Okay, I used to almost like shopping at Christmas. Then, I had sons. Sons who grew up and wanted video games. They were no longer happy with the boxes that inexpensive toys came in, they wanted the latest system and they were old enough to say 'Wii' but young enough that it was with a delicious little-boy lisp that made my heart melt. All they wanted was a Wii and a game or two. Unfortunately, that's all everyone else's little boys wanted, too.
I made it my mission to find my boys an elusive Wii. I went to every Target, Walmart, KMart, Costco and Shopko within a 30 mile radius, but it became more and more apparent that I was going to have more luck seeing the three Nephites and taking them home. The Wii was the holy grail of gifts and I became one of the wretched refuse running wild-eyed to the back of stores where the electronics were kept.
I called every GameStop and GameCrazy in Utah. I was willing to drive hours for it. I got a tip about a week before Christmas that a GameCrazy in West Valley was going to get a shipment as soon as it opened the next morning. I woke up early, drove to West Valley through inches of snow, and slid into the parking lot where plowed snow was piled into five foot hills. I waited with heart racing until the men who obviously lived with their mothers and owned the store opened the doors. I ran from the car with a nameless horde characterized by unkempt hair and pajama bottoms. I was third in line. I let myself feel a little euphoric. I was here! There were four Wiis and I was third in line! The horde and I got glimpses of the precious Wiis and gave them the silence they deserved. Finally, the guy in front of me stepped up. There were two Wiis left and...he wanted both. I felt sick and so did the people behind me. A murmur of dissent rose from us all and I briefly entertained the thought of jumping the guy in the parking lot and using the heel of my boot on him. Even after the guy left, I eyed the computer nerd behind the counter and asked, "You have any left?" He shook his head. I went out to my car and sobbed into the steering wheel.
I went home and told Steve about my failure as our sons' mother and the gift buyer of our home. I called my mom and dad and wailed into the phone that I didn't know what to do. My dad, alarmed by my hysteria, assured me that he would find me said Wii. Not believing him in the least, I thanked him and hung up, wondering if my boys would notice when they got Wii games and no Wii...
Two days before Christmas, my dad called me. He sounded like he had run a race and I worried that he was having a heart attack. "I got it! I have a Wii!" he whooped. I whooped back and jumped up and down. My dad had gone to Best Buy and they just happened to have had a shipment come in with 30 Wiis and were handing them out as he walked in the door! Huzzah! Woo hoo! Hallelujah! Dad was and is my hero.
Even now, years later, when I see a Wii, my heart starts racing and I have to fight back the urge to fill my cart with them and race for the cash register, pushing the huddled masses aside with elbows, teeth, and fingernails if I have to.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Is it Normal if...
1. I go to the gym with a Diet Coke.
2. I just figured out that I don't like pumpkin--pie, cookies, bread, etc.
3. My wedding dress was the first one I tried on and I was disappointed I found it so soon.
4. Camping seems masochistic.
5. Just seeing a Hobby Lobby makes me anxious/nauseous.
6. I don't like Christmas shopping but I love shopping any other time.
7. My hair gets shorter and shorter over the years but when Mikayla wanted to cut her long hair to her chin, I cried.
8. I have sea legs for two weeks after I go on a cruise.
9. I don't like pie.
10. I order the same thing every time I go to my favorite restaurant--why mess with a good thing?
11. I think reality t.v. is creepy.
12. I'm an English major, but I think Jane Austen is boring. I like the movie with Keira Knightley, though.
13. I name our cars depending on their color--Fern (our light green Odyssey), Ruby (our red Hyundai), and Pearl (our white Highlander.)
14. I think Steve is cuter without hair.
?
2. I just figured out that I don't like pumpkin--pie, cookies, bread, etc.
3. My wedding dress was the first one I tried on and I was disappointed I found it so soon.
4. Camping seems masochistic.
5. Just seeing a Hobby Lobby makes me anxious/nauseous.
6. I don't like Christmas shopping but I love shopping any other time.
7. My hair gets shorter and shorter over the years but when Mikayla wanted to cut her long hair to her chin, I cried.
8. I have sea legs for two weeks after I go on a cruise.
9. I don't like pie.
10. I order the same thing every time I go to my favorite restaurant--why mess with a good thing?
11. I think reality t.v. is creepy.
12. I'm an English major, but I think Jane Austen is boring. I like the movie with Keira Knightley, though.
13. I name our cars depending on their color--Fern (our light green Odyssey), Ruby (our red Hyundai), and Pearl (our white Highlander.)
