Mommy Daughter Day

On January 31 I purchased two tickets to see Beauty and the Beast on March 18. Yesterday I thought our plans might be in jeopardy because of the weather forecast for snow then ice and freezing rain, but thankfully we didn't get anywhere near as much snow as they had predicted and it went right from snow to rain. The boys were also thankful as they were disappointed when we told them that they might not be going to Grandma and Pop Pop's house after all. Paul didn't get home until about 9pm last night (16 hours after he had left for work) because he thought he wouldn't be able to go to work today, but when I peeked out the window at 7:00am, I told him I thought the roads looked fine. So he took the boys to his parents house on his way to work. Nadia and I had a little time at home, and we used part of that for painting my fingernails and her fingernails. I had contemplated having our nails done at the mall. It would be the first time for her, and it would have been my first time in at least seven years, but I felt that was too much of a splurge. It's much cheaper to paint our twenty fingernails myself. At some point I will pay for her to have a professional manicure. We left the house around 10:00 and got home at 4:00. During that time span we shopped at Shoe Dept, JcPenney, Gymboree, Macy's, and Hallmark. I had also hoped to stop at Jo-Ann Fabric to get fabric for the guinea pigs' cage, but it turns out there is a Michaels and A.C. Moore, but we would have had to travel a little bit farther for Jo-Ann. I also got my haircut for the first time since the end of November. I had to try a new hairstylist which was disappointing after going to the same one for awhile. Hopefully I'll like what she did today. While we were shopping Sears was rotating our tires. We also used a gift card to buy a foot long sub to share at Subway. We were in the mall for about two hours. That was an extremely rare treat for me. It is pure unadulterated torture to shop with Oliver at the mall so I try to go there as little as possible and get in and out as quickly as possible when I do go. Two hours was more than Nadia wanted to spend, but she did fine even though she would have preferred our shopping have ended sooner than it did.

During our shopping spree I got myself a pair of sneakers, Star Wars wrapping paper (for the birthday party tomorrow and also for gifts for Ian in the future), and a pair of pants for myself at JcP for $9.99 (after using a $10 off coupon). I shopped the clearance rack at Gymboree. They were taking an additional 50% off the lowest ticketed price, and then I had a coupon for another 25% off. So I got Nadia a pink cardigan sweater, a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve dress, and two matching snowman neckties for the boys for a total of $21.70. The best bargains of the day were at Macy's. I didn't realize the store is closing in two days. I should have shopped their earlier in the week as they didn't have much left, and also we didn't have much time left by the time we got there, and I didn't want to be late for the movie. Everything was marked down at least 80%. The Christmas sweaters were marked down to $1 (originally $34-50 each). They had the same sweater available in kids', women's, and men's sizes. I bought four sweaters at first. They didn't have any in size 5 or 6, but I got a 4T (hoping it will still fit Oliver next year), 7/8 (for Ian), 10/12 (for Nadia), and one for myself. I have never seen Paul wear a sweater in the 20 years I've known him so I didn't consider buying him one. And then during the movie I regretted that decision so after the movie was over we made a quick stop in but what had been four racks of those sweaters was down to half of one rack. During the 3 hours since we left the store most of them had been purchased. There weren't any men's sweaters left in Paul's size. I had decided for $1 I figured he could wear it for a picture and then I could give it away. I did buy one more sweater in size 7/8 though in case the 4T is too small for Oliver. I think it's going to be a cute picture in the future! You can't beat five brand new sweaters for $5 total.

The saddest part of our outing was finding out that the JcPenney store is closing in June. It's my favorite department store by far. The Payless shoe store is also closing. Aside from getting work done on the vehicles at Sears, I can't see what will draw me to that mall in the future. I asked at Sears if they were closing also, and they said no, which was a relief because of the fact it's free to get the tires rotated there on our vehicles as we bought our tires there. I know Sears has been closing other stores so I figured there was a chance this one was going also. There are four department stores in that mall right now, but in two days they'll be down to three and by June down to two. Are shopping malls going to be a thing of the past? I love shopping online, but some things I really like to try on first. For example the sneakers. The pair I have been wearing the last couple of years are size 8.5, but in a different brand I needed a size 9. How would I know which size to buy if buying them online? I also stopped in two jewelry stores as I am still trying to find a reasonably priced setting for the diamond that I like. Unfortunately the one I fell in love with a couple of months ago costs more than I was hoping to spend. Decisions, decisions....

Then we went to see Beauty and the Beast. It was Nadia's second time ever in her life to be in a theatre when they were showing a movie that was newly released. I've taken them in the summer to see ones for $1 that are already on DVD, but her first time seeing a new release was in December when Grandpa bought tickets for Moana. This was the first time I bought her a ticket for a new release movie. I paid less than $5 total for our two tickets so it wasn't a splurge, but honestly it would have been worth paying even more than that. It was outstanding. People erupted in applause at the end of the movie. At one point I wasn't sure if I should use the tickets when I saw there was some controversy about the movie, but I didn't find it objectionable in the least. Nadia snuggled with me during the movie, and I admit I was in seventh heaven. Thank you, Lord for giving me this girl 8.75 years ago! It's scary to think she's almost half-way done with the 18 years of her life that she will live with us. I realize it could be longer depending on what happens when she graduates, but she could be leaving the nest in nine years so I need to savor every moment!

St. Patrick's Day was a very special day for my sister as she gave birth to her eighth child last night. She has given birth twice on that day because her son, Joshua, turned 10 yesterday. Their son (pictured above) is named Wesley Jayden. We are thrilled for them and will look forward to meeting him in person this summer.

Nadia and Ian went to the Upward basketball closing program this evening. Paul took them. Oliver didn't want to go, so I stayed home with him. I did take him to CVS and the grocery store part of the time. At CVS we got 10 boxes of cereal plus 2 bottles of laundry detergent for less than $6. I sure hope CVS isn't in jeopardy of closing or my couponing days may be over.