, but we have opinions for when the time comes.

We also argued over, I mean discussed, my feelings about gifts. I do not get any pleasure at all from working with a demand list. If you are expecting a gift from me, do not hand me a list, alphabetized, with little pictures, directions to the stores, and prices. I do not work that way. I think gifts should be a surprise. I also want my gifts to be a surprise. Therefore, I do not announce what I want. Child was mad about that,so I did casually throw things into conversations yesterday, such as, "I cannot find my dark brown socks." "I sure do like White Stripe's music." "Eminem's new song is awesome." "I never did find a dark red shirt in a petite size. You know, I can't wear regular sizes." And on and on, the best I could come up with.

Meanwhile, she was again ogling my Prada bag. She wants it bad. She really, really wants that purse. Sadly, so do I. My stuff is in it, I bought it. It's mine. She waited until I was almost done with my second beer (I am a cheap drunk. It's why drinking only on occasion is a good thing.) and managed to almost get me to agree to let her "borrow" it.

Today I went online and ordered the last gift I need to buy this year. If it doesn't come in time, I will download a picture for her. It's not exactly like mine, but it's fairly close. I needed one more nice thing for her.

We were gone 8 hours, and walked 5 miles through malls. I don't mind walking malls when no one is in them, but walking scarf to scarf for about 6 hours is mind numbing. so is Tsing Tao beer, but in a much nicer way. I sat down for that.

Molly held her pee all those hours, too. That is impressive for a beagle taking Prednisone every day. We won't talk about Baby, but hey, she was just as happy to see me as Molly was anyway :)

 

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Please keep Molly in your thoughts. I have to take her next week for her 25-day Percorten shot, which means a major seizure at the vet. I will be taking her in the back door this time, hoping some sort of change-up will stop the seizures. The medication didn't.