what do you mean it's Friday? Also, annoying sales clerk at the Pheasant Lane Stride Rite

Today was R.'s license and registration for the van. Yesterday was my license and registration for the Fit. I went with A. on Thursday and didn't have the signatures I needed to do the van without him. In other activities today, we bought A. and T. clothes at Target, and T. shoes at Stride Rite. For reasons I am at a complete loss to explain, _every single time_ I try to buy T. shoes, the sales person works very hard to try to get me not to buy what I'm trying to buy. Usually (including today), they try to convince me I'm buying the wrong size. Since T. is not there (and, honestly, the idea of bringing him to a shoe store and fitting him there makes me shudder; we haven't tried it in a couple years and I doubt it'd be any better now than it was then), and because the young women who work in children's shoe stores are invariably, well, young women, they are idiots who think they know better than I do.

I should note that when I impulse bought T. a pair of shoes at Woolly Mammoth in Seattle, the young woman did nothing at all to stop me from buying him a pair of shoes. She was awesome. I miss shopping there. Go buy shoes from them and think of me when you do. Maybe some Naots. Very comfortable shoes, Naot makes.

Anyway. I was already in a bit of a mood on the subject of shoes, because _I knew_ I wanted 9.5 W for T. He's worn out his current pair of 9.5 W and his older pair of 8.5 W (which, I might add, still fits) and his older pair of 8.5 W sandals (which is honestly pretty close to the edge). I figure buying 1 full size up is about right. She's trying to talk me into a 10, particularly for a pair of water sandals. Since T. already trips over his too-long shoes, adding water to the mix sounds like a bad disaster and I decline. In the event, they didn't have the Bondis in a 9, so I will have to get those elsewhere. But I swear I had to tell her at least three times, no, really, there's more than a thumb length left past his toes. I only buy them this big because he has wide feet with a high arch. Blah blah bleeping blah. Sell me the fucking shoes already, okay?

It's like she didn't want my hundred and some odd dollars worth of sales. After all, I was buying 2 pair of sneakers and 1 sandals and I think they were mostly full price.

So if you know what you want, and are trying to decide whether to pay the $8-9 shipping on some Stride Rites for your young'un, and there isn't a Nordstroms handy, seriously think about paying the shipping. Not having to deal with this crap has to be worth something, right? I would suggest going to, say, Foot Locker and buying the New Balance Sesame Street sneaks for your kids, but honestly, the build quality on those just isn't what it should be.

other recent activities: home visit, glass enclosure. . .

Wednesday was home visit day, also, A.'s scratch-and-dent Maine Cottage mirror and dresser were delivered. They are a lovely green (pear), so last night I bought a bunch of Lambs & Ivy Enchanted Forest nursery decorative crap -- NOT the crib bedding, but nearly everything else. I was looking for the hamper and got distracted apparently. I'm not sure I should have bought the lamp, since today we stopped in a lighting store in Nashua (I was at the dentist and R. took A. over to shop for lighting and a medicine cabinet from the bath store next door) and bought a snail lamp and a turtle lamp by Quoizel. I also ordered T. a storage bench and a hamper. His blackout drapes (dark blue) are up. A.'s (green, are you surprised?) are awaiting rod installation which should have happened today but J. cancelled. Home visit went well. T. liked S. and S. seemed to like T. and I liked S. so yay all good. Paperwork showed up for consent to eval which I'll need to get back to them on Monday.

On Thursday, the glass guy showed up to measure the shower stall in the master. There was a way-too-much-happening moment at the beginning when R. was leaving (and partly driving over the cornpopper toy which surprisingly survived with only a small tire mark), B. was arriving, the glass guy was arriving, T. was riding a ride-on toy in the driveway and I was drinking coffee and chatting with the neighbor J. (also drinking coffee) over by the mailbox while keeping an eye on A. in the stroller.

It's exciting here in Acton.

I really like our neighbors, especially J.

A. likes the binky

I know, not really a surprise, right? Except T. would never take one from me, and only occasionally took one under pressure from anyone else. A. was mostly indifferent before, but since she's been teething, her thumb is not as satisfying, possibly because it hurts to chew on it with teeth. So the binky is a huge win. Hopefully she will not forget to eat as a result of loving the plastic and latex.