GMO

There's a song that's been playing on Radio Disney that my kids love. It's GNO by Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana.) It's a total pop song about Girl's Night Out. Today, Rose and I decided to have a GMO, Girl's Morning Out. ( I always love one-on-one time with the kids. I wish I could do it more often.) We dropped off the two older kidlets at school, filled up the minivan with gas and hit the road.

Our first stop (once we made it through the mess of traffic on the freeway) was Southeast Portland where we were meeting Rose's godmother, Patricia, for breakfast. We arrived at Zell's American Cafe a little early so we sat on the bench along the window and read books. After Patricia arrived and we were seated at the table, we ate yummy scones and caught up with what's been going on since the last time we'd gotten together which was back in August if I remember correctly. Rose's Aunt Patricia came bearing gifts including a talking pop-up Halloween book.

After breakfast we headed to Costco. I was hoping to dash in and out and continue on with our morning, but those plans got changed when Rose recited her own shopping list: dresses, toys, candy. I told her those things weren't on my list. She still wanted to see them. So change of plans, we went down each and every aisle. In case you're wondering how long that took with a four year old, who wanted to stop and look at well, everything...two hours.

The latest Barbie DVD (Island Princess) drew the biggest oohs and aahs as did several of the girly toys, namely a pink electronic guitar and keyboard set with headphone microphone. She also told me she wanted to trade in her blue kitchen for the pink Retro set they had there. She kept pointing and saying I want that and that. Oh, I want this and this. Santa's sled wouldn't be able to get off the ground if she got everything she pointed to this morning.

Speaking of Santa, even though I'm in the midst of writing a Christmas story, I still find it hard to believe that it's not even Halloween and all the Christmas stuff is already out on the shelves. And people were buying it! I saw many carts full of gift tag packages and spools of ribbons. Granted, I have already bought some presents, but I haven't started buying the paper and bows yet. I just have these rules, call it a Christmas code.

Shopping for presents all year long is okay, but I don't buy Christmas themed stuff (paper, cards, tags, decorations) until after Halloween. And no Christmas carols until after Thanksgiving. (I'm breaking that rule right now, but I'm exempt because of the book.)

There was one really cool Christmas yard decor item that caught Rose's attention and I have to admit was pretty neat. It was a set of three white Christmas trees with ball lights on them. Christmas carols played from a speaker on one of the trees and the lights were synchronized to come on with the music. We listened and watched Carol of the Bells. I couldn't drag her away from that display.

We finally made it home in time for a quick lunch. Now it's nap time. I'm sore from the workout yesterday and all the walking around in my boots this morning didn't help. I need to write, but I might crawl in bed with Rose and grab a cat nap first. That sounds like the perfect way to end our GMO.

Hope you're having a great day!