August 3 - Great Eastern Tour Day 18

Stores: 6
Dresses tried on: 9
Dog slobber spots: 1

11:00 a.m. - Walk next door to get Moosh. Immediately upon entering house see her green jacket on the floor and realize there is no pull-over shoved in my purse to combat the icebox-like tempteratures of the movie theater. Briefly backtrack to the house with Moosh in tow.

11:26 a.m. - "I shop in juniors now." Suddenly feeling old and somewhat nostalgic for the days of wandering the children's section while Moosh pulls nearly every article of clothing off the racks to try on. The plus side is that browsing for clothes selection will take half as long with just one area to look in. Try on a few of the same dresses in different sizes. She picks out some really nice dresses. Lament that there is nowhere to wear nice dresses, and so no reson to purchase. Both find great jeans. This brand of jean is also on sale 2-for-1. Will have to be sure and check sizes carefully when we separate them at home - there is now a mjuch higher risk of confusing clothing.

12:15 p.m. - Poor Moosh gets asked if she'd like a children's menu when the waitress at Friendly's seats us. We both order wraps, then settle in to important discussion: boys. There has been a changing of boyfriends that I missed and details must be hashed out. Discover that Mom has been doling out more of her sage advice. Other life is discussed. Wraps are consumed, leaving no room for ice cream. Better to continue the shopping and have candy at the movie.

2:02 p.m. - Green glitter is flowing mercilessly onto my clothes. Moosh has managed to pick out a dress that not only makes us look like Tinkerbell, but comes complete with fairy dust. There are still a few more to try on, several have been tried and discarded, all are glittery. There will be glitter on me for days. Selection here is also better than anywhere else. Moosh has decided this is the best place to shop for 9th grade formal. As we leave it dawns on me her 9th grade formal is 2 years away.

2:28 p.m. - Force Moosh to try on just one shirt that isn't green. She doesn't like how it fits. Don't get to see it on her.

3:52 p.m. - Watching Click, a movie we both wanted to see and had no one in our respective homes to see it with. Slightly taken aback by the language being used in a movie rated PG-13.

5:28 p.m. - Realize I have screwed up and will be late to meet flute girl for dinner. Rush Moosh home and promise to come back tomorrow. There is not time to see the things she wants to show, due to my time error.

6:25 p.m. - Flute girl is now 10 minutes later, 5 minutes later than I was. Calling flute girl to inform her of my potential tardiness was clearly foolish.

6:50 p.m. - Order salad for dinner. Still full of movie popcorn and Skittles. Flute girl and I catch up on her job. The full story on her crummy move and new landlord is disclosed. Husband interjects occasionally, mostly paying attention to the baseball game playing over my shoulder.

8:03 p.m. - Visit flute girls new house. Not nearly so bad as she and husband think. Rooms are small, especially for their large furniture, but not unmanageable. Paint job is good, with exception of bright yellow bathroom. We wonder if white sponge paint over it could help. One random space could be a good dog home space. Problem being, dogs refuse to sleep in any room but "mommy and daddy's." Not sure large bed, rottweiller , and pit bull will all fit in same room once dogs are full size. Manage to get slobbered on by rottweiller just before leaving.

8:22 p.m. - For the second time this trip I get to drive all the way across the city in the pouring rain. At least the car refrains from sputtering in the water this time.

10:07 p.m. - Decide to try watching an episode of The West Wing with commentary. About a quarter through get sick of the commentary as it prohibits my hearing any of the lines. Start the episode over without commentary.