The Queen's Rambles

I’ve been so excited about my Gymbucks shopping extravaganza! I thought it was just like Kohl’s cash and that I would have an almost embarrassing amount of free money to spend at my leisure.

Uhhhhh.

I guess I didn’t read the fine print.

It is not free money. It is in no way like Kohl’s Cash. It is basically a very limited 50% off coupon. I about cried when I found out. I was in line, all happy because I had used my calculator and had it planned down to the penny. Then the lady told me how it worked and I was gobsmacked. I suppose it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it didn’t fit with my plans and I was not prepared to have my plans totally blown in such a public and demoralizing way.

(Side bar: There was a little girl of about 2 running all over the store. Her name was Elsa. I looked up the stats for the name and it is not on the move upwards (way down in the 600s), but I seem to keep finding them anyway.)

Did I turn everything back in and tell them to go sock it to some other fool?

No. I dropped a chunk of change, just as they knew I would. I wanted to walk away, but I couldn’t. I love their clothes. It’s not the designs, though they are cute. I love the quality. She currently have four Gymboree shirts and they are just about the only thing I dress her in anymore. Everything else is fairly new, but it all looks like it’s been washed a million times or has stains up the wazoo. One of her white Gymboree shirts was literally covered in carrot puree. I soaked it in oxyclean and you can’t even tell. Looks brand new.

Thus my Gymboree love.

I am totally over my Hanna Anderson love, btw. The pajamas are still awesome, but overpriced. The other stuff? Not so much. For the price, I expect them to stay nice for a long time, but one of Erik’s shirts sprung a hole, another is stained up and Elsa’s little jacket has a broken zipper. For the price I paid, that’s just not acceptable. And it’s not like I bought a whole boatload of clothes there. I think I’ve bought four things, other than pajamas.

Anyway, Elsa has a good start on her spring wardrobe. I am not going to be tempted to buy a bunch of junky stuff at Kohl’s just because it is super cheap.

I didn’t get a haircut today either. I decided to be smart about it and make an appointment with the person I really wanted to cut my hair instead of taking my chances. I’m 36 years old. You’d think I would do this every single time, but no. I am a digital person and when I want my hair cut I want it cut NOW! But I’m going to be a good girl and wait until Thursday. I am not going to touch my bangs with the scissors. I’m not. I’m not. If I say it enough times maybe it will be true.

Someone asked about the chiro. I stopped going because he declared me healed, though I don’t feel healed. The massages felt good and I think the adjustments were good for me, but it was not the miracle cure I was looking for.

Someone else asked what low cholesterol food Erik really enjoyed that took me forever to prep. Spinach-Cheese Strudel. Ugh. So gross. I’m shocked Erik liked it.

My first problem was that I had no idea I was supposed to take the phyllo dough out of the freezer two hours prior to use. I read the directions about two minutes before I wanted to start cooking. I let it sit out a bit, then tried unrolling it and made a gigantic mess.

Then I was supposed to do a light egg white wash on every other layer, which was fine, I guess, except Erik helped me and it was not exactly “light.” The over use of egg white gave the whole thing a really disgusting texture that I couldn’t really get past.

It sounded good, in theory. Wilted spinach and sauteed green onions, with a bit of feta cheese and a drizzle of honey, rolled up in the phyllo. I was not a fan, but I don’t really like cooked spinach. Erik said it was one of the best things he ever ate.

Last but not least, Elsa is standing on her own! She can do it for about five seconds so she has a ways to go, but it’s progress. She’ll probably be walking before her first birthday. With a new skill, comes a great lack of sleep. She was up every single hour last night. Every single hour. I’m not even exaggerating. Went to bed at 11, was up at 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. She finally woke up for good at 8 and Mike let me get a couple hours of sleep. I hope she doesn’t do that again. At least Mike has tomorrow off.