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Sunday, December 8, 2013

I WANNA GO HOME!

A week later, and I am still confused as to why I said 'yes' to going out shopping with Samantha and Edward.  It is not that I do not enjoy spending time with my daughter and her husband, but they can shop for a lot longer than me!  Their stamina just appears to go on and on, and after three solid days of trailing around the shops, they were still willing to take me to yet another mall.

We started the morning fairly early, as they arrived at my house at around 8:30am, and sent Dana off to the office with a cup of coffee and the dog!  'I don't want any tantrums', was the official demand from Samantha, as I suggested they go and complete their tasks before coming back and collecting me.  However, they insisted that they did not need much time to complete their tasks, and it would be more efficient to get on the road, and stay there!  I was seated in the back of the car shortly after my first proposal was denied, and we headed to our first stop, where Edward was hoping to procure a new phone at a reduced price.  Our first set back was that the department that were selling the phones were unable to do so until 10am.  As I was on the coffee run, I was not made aware of this until it was too late for me to make condescending remarks to those responsible and accepted my fate.  With just over an hour to kill, I was whisked away by my chauffeur and his trusty side kick, to Sam's warehouse, to pick up some bargains that had been requested by others.  We found the camera boxes in seconds.  The check out and departure was slightly more of a challenge.  Apparently, the computers at the exits were having problems with accepting credit cards, which was rather inconvenient, considering there were very few people who were paying with cash.  I was not happy.  It was inevitable that the developing situation was going to be one of those when Samantha treats me like the five year old I become, when shopping with others, when I would much rather be at home, doing something a little more constructive.  I did stomp my foot a couple of times, but this did little to alleviate the electronic failure, but eventually they found an override which appeared temporarily to fix the predicament.  Hoping we could be on our way was rather a long shot, as the cameras were not actually in the boxes which had been retrieved from the shelves.  They had to be collected from another department, and the runner whom was in control was nowhere to be found.  When he did finally arrive, he was not in possession of the keys he required to unlock the container.  My language was not blue, just not polite. 

After several comments of, 'I could have been doing .....', and 'I have to go back to work on Monday', a red faced employee came to the front of the store and placed two cameras on the shelf. The au revoir message of 'have a nice day', was retorted to with, 'too late for that!', by me, and a 'behave yourself', backhand from Samantha!  I trudged back to the car, mumbling to myself, and hoping not to be placed on the metaphorical 'naughty step', by my daughter.  We drove back to the supermarket to attempt to buy the phone.  Once again, the phone was not hard to find.  The sales assistant had the appropriate keys with which to open the cabinet.  The check outs were accepting credit cards, and all seemed to be tickety-boo.  Verification codes, I assumed, in this day and age of advanced technology, are used to allow the sales assistant to simply activate a product, once purchased legitimately.  Obviously, my assumption was completely wrong, as the code required for this particular transaction was in need of further verification from a third party, an department overseer, who was unreachable on his twenty second century, space-age dynamic, state of the art, advanced telephone.  Perhaps he had failed to have his code verified!  After spending a several minutes in the 'Lego' aisle, and messaging back and forth with Richard, reminiscing over long gone days, when we waited to see which of the newest models Santa was going to put at the bottom of his bed on Christmas Eve, I browsed the newborn section.  I never owned a 'nursing' chair, but they are (presumably obviously) incredibly comfortable.  The one on display had a foot stall, and rocked.  Once positioned, I would have been happy to stay there all day, and watch the other bargain hunters from the confines of the soft, plush, cushion.  However, it was not to be, as eventually another override was achieved in the mobile devices area, and Edward was now the proud possessor of a new phone, which I am sorry to say will probably be obsolete before they work out how to simply authenticate ownership!  Samantha came to drag me away from my 'safe place', to the relief of the staff, who were becoming increasingly concerned that I was going to be a permanent fixture.  I did as I was told, and followed my guardians out of the shop.

Our trip to the electronic store was quite exciting.  I got to play on all the new computers, and was really enjoying myself when I was told it was time to leave.  My tantrum and cries of, 'but I was having fun', fell on deaf ears, and I was once again sat in the back of the car, and told to 'buckle up', as we were now going to look for presents for me!  The outlet mall was very busy, as expected, but once the car door was unlocked, and I was unleashed from the confines of my car seat, I took to the stores like a duck to water.  We sat Edward down with some lunch, and I skipped along to the places I wished to visit, and managed to walk away with a couple of filled carrier bags.  With my mood temporarily lifted, I only had one contra-exchange, when one of the sales ladies attempted to divert my attention to the front of the store rather than from the extreme sales rack at the back.  I can only assume that she had been on her feet for a very long time, and was either ready to go home, or looking to be fired from her position, as she demanded I look at the 'rest of the store', and not at the super cheap left overs.  If the objection of her offense was to achieve the latter, I possibly helped her along the way by announcing that the attitude of sales staff was directly responsible for my leaving without browsing!  In my defense, my nap time was overdue!

The regular mall was equally as busy. After finding somewhere to park, just this side of Canada, we went to Macys. Edward managed to find the lady who was promoting the coffee machines, and stuck me in front of her to listen to the patter, so that I could be rewarded with a cup of enhancing elixir before having to endure more corridor strolling. I behaved myself very well, 'ooh'ing and 'ahh'ing in all the right places.  Sure enough, when the exhibition was over, I walked away with an energy booster.  As the day's trip was primarily to get me 'out of the house', I did not leave with much in the way of purchases.  However, by the time we had arrived at Walmart for the groceries, I had my second wind, and was suggesting we go all out and visit the outlet mall on the south side.  As I threw the items into the shopping cart, I shouted to Edward to 'stop dawdling', and proceeded with haste to complete the weekly task.  Oh what fun! 

With items for the freezer and fridge having to be stored in a cool place, it was essential that we make a trip to the house to unload.  Of course, by the time we reached home, I was ready for a nap.  I had, in my opinion, been very good, and behaved myself very well, despite being dragged around by the children for most of the day.  When Edward suggested that I had indicated it would be good to do some more shopping, I stamped my foot and said, 'No.  I want to stay home'.  They did not argue with me, and I was allowed to go up to my room and watch some television!  When Dana asked how they managed with me ALL day, the responses were mainly positive, but I dozed off as they were discussing my behaviour.  I woke around seven o'clock and prepared us a delicious meal of yet more turkey, potatoes and other leftovers from our Thanksgiving repast! 

Sunday morning was a welcome change.  We left home reasonably early and went for breakfast, which I am pleased to say did not contain turkey in any way, shape or form!  My batteries had been recharged, ready for the next week, and my internal barometer had been returned to 'fair'.  I was ready to face the next week and weekend's tasks, even though I knew it would involve some more trips to more stores, to complete all orders for my trip home!  The ensuing week was far more my cup of tea.  December has once more come upon us and the last few weeks of 2013 are speeding past like a rocket.  However, as always I shall find time for ....... another story.

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