Land o'Lessa

Oh. mah. gawd. ya’ll.

First there was the shopping. Then there was the primping. The emergency trip for nylons. The last minute attention to flowers. The primping.

THE BOY PUT ON COLOGNE, PEOPLE! AND brushed his hair. AND used gel. INORITE?! And don’t even gt me started on the girls…

Here’s my favorite picture of the bunch:

I know. Awww, right? I just like it. *L* But here’s the Boy and his date, MK, who also happens to be The Girl’s BFF.

HEY! Watch those eyes, boy! (HE says she tickled his back, that’s why he looked at her. We call bullshit! *L*)

The girl and one of my ‘other’ kids went together, because they didn’t have dates, so i made sure both girls had flowers too.

I know, I’m a total softy, but they thought it was cute. And out of all of the kids, only ONE would pose for me willingly. *L* But all in all, they looked ready to have a good time, so I sit here, at home, waiting for the call to pick them up and hear how it all went.

TWO.
TWO in high school.
TWO at the homecoming dance.
I’m so not old enough for this crap.

In other news – Auntie R was here for a couple of days, which made the kids (and me too!) giddy with glee. Every second spent with her is a complete joy, as you can tell by the smiles on their faces…

We’ll have to do it again soon!

ETA: Good time was had by all at Homecoming. They girls just got here (MKs dad picked them up) to gather their things, and I got a speed of light talk of how fun it was even though The Boy isn’t much of a dancer, but he did slow dance twice and they talked and she tried to help him fast dance, and he was just hopeless, and he kept escaping to talk to Z, because she kept trying to get him to dance since they were at a DANCE and all, but whatEVer… he always came back when she asked him too and yeah mom it was really fun and hurray! Oh – and?

MK: so there was this cop, and the boy was wonder what he’d do if I took his billy club, and I was like yeah right he’d steal it back and beat ya with it and you wouldn’t anyway because you’re a good boy and he was all I could and I told him no, because you listen to your mom and he was like ha! so I told him hey, I want to go home and be able to tell my mom that you’re not a delinquent so we can go out again so you will for me… and he was all that’s low, because you’re right. Isn’t that funny?!

Yes. Yes it is. *chuckles* She was ALL smiles, MK. The boy did good. Even if he wouldn’t dance much.

The girl had a good time too, but says next time? She’s getting a -real- date, so she, The boy and MK can double. *L*

ETA Again: The boys just got home – and first question? All hopeful like?
The Boy: So she was really all smiles? Really?

Yes, yes she really was. I told him I’d heard the story about the cop, and he chuckled and said yeah, yeah he’d behave so that he could ask her out again. Awwwwwwww. (someone shoot me now. *L*)

(Homecoming Bonfire, 9-19-08)

So. Homecoming is this weekend, and you know what THAT means… Exactly. SHOPPING. (what were YOU thinking?!)

Now, sometimes I quite enjoy shopping. When it’s Christmas time and I’m searching for just the right thing to make my family smile, when it’s a special birthday, or just a quick ‘i love you’ moment to help make someone’s day… those are times I don’t mind the press of the crowds and the multitude of faces, or even the fat lady that walks around on my knees all day making them ache. (I really should have a talk with her, you know!)

But then.. then there was last Friday night, and The Homecoming Shopping Excursion! Since The Girl’s BFF (no, not Jill! MK!) is going with my son, it was decided that a joint shopping trip was needed, so that they could make sure they looked fabulous, and also because I told them they could help pick out The Boy’s outfit too. Color the teenagers happy! I should have known better.

You see, not only was it a Friday night in our small town where there’s only one real clothing store to speak of until our Walmart is built and finished… it was also Dividend Day. Dividend Day is quite simply the day where all Alaskan’s who signed up for direct deposit of their Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, suddenly had money in their pockets and a determination to spend it all RIGHT NOW.

I know. I’m an idiot. But, it was the one night that both girls could shop together, so I braved the wilds Of the Myer de Fred, with two giggly teenage girls in tow.

It was packed, but there were also racks upon racks of things that were 60% off, which made Mama happy, as we began our search. First, neither girl was certain what size they wore, in ANYTHING, or what they were looking for other then “Something… (gestures vaguely) …pretty.” It took four trips to the dressing room with multiple items each, where they shared the room and whispered to me to come check and discarded outfit after outfit. I also was the one in charge of making things work. (Hello, Tim Gunn!) I went back and forth between the racks, remembering where in the Sea of Sale that we found each item, in order to find the next size up, or the next size down, or no remember this one came in PURPLE too, can we try THAT one? Because changing the color would make it fit, rather then changing the size. Srsly.

There was a lot of laughter, giggling, grumbling, muttering, and even an excited squeal or two – one from me, as they declared something PERFECT at LAST! – and an infinite amount of patience so as not to beat down those who were just as eager to find that Perfect Something To Spend Their Money On. Also me.

Then after the dresses, there was 5 minutes spent picking out the boys outfit (because I am that good! And also, boys are easy.), on to the jewelry counter for accessories, hosiery for tights, and then… shoes.

OMG the shoes. These were too girly, they make me walk like a girl and I hate walking like a girl (this would be the one wearing PINK head to toe..) those are too sporty, these too big, those PERFECT but too small, those too tight, those OMG my feet would DIE, those perfect, but not in black (which I insisted on so that they could be use for concerts this year, too. Mama ain’t no dummy!), these ones are… you get the drift.

It also took three and a half HOURS, people. 3.5 HOURS! The last hour and a half? The Shoes. Finally, we were able to get out of there, with two very happy hungry freshman girls, and one exhausted and hungry mama. We made a pit stop at Taco Hell, and then it was home at last, where they naturally had to try everything on, AGAIN. Fortunately, they were still happy, though I came to one, very important conclusion through this experience:

I shoulda had all boys. It would have been SO much easier!

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