ROBIEWANKENOBIE

we've started the back-to-school consignment/thriftathon. first stop? the hoity-toity consignment sale. this is where the rich folk drop their clothing from france and shit. i like to go because on the second day? half price on most items. this year i worked on the second day, so i just went with a few things that i really loved. at the sale i heard about a summer clearance (75% off!) at another consignment place that i hit on the way home. again, a hit and run affair. there are very few days of summer left, so i like to zoom in and zoom out.

last night i took the big guy on a date. we went to the coffee shop and had cookies. i don't eat them at work because they are at least a zillion calories, but it was a special occasion. while there, my co-workers (adept at the art of stealth) helped me figure out a way to purchase and smuggle a few travel prezzies out into my car unnoticed. i know, i know, no new goods. there have been very few exceptions to this rule. mark this down as one of them.

after our date, the h and i ran to j.c. penneys. there was a little left over on a gift card from christmas. seriously folks, i went to the MALL. gah. the good news is that there was an outside entrance that goes directly into the store, and a heaven sent parking spot. we had enough moolah for some undies...new undies! and i even let the guy get transformers. a little robot on robot violence is preferable to other crap like power rangers, in my book. the sales clerk gave us a discount, because the sale sign was unclear, and we gave her the balance of our gift card to give to the next person. she insisted on giving us a bag, but receipt in hand, we dropped it off at the checkout in front of the door.

next? the crack store. target, my siren, sings to me. lovely designs at lovely prices. my world was so cold before target arrived. so. shoes. at earlier stages we could get the kids brand spankin' new shoes at consignment stores. little people go through shoes like mad, what with all their growing and such. but at a certain age? they kill them. i'm not going to put the kids in worn out shoes just to prove a point. i'm also not going to shell out hundreds of dollars for fancy shoes at this point. we compromise on brand names (champion) at target. sadly, this means i have to compromise on leather, as well. i wish the kids had easy to size feet. then we could go all zappo. actually, looking at zappo...i might return these suckers. skull shoes! free overnight shipping!

the bear falls asleep the minute we get home, and the leon and i settle in to watch the second borne flick. he insists on starting over, because he snoozed through the first part the night before. i suffer through until the part where i left off the night before, and he decides to go to sleep. i wasn't about to go through that again...so i cuddled up and went to sleep. damn. i love to sleep with the leon. yeah, that too, but he is the best person to sleep with. warm. the right height. not a big tosser and turner...and we always play footsie until we nod off. i remember when the h. was a baby and we would put him in the middle and hold hands, and touch feet. sigh.

#1 HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
the leon called from work. he NEVER does this. he called to thank me for giving him such beautiful kids. a guy from work is days away from being a father, and the leon was telling him how wonderful it was...annoying at times...and wonderful. so he thought he should call me and thank me.

#1 HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK, part b.
i was getting ready for work early sunday morning, and h came into the bathroom. he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and said, "oh, good." "oh, good, what?" i said. "oh, good, i got to see you before you went to work," he replied.

#2 HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
i found out that my definition of "invisible stitching in the ditch" was a little to literal. okay, a lot too literal. the quilts will go out before i leave for vacation. tonight i will learn to bind these suckers.

#2 HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK, part b.
my favorite hipster vintage source has opened up an entire store. i have been sworn to secrecy (and she is serious) by my source. the boys and i are going to check it out later on this morning.

#3 HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
my parents are taking the dogs whilst we vacation. this will save time money, and pain. old fogey says that it is payback for the time that his parents watched all three boys when they were under the age of six. when i asked him if this meant that he wanted the boys, too, he laughed.