I skipped out on a social event tonight. Not feeling too bad about it. The weather is just awful, and the event was downtown. I don’t like spending too much time on 6th Street even when the weather is nice. Too many drunk and stupid people. Lin didn’t skip out on his downtown social event tonight, so he’s out mucking about in this stormy nastiness. Yuck.

Actually, I guess I skipped out on two social events tonight. We hadn’t really talked about how we were going to work out that we each had things to do at different times right across the street from each other and only one vehicle. He’s good about entertaining himself. I am not. Rather than spend late-night hours trying to find something to do alone in the entertainment district, I would have ended up tagging along with him and not having any fun. The party he was going to wasn’t my scene. At all. Best I skipped them all and stayed home to knit.

Besides, I had enough of the rain when we were out shopping for storage boxes. I had wanted to get two of the 66 gallon size, but Lin, being in this one instant the voice of reason, convinced me that getting something smaller, that I might be able to lift by myself when it’s full, would be a good idea. I got four of the 10 gallon size. Yeah, that should be enough for my yarn. Guess I’ll be going back later this week to get more for the other crafty stuff. Going to Big Lots first was brilliant though. I got all four of them for under $15. Actually, I got them for free, since Lin bought them for me. :)

Then he wanted to go to Target to get some things he needed, and I wandered around looking at everything. I don’t do that much in stores. I tend to know exactly what I want, head right to it, pick out the things on my list, and go to the cashier. Except in craft stores where I can wander aimlessly for hours on end and buy nothing at all. Since I had some mad money burning a whole in my pocket, I thought I might buy myself a cute little summer dress, but alas, Target had nothing I would call cute. Not for $40 anyway. For that sort of money, I can sew myself four little cotton dresses. Once I get my craft supplies under control. Then I looked at shoes, because I haven’t bought any new shoes in years. Everything was either hideous or hideously over-priced for the quality. Moving along to the toy department, I fondled the dolls for quite a while. I can’t help it. I like dolls. I really want a full-sized Blythe doll, but they are just too expensive, so I have been fondling the Bratz dolls lately. Some of them are really ugly, but there are a few that are pretty cute. Luckily for my wallet, I was distracted from my doll lust.

What distracted me? The most obnoxious brat I have ever heard, or at least that I had heard for quite some time. I heard him LONG before I saw him. He was whining at top volume, crying quiver in his voice. Oh he wanted this, and he wanted that, and why couldn’t he HAVE IT. When the noise turned the corner and came down the aisle I was on, I saw a boy about 11 or so years old with what I assume was his poor grandmother who must have said NO about a million times before I laid eyes on the pair. He was in full-on crying, rolling on the floor, and wailing mode by this point. His grandmother, in between “no” and “because I said no” kept asking him if he thought his sister would like this or that doll. I guess she was shopping for a birthday present, as there was girlish birthday wrapping paper in her cart. He never answered her … just kept wailing and crying and whining and rolling on the floor.

I opening stared at him. I mean, he was having his little tantrum right at my feet, and I just couldn’t believe it. I had to stare at him. The grandmother selected a doll, one of the Bratz dolls that I thought was cute, and pushed the cart down the aisle to look at the doll clothes. The boy looked up me, got up off the floor, ran after her and said “She looked at me funny!” Poor beleaguered grandmother looked at me. One of those apologetic looks grandmothers sometimes have when their charges are being royal pains. I looked at the boy again, and then I totally popped off my mouth. Don’t normally say things to children, but he was asking for it.

“Well, if you weren’t putting on such a grand show, I wouldn’t have looked at you at all.”

I’d swear his grandmother chuckled. I know she had a little grin on her face. He had a look on his face as though I had hit him up side the head with a two-by-four. Poor brat. I hustled away to fondle the DVDs, buy behind me I could still hear him whining about whatever new thing it was he wanted and nothing but “no” from the grandmother. I hope someday he remembers what I said and feels embarrassed, but he was such a spoiled brat, I doubt it.

I only behaved half that bad in a store once, when I was much younger than this kid. End result? Daddy took me out to the car, where we sat while Mom finished shopping. This wasn’t pleasant for either of us. I got to sit there and listen to my father explain to me over and over again how because I had been a brat, we both had to sit in the car, and he would have liked to have stayed in the store with Mom. For hours it seemed like, we sat in that hot, dusty car with nothing for entertainment but my dad griping about how we had to sit in the car. We never had to sit in the car again. I learned my lesson. Not that I didn’t ask for things while I was out with my shopping parents. Kids do. Kids want stuff. I was always polite about it though after that. I made it known that I really liked something and would like to have it. If I got an immediate “no” … I dropped the subject. I didn’t ask for every damn thing I saw though either, and I knew that if I asked for a book, I tended to get a “yes”. Same with useful clothing and art/craft supplies. While I usually got a “no” on dolls, my parents must have made note of what doll it was I wanted, because I almost always got them as gifts later on. I also noted early on that by not asking for anything at all, my parents might make a trip through the toy section before going to check out where they would let me pick some small thing like a new outfit for my Barbie dolls or a little make-up kit or something. Good behavior was often rewarded immediately, and I was a smart kid and learned quickly. :lol:

But you know, I never really wanted all that much as a kid, and I have always been a tightwad with my money. Yup, a savvy consumer at an early age. Well, I knew we didn’t have much money to spend on silly stuff early on too, so I knew that getting things you really needed was better than getting things you just wanted really badly. Besides, I never wanted for cool toys. I think I had the best toys ever. My mom made me hand-carved wooden dolls. Just like the ones from the 1800s with beautiful Colonial style dresses. My dad gave me almost free-reign with his art supplies. I even had handmade musical instruments … and all manner of unique stuffed toys my mom designed. And all the books I could read too, both my own and those owned by my parents (lots of science, history, languages and geology). I think the only store-bought toy I ever really, really wanted and didn’t get was an Easy Bake Oven, but Mom taught me how to use the real oven, and isn’t that so much better anyway?

Since I am babbling, I might as well babble about those hand carved dolls. Two of them survive to this day. Mom asked me a few months ago if she could give one to my cousin who has wanted one forever. Mom just can’t make them anymore, so she thought I wouldn’t mind parting with one. While I didn’t really want to say “yes” … I did. I know my cousin would love to have one, and really all they do right now is sit in a box. So Mom got them out and asked which one I could part with. One is newer and in pristine condition with beautiful brown hair. The other was the first one ever made with bright white hair in a Colonial up-swept style and not at all in pristine condition. She’s the only one I think of when I think about those dolls, and so I decided I wanted to keep her … even with her chipped paint, wobbly joints, stained dress, and the hand and foot that were chewed on my our big black cat called Honey Bun. I think it surprised her I wanted to keep that one, but that’s the one where all the memories of childhood reside. How could I part with her?! :D

Let’s see, anything else I can babble about? I think I may be babbled-out for now.

Oh wait! Back to Target … I did find something in the DVD section I couldn’t put back on the shelf. When I saw it on the shelf, I knew I was going to buy it. What was it? The two-disc special edition version of the Final Fantasy VII movie Advent Children. I got it for $15 too, which is a bargain. It’s still going for over $20 at Amazon. Go me! I think tomorrow while I am straightening out the kitten-created mess I call my yarn stash, I will pop it into the DVD player and watch it in stunning big-TV glory.

OK, now I am babbled out. I think I’ll go work on my sock some more. I am already only four pattern repeats from starting the heel. The second one is going so much quicker! I will definitely be wearing them by next weekend. :lol: