Dude. Where's My Car?

"Follow me to the Bell store. We'll pick out a phone, then you can do the rest of your shopping on your own."
We pull into the parking lot at 6:45 pm only to find the Bell store closed. It's the only retail store in the lower mainland that does not have late night Christmas shopping hours.

"There are two Bell stores in the mall. Follow me ..."

I get onto 64th Ave and zip over 2 lanes of traffic to get into the left turn lane.
Clint stays in the right lane.
"Where is he going?" I ask Drew who is along to do his gift buying.
As the light changes green, Clint notices I'm two lanes over, so he (really, a mom should not have to watch her child do this) crosses over to the turning lane and pulls in front of me just as we turn left onto 200th Street.

We both move into the right lane. I do this because I know I'll be turning right at the next intersection to get to the mall.
I watch Clint go straight through the intersection in front of me.
"Where is he going?" I ask Drew who is listening to System of a Down screaming something about terra cotta pie and bananas.

I anticipate that he will make a right turn into the Safeway parking lot so I try to head him off at the pass, so to speak.
Eventually we are re-united in the parking lot and he follows me to the empty-ish lot on the back side of Toys r Us.

He is in a huge hurry, so he power walks from the parking lot to the Mall, pausing only to ask where we are going. I give him directions in tiny increments and we end up at the Bell store with one of us out of breath.

We buy the phone (no discount because he still has 6 months to go on his contract), get it activated and I say Merry Christmas to him as I lift the bag off the counter.
"I need the phone right now," he says annoyed that I would even think of wrapping it.
"This is a Christmas gift, you can open it on Sunday."
"Forget that. I need it now."

He takes the phone and we part ways.

Five minutes later my cell phone rings.
"Mom? Where did we park?"
"Where are you?"
"In the parking lot. I can't find my car. Or your Durango. Where did we park?"

I try to explain, but he's not catching my drift.
"Stay where you are. After I finish this purchase, I'll be right out."

I conclude my transaction at EB Games and take Drew with me out to the edge of the Toys r Us building. I see Clint wandering purposefully off to my distant left.
"Clint!" I shout.
He looks up.
"Over there!" I point to my right. "I can see if from here."
He runs over to where I'm pointing.
"I'll be blogging about this tonight..." I call out, much to Drew's annoyance.
"Mom. Quit yelling. People are looking..."





Three things I'm thankful for:
1. I cannot stress enough how thankful I am that I do not have to go back to work until Jan 3. (I will go back voluntarily next week for a few hours, but that's different.)
2. Just now, while sitting here, Clint came over and gave me a hug. For no reason. And he handed me his phone and said "Thanks. I really like it. You can wrap it." Whoa. Never take spontaneous hugs for granted.
3. Christmas cards. I love going to the mailbox this time of year.



Another fun Christmas link: Interactive Christmas cards:
http://www.powerpres.com/xmas.html