So remember when I shared this clever little #mamalifehacks post with you and mused about whether I would do better about keeping up with my sunglasses if ever I were to invest in a “nice” pair?

Well.

On the very same FB page where I’ve been selling all of my “excess” furniture, I found a pair of Ray Bans for $40. They weren’t exactly what I love, but for $40, I figured I could snag a pair of well-made shades that might (or might not) inspire me to take better care/attention without producing oodles of guilt should they meet an untimely demise (because, while, yes, $40 is a fair bit of money for sunglasses, it is NOT $200, which is what they cost retail).

shades

{Pardon my grumpy expression; I sent this snap as a purely utilitarian picture to a friend to get her honest opinion on whether the glasses made me look like a Trinity wannabe; she claimed no}

Somehow, I managed to be first in line to claim them (you have to comment on the “for sale” post, and then the seller goes down the line in order until a buyer commits), and I met the girl in a parking lot to exchange glasses/money (if anyone were to follow my activities over the past several weeks, they’d probably be convinced that I’ve taken up drug dealing; my kids are no longer the least bit surprised when we “have to meet a girl at a place for the thing” before we go to the gym).

That was 6 days ago. And for the first 5 days, I did great. I returned my glasses to their case religiously and took great care not to leave them anywhere near the twins.

But then, while my older kids were at piano practice, the twins, Theo, and I headed to TJ Maxx to do a return, and while we were at the checkout counter, I heard an oddly familiar yet still puzzling rumble.

I looked at the cashier and said: “Is that…thunder?”

Because, see, after a spring + early summer of nothing BUT rain, we haven’t had a drop in two straight months. Like not one.

And there had been nothing/zilch/nada in the forecast that morning to foretell such a sweet sound.

It was maaaaaaybe another 5 minutes before I completed the transaction, but by the time I wheeled the double stroller to the exit, it wasn’t just raining. The sky was pelting the ground with big fat water bombs. And the wind? Oh my word. It was whipping this way and that so that sometimes the rain fell in horizontal sheets.

As I stood there, blinking in disbelief, the store manager walked up, handed me a large umbrella, and said, “Here. Take this to your car when you go with your babies. You don’t have to bring it back.”

And then he said, “Actually, if you’re okay with it, I can just stand here at the entrance by your stroller, and you can pull the van up, so you don’t have to get your kids out in that. But no rush. You don’t have to go right now.”

But I did because it was time to go pick up the older kids from piano. So, I thanked him profusely, gripped the umbrella firmly, and charged into the madness.

Within 2 seconds, the wind had snapped my umbrella inside out, and before I could reach my car, I was soaked to the skin. I jumped in the van, shoving the useless umbrella in the back, water streaming in my eyes, and sat there in shock for a minute.

And then I drove to the entrance of the store and proceeded to load the kids and my bags at as frenzied of a pace as you can when you’re working with toddlers and car seat buckles (read: slower than a turtle on sleeping pills).

By the time I got done with THAT, I was pretty sure it was impossible that I be any wetter without having jumped in a lake.

And then, just as I got ready to pull away, my hand flew to my throat as I remembered with a jolt that I had wedged my new-to-me Ray Bans in the neckline of my shirt because I’d forgotten to bring their case inside the store, and I didn’t want them getting scratched in my purse.

Of course, they weren’t there anymore. Not that I was even surprised, given the spot-on impression of a chicken running around with its head cut off that I’d just done.

I was so bummed.

And since I had just managed to buckle three small children into their seats in the van, and it was still raining buckets, there was no way I was getting back out to look for them. I drove a slow circle in the parking lot, trying to see through the downpour, but turned up nothing.

Dang it.

I guess that answered my question of whether having nice shades would motivate me to keep up with them. The answer: it had, but that was no match for the thunderstorm out of the clear blue sky.

I picked up the kids from piano and headed to the gym, but before I started class, I decided to call TJ Maxx, on the off-chance that someone had found them and–yeah right–turned them in.

I waited while the lady checked their lost and found drawer, and she was back on the line almost immediately, which I took to be a bad sign, until she said, “Yep. We have them. Someone found them in the parking lot and turned them in.”

Whaaaaaat?

YES!

To say that I have been obsessively checking to make sure they’re still in their case ever since is a weeee bit of an understatement. But as of tomorrow, I will be able to officially say that I have protected my $40 investment for one whole week. And I’m not doing a thing to jeopardize that. No sirreee.

It was aaaaaalmost as good of a feeling as when I recaptured our missing hamster last night. But that’s another story for another day.

Happy Weekend, friends! May all of your lost things be found!

0 Comments

  1. Oh you are soooo funny! You NEED to write a book….some sort of book! Thanks for the laugh…I needed it! Blessings.

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