There's a First Time for Everything...

Today has been one of those days where I've found myself saying "seriously, did that just happen?" more times than I can count. It all started this morning when I was cleaning out a drawer and found a box of jewelry my mom brought to me a while back that was mine years ago. I suppose I shoved it in a drawer with the intentions of going through it when I had time....which is rather comical because when you have children there's really no such thing has having "time". So when I ran across it this morning I decided to make "time" to go through it and see what was worth keeping and what to get rid of. There were rings, necklaces, bracelets, and even one of those best friend hearts where you wear half and your best friend for life (or so you think at age 8) wears the other half. There were only a few pieces of jewelry with sentimental value so I decided to keep those and chunk the rest. "But wait" I said to myself as I headed to the throw it out. Someone might want this stuff. But who? A PAWN SHOP! That's the first thing that came to my mind, and for some ridiculous reason I talked myself into seeking one out and stopping in just to see what they'd give me for the lot. I knew I'd seen one in town that said "We Buy Gold" on the sign so off I went. That would be the first "the first" of the day because I've never stepped foot in a pawn shop, nor ever thought I'd do so. I ended up with eighty bucks for my scrap gold, but I did leave thinking "did I really just do that?". When I told Jonathan what I'd done he nearly had a coronary. A woman and her two small children have no business being in a pawn shop, or so he says. So after my lucky run at the pawn shop I decided to try my luck at Lowe's. Since we live in the historic district and our house is 81 years old, the closets aren't exactly my dream space. They're very narrow but deep. I can barely get all of Towns' clothes in her closet because the rod is so short so I decided that I was surely smart enough to figure out how to put a second rod underneath to make extra room. Easy, right? HA! This is the second "the first" of the day. I made my attempt at being Mrs. Fix-It and I vow to never do it again. Going along with the old house theme are the walls that are for all practical purposes concrete. Or at least that's what it feels like when you're trying to drive a nail or screw a screw through them. It's not your good ol' sheet rock, that's for sure. After two hours of near insanity the rod is hung, but in just a few when I go try to hang clothes on it we'll see how long it lasts. Ok, hold on to your seats. Here's "the first" number 3 which is by far the most shocking of all the "firsts" that have happen today. As I was shopping for my closet rod in Lowe's, Cate got a little fussy. Since she's such a show out these days and loves to try to sit up, I took her out of her carseat and put a blanket in the front of the cart and sat her beside Towns. It was THE cutest thing I think I've ever laid eyes on. Anyway, I'm in the check out line about to swipe my debit card and out of nowhere comes older lady in a Lowe's vest and PICKED MY BABY UP OUT OF THE CART. Oh yes, she did. I almost hit crazy mom mode. Really, who in their right mind comes up to your cart and picks up your baby????!!!! Without asking, might I add. Not that I'd have given her the answer she wanted to hear even if she DID ask. Good grief! In her defence, she was the sweetest little old lady ever (which I found out AFTER she had my child in her arms, which is too late had she been a psycho) and apparently she loves kids by the way she was acting, BUT STILL. I bit my tongue for about as long as I could stand it and finally asked her to hand her back over since it was time for us to leave. I got Cate from her and put her back in her carseat and within 15 seconds there were 6 ladies in Lowe's vests swarming my cart talking to my children, touching their hair, and pinching their cheeks and I knew it was time to make a mad dash. I couldn't stand the thought of one of them picking up my child again. If you have kids you know that one of your biggest fears in life is someone taking your child from you and it's enough to send every single ounce of adrenaline through your body in .5 seconds at the very thought of it. Call me crazy, but as I go into a store I take note of the security cameras, all the exits, etc. just to get a game plan in my mind if something like that really did happen. So imagine what went through my head as I watch a lady take my child from my cart right there in front of my face. Wow. Moving right along... "the first" number 4. Yesterday in Wal-Mart I stumbled upon the deal of a lifetime. I've gotten to where I can't stand to go in the regular entrances of Wal-Mart because I can never find a decent parking place. I now am a garden center parker because it seems like you can park up front and get in and get out a heck of a lot quicker. As I went into the fenced-in area of the garden center, behold, there sat pure bliss in the form of an elliptical machine with a sign on it that said "clearance - $99.99". WHAT?? An elliptical machine for $99,99?? I NEVER run upon deals like that which is the reason this is included in my "the first" category. I got on it to try it out and floated off into a dream of me with a bottle of water on my brand new calorie-burning machine, up at the crack of dawn before the rest of the family was up. I could get in a great workout before anyone ever woke up. Thirty minutes ALL to myself....HEAVEN! After I had Towns I joined a gym mainly for the elliptical and ended up being so busy that I never went. Especially since it's on the other side of town. The first thing that went through my head was "oh my word, I could OWN my very own elliptical machine for what two months of a gym membership costs me"....this had to be a wise investment. Especially since the money I received as gifts for Christmas was just about what this beauty would cost. Merry Christmas to ME! I was literally as excited as one human can possibly be. As I did my shopping at Wal-Mart I mapped it all out in my head. Go home, put the groceries up, wait for Jonathan to get home, leave the kids at home with him, go back and get my elliptical machine. Genius. Except for one thing...by the time Jonathan got home and the kids were fed and ready for bed I was so tired that I decided to get up and go first thing this morning. Little did I know, that was the mistake of the century. After the pawn shop and Lowe's, I stopped at Wal-Mart and was so pumped I couldn't control myself. That elliptical machine was about to be MINE. I went in the garden center and my machine is nowhere to be found. I went inside and asked the garden center lady and she directed me to sporting goods. I said it was in the GARDEN CENTER yesterday, NOT sporting goods. She really didn't want to fool with me and I could tell I was on her nerves so I shut my mouth and carted myself to sporting goods. I walked up and down the sporting goods aisles and it was still nowhere in sight. So I found a lady to ask because I wasn't about to leave there without knowing for sure where it had gone. She proceeds to tell me that it was sold yesterday. NOOOOOO!!!!! Are you kidding me??? Seriously. It's gone?? Yep. And she also told me that the only reason it was on clearance is because someone had bought it and returned it and they can't do anything with it a big piece of equipment like that once it's been returned. So they mark it down to sell. She told me that it had been sitting there since before Christmas (so why I didn't see it until yesterday is beyond me). Isn't that something? It's been sitting there for weeks, I see it yesterday with the intentions of buying it, and of course someone would beat me to it after they've had all this time to buy it if they really wanted it. This also falls under my "first time for everything" story because this really is the first time that I've seen something that I wanted so very badly, waited to buy it, and then it's gone. Usually I just never really buy anything so I never have an opportunity to miss this kind of deal. Just my luck. And the icing on the cake is Jonathan telling me "they have them that cheap ALL the time, you'll find another one" which made me want to SCREAM. NO they don't have them that cheap all the time and NO I won't find another one!!!

So the moral of the story is:

1. Pawn shops really aren't THAT bad.
2. If you need a second rod installed in your closet, call someone.
3. If someone tries to take your newborn baby out of your shopping cart, deck 'em.
4. If you ever see an elliptical machine for $99.99, CALL ME.