a suggestion.

nay...a recommendation.

no...really. an urgent bit of advice.

from me to you. consider it a christmas gift of sorts.

never.
i repeat. never.
just for good measure...i repeat again. NEVER.
never ever ever ever go to toys 'r' us on the 19th of december at 7pm.

just don't do it.

normally, i wouldn't need to pass this bit of advice on to you as i would never have experienced what i experienced last night under normal circumstances. but...against my will...it happened.

i went to that blasted store six days before christmas.

*sigh*

first of all...i feel i must tell you...i hate toys 'r' us. to me, it's just another example of mass consumerism and the gross consumption of the american people. ugh.

plus...the store in modesto is never clean. i feel the need to shower after i go in.

whatever happened to the sweet little toy stores of yore? honestly...some of my favorite memories from my childhood stem from trips to anchorage and a unique toy store called classic toys. the name says it all. what a great little place. how i wish there was something like that here. i remember spending hours in that store with my brothers. i'd always run to the playmobil section first...then to the dolls...then to the legos...and around i'd go. i'd search every aisle, every display at least twice...sometimes three times. up until i was about twelve (and maybe even some after that), the majority of the items on my christmas list could be found on the shelves at 341 east benson boulevard (i love that it is still there!). seriously...a great little place. if you ever visit anchorage...be sure to go (and mom, next time you're there...just go for nostalgia's sake!).

but anyways.
back to my story of why i was at toys 'r' us last night.

my mother-in-law, bless her sweet heart, wanted to get elijah a christmas present. obviously.

so. after spending two hours at the mall (another event i'd recommend you avoid as i wish i had...however...i was present in order to pick out a birthday outfit for myself, at the request of my mother-in-law. i was happy to obilge. and such a great outfit i got too! anyways...), we maneuvered through going home/shopping traffic to the toy store. i had to circle the parking lot several times just to find a parking spot. not a good sign. the store was crowded. the shelves were not. it was dirty. it was messy. i was nauseous. and hungry. not a good combination. but at least elijah was entertained.

after quickly perusing the empty shelves...we found the ride-on car section. it was, as the majority of the store was, mostly empty, very messy, and very, very crowded. we let elijah play on a couple of the cars and then decided he was a bit young for something like that...maybe next year.

in the end, after an hour of searching, we found a few things. and i'm actually pleased with them. elijah will be unwrapping on christmas morning: a set of "first crayons" (called tadoodles which i've been meaning to get him for a while), a set of wooden blocks (another thing i've been meaning to get as e has chewed through his foam ones) and a "racin' ramp garage" that he wouldn't leave alone. i just hope he enjoys it as much out of the packaging as he did while it still in the box. so. all in all...not a bad haul. i just couldn't bring myself to tell john's mom, "sorry. all the toys i want for elijah cannot be found in this town. you have to order them online". nah...this was just easier...albeit a bit more stressful. maybe next year, if there's something i really want elijah to have...even if it is online...i'll tell john to get the money from her and we can order it in november and avoid all this craziness.

a good plan, i think.