Dogs and Books
You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the sky is cloudy and the air is chilly and everyone is cranky and whiny?
So you lay in your bed and think, "How am I going to fill all the hours of today? There is no where to go and there is nothing to do."
And you get up and you mope around in your pajamas for a while looking for inspiration to strike, but it doesn't, and the only thing that happens is you get sleepier and the girls get fightier, and the whole day seems to be swirling down the toilet.
If only the sun would come out from behind the clouds, right? Problem solved.
But it doesn't. So you get dressed, and then one, two, three you hold down everyone else until they are dressed too. Socks, shoes, sweaters, because it is cold outside today.
You pile in the car to drive to somewhere that will cheer everyone up. Somewhere really interesting and perhaps full of mystery and excitement. Like, Walmart.
But to spice it up a bit, how about you go to the Walmart on the other side of town? See now you're getting into the spirit of things. Why go to the Walmart that is less than a mile away, when you could go to one that is ten miles away? Perfect!
You listen to the girls chatting in the backseat, the radio turned down low because you want to listen to your music and maybe if they don't notice they won't start begging for Alice the Camel. Suddenly, you remember the Library Book Sale is going on right now, at the building next door to the very exact Walmart you are driving to!
Fate. When fate comes calling like that, you have to answer. So you swing in to the parking lot of the event center, and look around for a parking spot. The place is huge, there are parking lots that go on and on, and huge warehouse sized buildings all over. You drive over to a section of the place where lots of other vehicles are parked and figure that must be where the action is. You step out of the car and begin the process of unbuckling three car seats, when you happen to look over your shoulder and see a woman purposefully walking a dog.
You might think, "Why did that woman bring her dog to a book sale?" but you aren't that interested and so your brain just says, "Huh" like a slow mental shoulder shrug. You continue fighting the buckles when one daughter points happily over your shoulder, "Dogs!" you turn and look, and see a woman with two dogs. Not really just dogs, but Dogs. You know, like they have their own seats at the dinner table type Dogs.
This is when your brain wakes up and decides something unusual is happening. Your eyes wander around as you push the stroller, noticing four more dogs over there, and three over there. Oh, and looking in the windows of the cars every single one in the lot has a dog crate in the back. If this were the Netherlands you really wouldn't think too much about it, because people seemed to take their dogs out and about with them everywhere. But, this isn't the Netherlands, remember?
You decide to walk in anyway, even though from the stream of people walking out, each with at least one dog, you are fairly certain you are not in the right place for books. The girls are going nuts pointing out dogs here! there! everywhere! You push open the door, and all your suspicions are confirmed. There isn't a book in sight, but you do see a course set up for a dog agility show, and there are more kennels everywhere, and dogs of all fancy shapes and sizes lounging inside like furry kings and queens.
You find a friendly looking dog owner and sort of timidly ask where the book sale is. She doesn't know. Finally you find someone who does, and they point you in the right direction, and you forcefully drag your children away from all the nice puppies (some of which could have swallowed your small children in one gulp - there was one that was almost certainly part bear.)
You walk over to the building where the actual book sale is being held, and it is booktopia. It is paradise in books. You wander around drooling for as long as your children's patience lasts, and then you finally make it over to Walmart, which suddenly has lost a lot of its earlier dreary day appeal.
And then you go home, and your children spend the afternoon banging on tins pretending they are in a brass band.
Or maybe your day didn't go anything like that at all. I don't know.
So you lay in your bed and think, "How am I going to fill all the hours of today? There is no where to go and there is nothing to do."
And you get up and you mope around in your pajamas for a while looking for inspiration to strike, but it doesn't, and the only thing that happens is you get sleepier and the girls get fightier, and the whole day seems to be swirling down the toilet.
If only the sun would come out from behind the clouds, right? Problem solved.
But it doesn't. So you get dressed, and then one, two, three you hold down everyone else until they are dressed too. Socks, shoes, sweaters, because it is cold outside today.
You pile in the car to drive to somewhere that will cheer everyone up. Somewhere really interesting and perhaps full of mystery and excitement. Like, Walmart.
But to spice it up a bit, how about you go to the Walmart on the other side of town? See now you're getting into the spirit of things. Why go to the Walmart that is less than a mile away, when you could go to one that is ten miles away? Perfect!
You listen to the girls chatting in the backseat, the radio turned down low because you want to listen to your music and maybe if they don't notice they won't start begging for Alice the Camel. Suddenly, you remember the Library Book Sale is going on right now, at the building next door to the very exact Walmart you are driving to!
Fate. When fate comes calling like that, you have to answer. So you swing in to the parking lot of the event center, and look around for a parking spot. The place is huge, there are parking lots that go on and on, and huge warehouse sized buildings all over. You drive over to a section of the place where lots of other vehicles are parked and figure that must be where the action is. You step out of the car and begin the process of unbuckling three car seats, when you happen to look over your shoulder and see a woman purposefully walking a dog.
You might think, "Why did that woman bring her dog to a book sale?" but you aren't that interested and so your brain just says, "Huh" like a slow mental shoulder shrug. You continue fighting the buckles when one daughter points happily over your shoulder, "Dogs!" you turn and look, and see a woman with two dogs. Not really just dogs, but Dogs. You know, like they have their own seats at the dinner table type Dogs.
This is when your brain wakes up and decides something unusual is happening. Your eyes wander around as you push the stroller, noticing four more dogs over there, and three over there. Oh, and looking in the windows of the cars every single one in the lot has a dog crate in the back. If this were the Netherlands you really wouldn't think too much about it, because people seemed to take their dogs out and about with them everywhere. But, this isn't the Netherlands, remember?
You decide to walk in anyway, even though from the stream of people walking out, each with at least one dog, you are fairly certain you are not in the right place for books. The girls are going nuts pointing out dogs here! there! everywhere! You push open the door, and all your suspicions are confirmed. There isn't a book in sight, but you do see a course set up for a dog agility show, and there are more kennels everywhere, and dogs of all fancy shapes and sizes lounging inside like furry kings and queens.
You find a friendly looking dog owner and sort of timidly ask where the book sale is. She doesn't know. Finally you find someone who does, and they point you in the right direction, and you forcefully drag your children away from all the nice puppies (some of which could have swallowed your small children in one gulp - there was one that was almost certainly part bear.)
You walk over to the building where the actual book sale is being held, and it is booktopia. It is paradise in books. You wander around drooling for as long as your children's patience lasts, and then you finally make it over to Walmart, which suddenly has lost a lot of its earlier dreary day appeal.
And then you go home, and your children spend the afternoon banging on tins pretending they are in a brass band.
Or maybe your day didn't go anything like that at all. I don't know.
You are such a talented blog writer. I kept thinking I was going to see a picture of The Bear and the Three Goldilocks. Maybe next time you see a "bear" you could take a picture.
ReplyDeleteI am sure the girls were so stoked to be around so many dogs! Its funny the things that they get excited about vs. what you get excited about. haha. childhood...its always an adventure.
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I am glad the girls weren't scared of all the dogs. That could have made for an interesting afternoon!
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't you stay longer? Was it a closed event? Or did you have to pay to watch? Or perhaps the girls wouldn't have actually sat through it? It sounds like it would have been interesting. I went to a dog show once when I was out at BYU.
I am glad you found the book fair!!! I would love to go to one of those. Although, haha, what I really need is a bookshelf fair, so I can get more space for books!