yes, today we discuss how a trip to get a brownies uniform eventually led to a whole pile of playdoh. i'll give £5 to the person who's heard that sentence twice before.
it was a saturday, in the lovely month of september. i remember it well - particularly as it was only 4 days ago. i had begun my day the night before by intending to have a *really* nice day. then i said a whole pile of thank-yous as i got out of bed, which was amazing in and of itself as my alarm clock was the call of my two-year-old son. he hasn't yet learned that saturdays are days to be adored and celebrated with an extra hour of sleep. so i was appreciating him early again, as it was my turn to do.
now that school is back in session, we are fortunate enough to have a variety of things to do on saturdays. we start with french class, we move on to swim class, and then we slot in the laundry and housekeeping around those and any other errands that pop up. one such errand on this particular day was that of the purchase of a uniform for my daughter's brownie pursuits. the store - yes the one store - that has them is near my favorite haunt, the llantrisant borders with a starbucks in it. god bless borders, god bless starbucks. was there ever a more perfect combination? if there was, i don't want to know about it. seriously, i don't. anyway, i love the drive out to llantrisant, too, because it's on the most perfect, windy, tree-lined road a person with a cute little red yaris could ever want. so any intention i have on that road always comes to me. i usually go there with my daughter, and she and i always ask the universe for a great parking space and a comfy seat at starbucks. only once have we not got what we asked for.
so to 'kick it up a notch' universe-wise, i said 'let's intend to get a spot *right* outside this shop, and when we go in, *you* will find the perfect shirt, which will be less than £10'. well *she* says 'how about less than £7?'. silly doubting-thomas me. i let a nanosecond of doubt occur. but then i remembered the power is in the now, so i could easily intend less than £7. 'okay, less than £7 it is!' so we together visualized parking in the spot outside the shop, felt what it would feel like to find the shirt at less than £7, and pretended it had already happened, and said thank you for it all. then we asked for the best spot outside borders, and visualized driving into it. then we visualized sitting in the comfy seats at starbucks, and pretended it had all already happened, and thanked the universe for that too. and then, just to really kick it up, i asked for a nice surprise when we get to talbot green, just for good measure. nothing like being stinking rotten greedy for stuff from the universe. so then we just had a completely happy drive the rest of the way to talbot green.
we arrive in talbot green, and i go for the spot i'd visualized. one thing to note, when you're wanting a spot right outside some shop, make sure to remember that the space isn't a driveway. oops. so we took the next best spot, which *was* right outside the shop, but across the street. hey, did i mention there are only about 5 spots in that area? yeah. cool.
so next we go in the shop. eden's has a variety of cute little things, and in the back is a wide selection of school uniforms, and the brownie line. my daughter walked straight to them and began her search. there were two shirts. you should be sitting before you read this next bit. also, know that i had absolutely no idea how much these shirts were going to cost, i was shooting in the dark with my intention. the short sleeved shirt? £6.99!!!! the long sleeved shirt? £9.99!!! we both had our intentions met! i *think* i heard the universe giggle. no, i didn't, but i had gotten that head-swirling feeling again, and we purchased the shirts and left.
oh, and nice the surprise i asked for? the shop is next to a cute little stationers/crafty shop (my favorite type of shop after bookshops and starbucks). if we'd gone in *before* going to eden's, we could have had a nice little browse around. but they closed for lunch. it's still nice because it's there, a place i am once a week.
so then we drove the couple blocks back to borders to our parking spot. we didn't get the one that i visualized. but the one that *was* there was a whole lot better than the one i visualized, and a guy was pulling out just as we arrived. that's not bad for a car park that is fairly hard to park in at this time of day (about 1:30).
then we went straight up to starbucks, upstairs. my daughter said 'i'll go get the chairs.' i said 'if you want,' but i am getting into the habit of not looking for things from the universe until it's time for them. i know that the chair will be made available as we go to sit down. i've been experiencing *that* on a 99% level since 2005. so i get the drinks and go towards my daughter, who is standing, looking unhappy. she said 'i lost our chairs,' and glanced at the couple who had just sat down to her left. i said 'why don't you look behind you?' then she beamed as she realized that another couple had just left as i approached! that iced chai (i LOVE those) was the best one i'd had in a long time. you just can't go wrong with a cold sweet drink like that, particularly when you ask them to add sugar-free hazelnut to it. holy cow if there's anything nicer, i don't know if my system could take it. i mean, okay, i'll give it a go, but it might be OTT.
