The weather has been cold the last few days, so we've been inside a lot. I love being at home, but sometimes I just need to GO somewhere. So this afternoon we loaded up and headed to town for a few errands, boring enough. First stop, Walmart gas station. For some reason it was a mad house, and apparently Greg cut a little red cavalier off when he backed into our pump (not literally, but entered backwards...) Judging from the look he got, the lady might have been waiting there for quite some time, like three years. Oops! Sorry lady! We really, truly, and honestly did not see her or mean to "cut" in line. By the time we got our gas and left, there were several pumps open, so I'm confident she got over it quickly. (Either way, I feel kind of bad, even though it was out of my control)
Next stop, Petsmart for dog food. Nothing exciting there, except we now know that they do not carry any Nemos. Or any other saltwater fish for that matter. Carly loved the goldfish tank, because it is crammed full of the little orange guys. She poked the glass and said, "Dah! Dah!" (I think it means "that") Caleb rather enjoyed watching the dogs getting groomed. "Oh, look, there's some puppies!" he said. (Yes, he actually said those words, and pronounced them all perfectly! Shock!) Got the bug-dog some fancy food for sensitive skin and split.
Next we headed to Toy R Us. I really HATE that store, because absolutely everything in it is over-priced. I went over to the adjoining Babies R Us to pick up Caleb some more Gummy bear vitamins (I know, they are pointless but I just don't care, he likes them!) Also looked for some other things in the ad, which OF COURSE our dinky little store does not carry. Of course. I sometimes forget where I live.... Anyway, Caleb started doing the potty dance, so Greg offered to take him. They were in there for a LOOOOOONG time, considering Caleb's usual MO for public toilets is walk in, take a look, turn around, walk out. So I figured something must be going on in there. I was so happy to find out that Caleb USED a public toilet for the first time tonight!! AND he stood up for the first time EVER. This is BIG NEWS in the Rice family! He sits at home, but we encourage him to stand when we're out (because public johns are just nasty). So this was BIG. Well, apparently in the coaxing stage, Greg promised Caleb a new toy of some sort if he would pee in the big potty, and since we were AT the toy store, it made pretty good sense. The whole instant reward thing works well with him. So Caleb comes out all smiles, telling me he wants a new fire truck. He takes us over to where they had been looking earlier and proceeds to pull a HUGE Tonka Titans fire truck off the bottom shelf. Oh, yes, the one that is three feet long, with lights and sounds and everything. The $50 one!! Greg and I both inwardly start to panic, looking at each other and mouthing, "We did say we would get him a new toy..." eyes wide with the thought of how future potty missions might end up... We tried to convince him of the $30 fire truck, (this one was only two feet long -ha) So I whip out my gift card that I was planning to use for the other junk in the basket, and Greg goes to find out exactly how much is on it.. in the meantime I get down on my knees and talk to Caleb and tell him how I know it is hard to understand but Mommy and Daddy don't have enough money to buy him that big truck, so what if we get him a new train instead. I thank the Lord for my people-smart child because he understood somehow that I was serious and he wasn't getting the truck so he said, with the sweetest little voice, "OK, let's get a train instead." Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE this child? He is truly amazing. Then Greg comes around the corner and says the stupid gift card only has $5 on it anyway... So we go over to the Thomas train aisle and are APPALLED to see the prices on those stupid things. Seriously! And they don't carry the same kind of Thomas trains that Walmart and Target carry. Apparently there is the "cheap" version, and the TRU version. Obviously, we subscribe to the cheap version. So then we had to try to convince Caleb AGAIN to change his mind. This was a little more difficult. I wanted to just run over to Target and get him something that matches the stuff he already has but Greg was more for getting him something right then so he would remember WHY he was getting it. So they set off to look some more, and several minutes later Caleb picked a Matchbox set of tractors and trucks.. for $5! WHEW! I am dreading the day when the boy learns the value of money, because he will know how cheap his parents are!! So that was that!
THEN, since our short trip to Toy R Us turned into an hour, it was dinner time. So we took Caleb to McD's to get a Happy Meal. We really prefer Chick-fil-a, but he picked. I ordered a Southwest salad (pretty much the only thing I will eat at that wretched place) and when I got it the sticker said, "Use by 2:16pm 12/30" It was 6:00pm, so I thought I would ask if they had any fresher ones available. Normally I would not be picky, but I thought there was no hurt in asking. The guy took my salad and handed it over the little shelf to the "cooks" in the back, and he took it back to the back around a corner. I watched him the whole way hoping he was searching the cooler, but knowing he probably wasn't. He brings back a salad, hands it to me, and I took it to our table, noticing on the way that this salad does not have a sticker on it. When Greg looked at it and I noted that out loud, he saw where the sticker had been, and had just been peeled off, leaving some of the junk behind... NOW I was mad. I would gladly have eaten a salad that was four hours old if they'd've told me they didn't have any more.. but that was just wrong. So Greg took it back up there and got the manager-kid.. anyway, we got our money back, and I settled for nuggets (blah) and never once got a remorseful response whatsoever. These are the words exchanged between the manager and Greg. Greg: "It looks like they just took it back and took the sticker off and brought it back up here." Manager: "Probably so." PROBABLY SO??? He did not care at ALL. That I have a problem with.
Then we went to Albertsons and got eggs for $.99, OJ for $.99 and milk for $3.50 and it made it all better.
So, for reasons unrelated to each other entirely, I LOATH Toys R Us and McDonald's.
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