no almond milk for you!

good god a'mighty. the bean and i left the house at 10 this morning and just BARELY got back in time to pick up the kid from school at 2:30. sheesh. although i must admit, we were quite productive, so that's a good thing.

we got to the county recorder's office in norwalk in about half an hour. it was fairly easy to get there, but we did encounter a really ugly accident that shut the freeway down to just the carpool lane. the ambulance was getting there just as we passed it - there were a few cars plus two big rigs involved, and those cars were seriously jacked up. i caught a glimpse of one guy sitting on the bumper, holding his arm, and i just sent up a quick prayer, hoping that everyone involved was okay. yikes.

once i pulled into the parking lot, i realized (too late) how big of a mistake it was to try this on a monday. what was i thinking? it took a solid fifteen minutes to even find a parking spot. i had to pass up a couple of openings, even. damn those stupid compact spots.

after missing at least a dozen opportunities to parking spot-stalk (you know what i mean - when you sit and watch for folks exiting the building, and totally follow them really closely, like a freaky stalker, and then flick on the signal and do a victory dance, laughing at the disgruntled drivers who are either stuck behind you or go around you, grumbling and mad-dogging you all the way), i finally got a sweet spot, right in front. patience is a virtue, people.

i strapped the bean into the s&m carrier and headed inside the building, all the while praying that i wasn't going to have to stand in the line that went all the way down the stairs and down the sidewalk. what was i thinking? of course that was where i had to be. i glanced at my watch when i got in line, and decided to keep track of how long it really was.

it was damn cold outside. plus, we were standing in the shade. thank goodness the rain was over, though! phew. as we stood there, i held the bean close and wrapped my jacket around her, even though she was wearing several layers and sharing my body heat. and then a girl walked up to me, holding out a pink blanket, and asked me if i wanted it for the bean. i was really touched at her kindness, and told her so as i thanked her and showed her the extra jacket i had in my bag. i watched her walk back to her place in line - which was waaaaay up in front, almost at the door. i thought it was even sweeter that she took the time to walk all the way back to where i was. huh. there IS such a thing as the "kindness of strangers," after all!

by the time i finally got up to one of the windows, it had been just under an hour. i was actually pretty surprised, because as one of the guys behind me said, that line looked like it was about three days long. and the bean had fallen asleep and was snuggled up all nice and warm. i paid my $34 and walked away with two certified, authorized copies of the bean's birth certificate. woo-hoo!

i managed to get to fabric barn in about 15 minutes and then got in and out in about 10. thankfully, i knew exactly what i needed and where to find it, and i'd even scored a great parking spot on the street right in front of the store. yippee!

i made my way back to the freeway and realized that if i drove straight home, i'd be about half an hour too early to pick up the kid. yay for navigation! i love that thing so much. anyway, i had a couple of things i needed (yes, NEEDED) to pick up at nordstrom. sadly for me, i didn't think of this before i blew past the one in the cerritos mall, so i decided to head to santa anita mall instead. plus, i could swing by lollicup and pick up a nice hot almond milk drink! mmmm.

i was quite astonished at how busy the mall was - it was 1:30 on a monday afternoon! don't these people have jobs?? heh. anyway, the parking gods again smiled down upon me, and granted me another fabulous spot. i headed straight to the cosmetics department to find my stuff, and then to women's lounge to change the bean's diaper. i was practically drooling at the thought of that delicious almond milk, but as i zoom-zoomed through the cosmetics on my way to the lounge, a display of shu uemura products appeared before me. i took a quick walk around it, found the mini eyelash curler that amber mentioned last week, and realized that i had a choice to make. eyelash curler, or almond milk? i only had time for one or the other (if the monkey is reading this, i know she's imagining smacking me upside the head for this one).

as i got the bean all nice and comfy in a clean diaper, i chattered to her about the choice i had to make. of course, she looked up at me, blew a raspberry (oooh, i forgot to mention that she discovered how to do this fun thing on friday - so damn cute), and smiled. i asked her which one she thought i should get, outlined in detail the pros and cons of both, and said "if you think i should get the curler, blow me some spit bubbles."

and that's what she did.

so my choice was clear. and it's totally justified, dammit!