14. I think Steve is cuter without hair.
?
Monday, November 1, 2010
Playing catch up
Somehow Halloween has come and gone and we are in November! Ah, sweet, schizophrenic Utah. Trying to decide whether to be 40 degrees or 80. Steve is madly trying to finish the sprinklers before the snow comes in earnest and buries our yard until spring.
A couple fun things happened in the last month:
1. The second weekend of October was the end of the summer Platinum party. This year it was held at the capitol building, which meant that we all got to dress up, eat well, and listen to some jazz. I've had some nice memories of the place: Steve and I went to prom there in high school and I had my bridal pictures taken on the huge staircase.
2. Steve and I went on a day-long trip to Park City. We shopped at the outlets, spent the night in a hotel, and I once again proved that I can pick the most expensive restaurant within a ten mile radius. It's a gift. Poor Steve. He had the soup.
3. After only 11 years of marriage and 4 children, we have acquired 4 Halloween decorations: a web, a large, hairy spider I like to call Porsche, a small spider named Bob, and a sign we stick in the dirt that has a skeleton's bony arm with finger pointing to our haunted house. Alas, no one came. We have very few neighbors. I still buy candy because it just seems wrong not to have it just in case.
4. My kids trick-or-treated in my mom's neighborhood--a veritable trick-or-treater's Mecca. Her street is a part of a series of cul-de-sacs and after only an hour, our kids' bags were full. I have spent the last day or two picking up wrappers and trying to brush the kids' teeth with reckless abandon. I don't think it's doing much, though. I think they are eating candy in their sleep. I guess it should make me feel good that we are single-handedly putting our dentist's 9 kids through college...
5. I got to go to a Halloween party hosted by my friend Kathy who is the music/art teacher at Challenger. Several of my teacher-friends came and it was GREAT to see them and talk about the time we spent in the trenches together. Sure, my witch hat burst into flames when I sidled up against a skull candelabra and sure, a complete stranger yanked it off my head, stomped on it a few times, and handed it back to me, but it was worth it. I need to get a new costume for next year, anyway.
A couple fun things happened in the last month:
1. The second weekend of October was the end of the summer Platinum party. This year it was held at the capitol building, which meant that we all got to dress up, eat well, and listen to some jazz. I've had some nice memories of the place: Steve and I went to prom there in high school and I had my bridal pictures taken on the huge staircase.
2. Steve and I went on a day-long trip to Park City. We shopped at the outlets, spent the night in a hotel, and I once again proved that I can pick the most expensive restaurant within a ten mile radius. It's a gift. Poor Steve. He had the soup.
3. After only 11 years of marriage and 4 children, we have acquired 4 Halloween decorations: a web, a large, hairy spider I like to call Porsche, a small spider named Bob, and a sign we stick in the dirt that has a skeleton's bony arm with finger pointing to our haunted house. Alas, no one came. We have very few neighbors. I still buy candy because it just seems wrong not to have it just in case.
4. My kids trick-or-treated in my mom's neighborhood--a veritable trick-or-treater's Mecca. Her street is a part of a series of cul-de-sacs and after only an hour, our kids' bags were full. I have spent the last day or two picking up wrappers and trying to brush the kids' teeth with reckless abandon. I don't think it's doing much, though. I think they are eating candy in their sleep. I guess it should make me feel good that we are single-handedly putting our dentist's 9 kids through college...
5. I got to go to a Halloween party hosted by my friend Kathy who is the music/art teacher at Challenger. Several of my teacher-friends came and it was GREAT to see them and talk about the time we spent in the trenches together. Sure, my witch hat burst into flames when I sidled up against a skull candelabra and sure, a complete stranger yanked it off my head, stomped on it a few times, and handed it back to me, but it was worth it. I need to get a new costume for next year, anyway.
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