till we drop

I have been shopping non-stop for the past week. At least that's what it feels like. There are things that would be hard for me to find on the East Coast (like all my supplements), and there are things that I must get here (like mine and the kids' prescriptions.) Then there are things I want to have to bring with us, like chewing gum and DS1's dramamine.

There's been recreational shopping, like yesterday at Borders: decadent snack, followed by music (another Ralph's World album, plus Abbey Road, it's ridiculous that I didn't own it on CD!), plus "congratulations on another good school year finished" presents for the kids -- a tradition my mother started and I've continued, just a small thing that they'll enjoy, in this case, a new Beanie Baby each.

Then there's replacement shopping. After purging my closet, I've decided I'm entitled to at least one or two new skirts and a few new t-shirts. The skirt shopping is not going well; I've resorted to making a bid on eBay. I'm trying to decide if I'm being ridiculous or just going with the trend. I've always loved bohemian (that's a hint). If I win the auction, I'll post a link.

There is required shopping, too. Today was like a training day for vacation: a lot of walking around. All three kids had outgrown all their footware, so we went to the mall, land of shoe shopping opportunities. First we had lunch at CPK, their tortilla spring rolls were sufficient enticement to get me to go to the mall as opposed to somewhere else. Since the new section of Loop 202 is now open, it didn't even take us 15 minutes to get to the mall, so that was cool. Of course, parking was an issue, it always is. Someday I'm going to use the valet service just to save myself the aggravation, but I don't feel like that's a great example for the kids. (Now I'm thinking about it, why? Is our collective time and aggravation worth $5? probably.)

We spent a seeming eternity in Payless and the kids were angelic. We found sandals and sneakers for all 3, plus a pair of dressier shoes for DD. Yay! Then I dragged them into Eddie Bauer (no skirts) where I picked up two new t-shirts. Then we went... where? I can't remember the order of things now -- we stopped into New York & Co (no skirts), but actually shopped in Build-a-Bear Workshop (DD: pajamas for her bears) and Kay-Bee Toys (the two boys: cool little Lego creature kits). DS2 played in the play area for a bit, while the rest of us cooled our heels -- both DD and DS1 are far too big to jump around with the babies anymore, and DS2 is nearly there, himself. On the way out we breezed through The Gap, kids & womens, but they had neither a sweatshirt for DD nor skirts for me!

Somewhere along the line we got DQ for a snack, and I drank a probably zillion-carb blueberry smoothie with an orange juice base that was, frankly, fantastic. (I looked it up: 20 oz, 350 calories, 89 grams carbohydrate. Ooooh-kay...) By the time we got home it was close to 5PM, and everyone managed to keep their crankiness down; nobody wigged out. A minor miracle.

After dinner: Kohl's (again with the skirts -- no dice, but I did find a beach cover-up for DD, who still needs a sweatshirt) and then Trader Joe's, for the last of my supplements and some snacks for the trip, plus the usual milk-bread-butter-eggs staples. And bacon, they have this fabulous uncured apple-wood-smoked bacon.

So, what's left, I'm thinking? DD's sweatshirt, for one thing. A new set of nonstick frying pans, because the current ones are no longer non-stick no matter how much you grease them, and I don't want to leave that until I get back in August. I want nice new pans to look forward to, already here waiting for me. New markers and a drawing pad for DD (probably for the boys, too, though they won't use theirs, but that's OK.) Now I just have to figure out when and where to get these things, and we'll be all set to go.

Panic is starting to set in, but I'm pretty sure we'll manage.