Gifts, Circles and Lost…

Well, Thursday was quite a day for getting lost. My mom and I got ready early morning… we took our showers, ate our breakfasts and got things ready. We left around a quarter after eight and hit the road. I had gotten around five hours of sleep the night before, so I dozed off. When I woke again, we were in the location we were supposed to be… My mom just couldn’t find the mall. You can’t blame her either, the roads were named more than once and trying to get onto an overpass highway that an underpass we are coming in on was almost impossible and the mall lacked a sign that stood out. Basically you had to turn into a small drive and when you came to the end of it was the sign for the mall… no sign for the highway. Oi.
Okay, so we get the mall. It is fifteen minutes past my mom’s appointment, so we figure she’s been booted off. Well, we look for the salon. We entered into the upper level, so we had to get the lower and after a bit of searching we got the hair salon and to my mother’s luck, they took her.
Well, since I had never been there before, I figured the hour in waiting, moseying about wouldn’t hurt. I found the GAP, but the jean prices were… well, I’m sure they were normal for them, but I was leery. I later found the Bath and Body Works and I managed to get my sister and my brother’s girlfriend their gifts. After that it was time to return.
I had five minutes left until my appointment so I simply dropped my stuff by my mom, who was getting her hair highlighted. I talked with her a bit and soon enough I was called.
I got my hair washed and then met Jillian. I am bad at explaining what I wanted, but she apparently understood because she cut my hair pretty damn well. With a few adjustments in the end, I was soon out of there. I bought some shampoo since I haven’t done that in a long time and left her a tip. I was bloody surprised at how much my haircut cost. It was the cheapest it has ever been for me in a long time.
Well, I grabbed my bag, left the shopping stuff with my mom and headed out again since she would still be a while. I looked for stores that went beyond necessity that time. In the end, I found they had no bookstore! That was sad. They had gift stores for pens, calendars, crystal and customized gifts… they even had Earthbound – I had no time to check in there though. I found no bookstore.
I did find a Hallmark store and looked around for the novelty of it. I saw a lot of redbird/cardinal things and thought my mom would like to look at them. Looking at the time then, I decided to see her progress. Upon my return, she was just getting out of the salon chair. She got some hair supplies and paid for her haircut. We then headed out.
It was around one thirty then, so we stopped for lunch. Across the way from the parking lot area we chose was a Mexican restaurant. We ate lunch there. Mom and I got an enchilada and tostada combination plate. She had a spinach enchilada and I had a cheese one. We both agreed their enchiladas were superb and likely the best we ever had. The rice was pretty good too, but I like flavored rice to be it bit milder. The tostada wasn’t that bad either. Anyway it was a very good meal.
After that we had two hours we could kill. So, we went back to the mall. I told Mom about some areas. After getting an idea down as to where we needed to go, we stopped by a department store to get me some jeans. Mom bought me two pairs for my birthday. After that we looked to see if she could find a 2009 bear – a Christmas tradition. Mom couldn’t find one, sadly. We then looked for a Swarovski shop and she browsed a bit. They had nothing that really suited her though… and I doubt we had the money for that either.
We then looked for a calendar shop we saw mentioned on the directory. Finding the place we went in and my mom bought herself an Irish Setter calendar and got a Labrador Retriever one for my dad. With those things checked off, I showed Mom the things in Hallmark. She got an ornament and a snow globe… Alas, the snow globe got broken later on. We were leaving a bathroom and she was switching her bags around. She thought she had the bag holding the Hallmark stuff around her wrist. It was not around her wrist. The bag fell and the Snow globe broke. Luckily the globe itself didn’t break. The porcelain/ceramic/whatever base did. So, we have a globe without a base. I took the globe and stuck it into my bag for safe keeping then.
After all of that we decided to leave. Ironically, despite all the places we went to, the mall was still a maze to us and even with the directory we got lost. We’d be near an area, but with how the place is constructed, you think an area should be closer than it is. It was very annoying… So, we spent a good time trying to figure out how to get back to the place we parked. Well, we finally found Eye Master’s which was a store my mom remembered seeing as we came in… Finding that we found our exit.
It was around three thirty to four then, I think. Well, we had just as much trouble leaving the place as we did entering. Mom went up one route, realized she was supposed to go the opposite way, got on that route, had to go the opposite way again, but likely a different side… We got out of there maybe around five. Sigh… Well, once it was determined we were on the right track again, I dosed off.
I’m guessing the trip was smooth sailing after that. We stopped two times… one for drinks and another to fill up the car. Eventually we arrived home. I think it was around seven by then, but I am not sure…
Anyway it was quite a day.
The rest of the evening was spent watching television. I was surprised Mom even wanted to watch, but I obliged. We watched Law and Order, Bones and a CSI: Las Vegas. We both ate dinner during this and things mellowed down.
It is now a little after ten thirty. I plan to go to bed soon, but will wrap up some of the gifts I’ve managed to get this year. The only person I have left to get a gift for is my brother. I plan to get it this weekend.
Anyway… tomorrow I’ll be busy again. Mom plans to take me out for a meal and then she will do a bit of Christmas shopping. After that my birthday will come up this weekend and I need to check with my mom on when I’ll be seeing Dr. Wynne… My brother’s birthday will be coming up soon and before you know it Christmas will be here. Boy what a month! Sigh…