Blueberries and Blue Jeans

Instead of picking blueberries this morning as previously planned, I went shopping with dd. For those of you who know me...even a little bit...you know shopping is one of my least favorite occupations. Actually, I would consider shopping for clothes one of the few things I truly HATE! However, dd is leaving for a week long camp on Saturday. She informed me --after 8pm last night!-- that she had only ONE pair of shorts and ONE pair of jeans that she could take to camp. A shopping trip became a necessity...(even in my hebetudinous state!). (Yeah, we're homeschoolers...."Look it up!")

So we postpone blueberry picking....which according to the magazine article I read last night could cost me the opportunity to lose over 5 pounds this coming week! Sure enough, the article says if I eat blueberries and yogurt for breakfast I will lose 5 pounds a week!!!! Of course, I'm wondering if that means I'm not allowed to eat anything else the rest of the day? Hmmmmm.... I'll have to look into that.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Shopping. Well, we went to our first stop. Goodwill on Apalachee Parkway. I parked the car and was talking on my cell while dd went in to begin the search. Approximately 10 minutes later I followed...yes, it WAS an important call! Anyway, when I got in the store, dd had found exactly 1 pair of shorts...but had NOT even tried them on yet. So tamping down my impatient..."What have you been doing?"...I sent her to the dressing room and set out to find some jeans for her to try on. But what size?

My sweet dd is built like her dad. (Thank you, Lord!) She has long, slim legs; a small waist; and no butt. This is not always a great combination when looking for pants--but it is soooo much better than short and stubby, like Mom!

She steps out of the dressing room...Wahoo! The shorts are an absolutely perfect fit and length! What are the chances of that?






The perfect shorts,

finger-tip length,

...only $3.49 + tax!









So we look at the size. She goes back in the cubicle and I head to the rack to see if I can find any other pants close to that size. Actually, I was amazed to find so many pairs of jeans that you could actually READ the size! Wonderful!

So, with about 8 pairs of jeans draped over my arm, I proceed to the dressing room to have dd try these on. Our conversation sounded like this:

The first pair...
Mom: Those look really good! Not too tight, the right length...
DD: What? These are hideous! Look how these legs are...they are straight leg and look weird! (Note: Everything is said with !!!, like her MOM!)!
Mom: I think they look fine.
DD: I would look like a dork.
Mom: Fine, take them off and try on the next pair.

The 2nd pair...
Mom: Those look really good! Not too tight, the right length...
DD: Are you kidding? Look at these flare legs...they make me look like a balloon!
Mom: I think they look fine.
DD: Yeah, for a dork!
Mom: Fine, take them off and try on the next pair.

The 3rd pair...
Mom: Those look really good! Not too tight, the right length...
DD: Don't EVEN! These make me look like a freak! No way would I wear these!
Mom: Come On! They look fine!
DD: Yeah, for a freak!! I won't wear them, so there's no point in buying them! [said very respectfully, of course!]
Mom: Fine, take them off and try on the next pair.

Okay, you get the idea... Dork pair, old lady looking, freaky, too straight legs, too flared legs, too long legs, too big in the waist, too dark, etc., etc., etc.

After going through all 8 pairs...we have 1 "maybe" pair. Mom heads back onto the floor and finds another stack. As dd tries on this stack, our conversation was not much better except NOW Mom throws in a compromise. [Otherwise known as a Light-Bulb moment!] We've decided to take a few of the pairs that fit the waist and legs and we'll just cut the "hideous" bottoms off for shorts. This makes dd smile. This makes Mom smile. Wahoo! We have a winner!

So we leave Goodwill with 3 pairs of jeans and 1 pair of shorts...for $19.89. Not bad, considering the shorts we saw at Wal-Mart last week were $15 (for one pair) and were too short and looked like they had been washed way too many times! Of course, if I had been informed of the jean deficit at an earlier date, we could have shopped at the 1/2 price on Monday sale...but 'planning' is not in dd's vocabulary (Mom's fault, of course!).

Now all I have to do is get out my trusty sewing machine (that probably HATES denim) and figure out how to hem these pants to make them look less hideous and more acceptable.... I don't sew... Pray for me!