sticky fingers

today while making a run to tar-jay i thought that i would try to multi-task. e's birthday is this weekend and i have a few little things that i still need to pick up before her big day. one of the items could be purchased at target. rather than making a separate trip back without e (at ten p.m. after everything else is done), i decided to try to slip the item into the cart. last year, this would not be worth writing about, but this year, that girl is like a hawk. she sees and evaluates everything that goes into the cart.

we headed to the movie aisle and e began to investigate each and every movie. i gave myself a personal thumbs up for diverting her attention and began to look for the movie that she so covets (barbie diamond castle, if you must know). i hunted once- i began to feel nervous. i a second time- panic set in. this is what she REALLY wants for her birthday. what's a new mom of three, who is moving across the country in ten minutes, going to do??? ellie began to loose interest in her movie investigation. i almost declared "abort mission", but decided to give it one final search.

my eyes scanned the shelves. suddenly, peering out from behind barbie mariposa i noticed a case of a different color. could it be? was it possibly the one e wanted? i redirected e's attention to the books that were on the other side of the aisle and made a snatch for the cd. AH-HA! it was in fact the only remaining copy of barbie diamond castle. with cd in my hand, i felt a bit panicked. i didn't have a good plan for where to stash it. quickly, i tucked it inside of p's bucket seat under the blanket. it was perfect! e turned around at that exact moment and was none the wiser. hooray.

we then headed off to the storage supply section in search of more bins (because i may, possibly, but not likely have a slight pre-move obsession with organization of stuff that will soon become very unorganized when handled by the movers). as we rounded the corner i noticed a very suspicious man following me. he was dressed in a members only jacket (on a pretty warm sunny day). i have worked retail in the past and am quite certain that this is the standard uniform for the secret shopper (aka security guard). oh-no!

as we turned our buggy down the lane containing my beautiful storage bins, another dude emerged. this one with cuffs handing from his belt loop. did they really think i was going to take the movie? couldn't they do the math and see that this was all a covert birthday operation? i thought about turning to the guys (both who were just pretending to browse the merchandise) and spelling the situation out to them, but decided that was too much effort and besides, my spelling stinks. instead, i played it cool. i picked up my bins put them on the bottom of the buggy (making certain they were clearly visible) and headed to the check-out. i may have also said in a louder voice than necessary, "come on girls mommy needs to go PAY for this stuff".

the men both followed me to the checkout, watched me whisper to the cashier while e was investigating candy treats (this is the first time i've ever been thankful for them being at the register) and slip her my disc.

double hooray! mommy went home with the desired cd and did not in fact get the joy of wearing handcuffs for the afternoon and/or calling daddy to explain why momma needs a bail-out of the county jail.