a surprise, almost blown, recovered, and then shared, plus a final blooper

 OF COURSE THERE'S MORE TO THE SURPRISE STORY:  

On Christmas, Ann's son Prince  who is Curly's godfather wanted to zoom with her so he could watch her open her Christmas gift that he'd gotten her. Ann's son is a prince, great kid. Coach and I both felt he was an excellent choice as Curly's godfather. He was about 13 when we asked him. Now he's 26, I think. Oh, and we're still pleased that we selected him.  

Believe it or not, he got Curly a pair of basketball shoes. She'd JUST gotten new shoes the same day Coach took Reg, right before Christmas. At least Prince had asked me for her size, but I assumed he was getting her slippers or something fun and typical of the gifts he buys. Anyway, he's offered the receipt in case she wants to go with a different size, etc.

Was the universe sending out vibes that Coach and I are currently unable to afford shoes for our offspring? 

Ann was on the zoom. So was I, because Curly wanted me there. She felt goofy being in the limelight and having Prince stare at her as she opened a gift.

Ann:  So, Pat and Marie think we should just tell Mom about the Lake Lawn trip now, so she has something to look forward to. 

Me:  Oh, yeah. Sounds good. 

A few days after Christmas, Ann texted everyone to let us know:  'WE TOLD MOM AND DAD ABOUT LAKE LAWN ON CHRISTMAS AND THEY'RE VERY EXCITED.'

Wait, WTF? I get that Ann planned this gift, but when she said they were thinking of telling mom and dad, I assumed they'd do so with all of us . . . on a zoom, or on a patio, or something. Nope. My two sisters are the 'we' in this - they apparently spent Christmas together. Anyway, they took the liberty of sharing the gift that we all agreed to/paid for. 

We were eating dinner when I got Ann's text. 

Mini:  OH. THAT SUCKS. I WOULD'VE LIKE TO HAVE SEEN NANA'S FACE WHEN SHE FOUND OUT. 

Of course she would've, because she is one of the grandchildren. I wanted to scream. 

Of course, we all know what would've happened if I'd taken the liberty of telling them about the surprise, like intentionally - not accidentally in a Christmas poem. Ann would have been LIVID. I grappled with calling Ann out for this overstep, but Mini was like JUST FORGET ABOUT IT. Coach weighed in and was of the same mindset. 

It doesn't tick me off that she told Mom, but that if any of us had done that she'd have lost her shit. Get me?  

AND ONE MORE BLOOPER:

The Zara jeans were returned on my birthday, December 30th. I'll wait while you all store the date in your phone for next year. I intended to return them on the 23rd, because I envisioned this store being, well, I don't know - organized, or something. Like the GAP. On the 30th it looked as though it had been ransacked. 

I thought I'd be able to swap out the sizes and surprise the girls with the right sizes in time for Christmas. 

I don't know what state the store would've been in on the 23rd, because I didn't end up going. I came home from physical therapy with my husband (for some people that might mean the hubby comes along to be supportive, for me it means he's the guy that is making me do painful exercises and sticking me with a dry needle IN THE BUTT). I was gearing up to go to the mall. 

Anyway, I checked my email and that's when I learned about Joe passing away unexpectedly. I was a mess, understatement, so I bypassed the mall and made a few of the dishes that I could make for Christmas dinner in advance instead.

I'm a multi-tasker, so I was looking at email and blowing my nose and calling Delilah and crying and cooking. On email, I saw someone post something on the next-door platform about a shooting at the mall. 

This high end mall that is not far from my house had an active shooter. I told the girls to put on the news. What? I couldn't believe it. The place was on lockdown. They had people calling in who were trapped wherever they were shopping or eating, lying on the floor of a store or a restaurant, scared. 

I COULD'VE BEEN AT THE MALL IF I HADN'T BEEN A PUFFY-FACED EMOTIONAL MESS. Unreal.

Fortunately no one was killed. I believe a few people were injured. Still, terrifying. 

The next morning aka Christmas Eve, I looked online and still saw that Zara supposedly had inventory of one of the pairs that Curly wanted. I asked her if she'd go with me, return the non-fitting pairs, try new ones on. I had so much to do, but if I got enough food finished I figured I had time to scoot to the mall and back and still have time to get everything done before church. 

Curly agreed to go and we bolted. I had tried to call the store first but it was automated response that just gave me the store hours. I didn't speak to anyone at the location. 

You can guess, right?

I wanted to get there right when they opened. That wasn't until 11. We arrived a few minutes after 11 and there was a crowd outside the store. Other stores were open. The mall was hopping.

Me:  WELL, THEY'RE JUST RUNNING A LITTLE BEHIND. THEY'LL OPEN SOON - OH, LOOK. HERE COMES A WORKER TO OPEN THE DOORS.

Curly looked skeptical. 

Worker:  SORRY, WE AREN'T OPENING AT ALL TODAY, BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT. THERE WAS A SHOOTING.

This is why we'd tried to call. What if stores were still coping with the trauma, etc. And here we were. That was the ONLY reason we left the house. Bummer.

As we walked back to the car, a woman came out of, or to be more accurate was ESCORTED out of, a Williams and Sonoma store. Hello? What's this?

The 'scene' caught my attention initially because I heard voices that sounded loud and not at all in synch with mall voices. It's an outdoor mall:  music playing and people chatting with one another, even laughter - but this other noise. I thought someone was playing a radio, loudly. I looked around.

What the disgruntled shopping woman was saying to the WS employee, over AND OVER again was:  

IT ENDS WHEN YOU SAY IT ENDS. 

IT ENDS WHEN YOU SAY IT ENDS.  

Can we all take a moment to imagine what in the fresh hell could have set this woman off to require an escort out of the store on Christmas Eve? She'd expected more options in the china department? Perhaps the inventory on line was off and the store was out of the silverware set she'd intended to buy last minute? 

Anyone feel like Finn after shopping or
 cooking or baking or wrapping?
No modesty. I might start posting photos
of how this dog sleeps regularly. I mean, I've
 never owned a dog so I have no idea if this is normal.

Or maybe the store was hosting a political rally and this chick didn't jive with the majority's views? 

I so wanted to pop inside the store and do a little snooping, but Curly wouldn't hear of it. Off we went to get my million things done, now that the jeans exchange was clearly not gonna happen. 

Anything derail your last minute shopping? Anyone have a relative like Ann? Would you like one?
Anyone think I should tell her that it disappointed some people not to be part of the surprise telling (I'm over it and all, and I don't know if she can LEARN that what goes for her should go for everyone else)? Or should I make like Elsa and LET IT GO, LET IT GO? Any guesses on the disgruntled WS shopper?

***edited to add:  MY SISTER, MARIE AND I WERE PLANNING TO GO TO THE FUNERAL, LEAVING AS YOU READ THIS . . . THEN LAST NIGHT ANN DECIDED THAT SHE CAN GO BECAUSE SHE GOT OFF OF WORK. OVER SIX HOURS WITH BOTH SISTERS IN A CAR, TWO DAYS IN A ROW? PLEASE PRAY FOR ME.