before getting back in the car, i said 'let's check out this shop, i want to see if they sell crocks.' i am coveting them now that my friend at work has extolled their virtues. so we went in, and yes they have them, but i was wanting to get on and home and didn't want to spend time picking some out *that* day. my daughter was disappointed, she had just decided she wanted some. i said 'no, we'll get them a different day.' then she started something i wasn't prepared for. 'now i don't believe. i never get what *i* want.' i said 'whoa whoa whoa,' and listed out all the things that had happened that afternoon. i then told her that i *would* buy her the little turtle (a crock insert), but that we would hang it on the dashboard until we got some crocks. and every time we look at the turtle, we had to have happy thoughts and remember what we *have* gotten. that made her happy. we each got a turtle, and they bounce along happily suspended on my dashboard.
now a person would be forgiven for thinking that would have done it for the day. i mean, that's quite a lot of receiving in a short space of time. but oh no, there's more.
i had a few items to pick up at the tesco (supermarket) around the corner. i didn't want to forget the items, so i gave two of the four items to my daughter to remember. she had to remember the forks (toddler forks i wanted for my son) and......the playdoh. now for the record, all the times i've been in tesco, they've had their own brand of plasticine, or a non-playdoh brand pack at the very least. i prefer playdoh, i just like it best. but this was my day, and i knew there would be some playdoh there for us. and if you're wondering why i care so much, it's that i do a lot of things *with* my daughter, so i get the stuff that *i* like. :) on to the shopping. my daughter had a doubting moment, and told me that tesco, that great retailer of nearly everything in the known universe, wouldn't have forks. it's okay, she's 8. i said 'why don't you just ask and visualize them?' then the smile came, and she said 'okay, i'm visualizing a jazzy fork, one that is cute.' 'okay then,' i said.
so we got the other items, and then went back and looked for playdoh. couldn't find the playdoh. where was the playdoh? 'have you been visualizing the playdoh?' i asked my daughter. she said yeah. then we saw the aisle. there was playdoh this and playdoh that. there was the playdoh game-type things, and a variety of different packs of it, alongside the usual store-brand stuff. i then realized one has to be careful when asking for stuff or one has to make a decision! and then i looked up. the whole of the top shelf was lined with playdoh! just to be silly i said '! that's enough playdoh visualizing already!' she giggled.
but that's not all, bob barker! we found some toddler forks, but they just weren't exactly what i wanted. i didn't want to pay for a whole set of tableware when i just wanted the forks. i could afford it, i just didn't *want* it. so i said 'no, dear, let's get them another time,' even though she had been excited at the thought that there were forks at tesco. imagine that. we got up to the checkout and i remembered the last item, skewers. so i went back to the kitchen area. wanting to get out of tesco, i thought it best to cut to the chase and ask one of the tesco dudes where they were, full well realizing there was a chance they hadn't any idea either. i *should* have 'realized' they would know, but oh well. baby steps. so having been told a second time 'i'm not sure, i think we don't have them now that it's no longer barbecue season.' dang, barbecue season is over and i didn't even celebrate or send anyone a card. oh well. so i thought a moment, and said 'universe, how about those skewers. i'd really like some skewers, and i'd really like some toddler forks.' i really am not making any of this up - the next aisle had skewers on them, and they were almost right across from another set of forks! but.... it was still not what i wanted. so i said 'how about some forks for less than £2?' i looked, but didn't see, so i headed back towards the checkouts. and there
on the endcaps
was a pack of toddler table-ware for £2!
well i HAD to buy that!
people were really looking at me strangely as i -floated- my way to the checkouts.
what an amazing day, and no one reading this will have any idea of just how awesome any of this felt at the time. that's a pity. but let's not think about that! i just hope someone reads this and is either
a) amused;
b) entertained; or
c) inspired
before going to bed that night, my daughter was, once again, not happy with what she was receiving. m2 throws this at me and daddy shouts that at me and you're wanting me to go to bed were just a few of the themes upsetting her. then i said 'whoa, whoa whoa, code turtle,' referring to the turtles we'd gotten earlier that day. the eruption of laughter that occurred was absolutely priceless. that child laughed for 10 minutes straight, complete with floor-rolling and belly-holding. and i think that's a good ending for anyone's day.
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