Interesting Day

Today started off pretty uneventfully. I dropped the children off at the properly flowing kiss-n-ride on time and enjoyed the volunteer's polite show of surprise at the contents of my messy van.

Next stop was Walmart. I wanted to pick up a few things for the children for Valentine's Day and figured that it wouldn't be too busy at 9am.

WRONG.

The aisle with all the Valentines stuff was packed. Honestly...talk about leaving their shopping to the last minute. They were like animals.

Oh..wait a minute...I left my shopping to the last minute. Oops. My bad.

Once I found the things I wanted, Jordan and I headed over to the card section. There were five of us ladies standing there, checking them out, when I heard someone sniffling. I didn't pay too much attention until I heard her start to cry. One by one, we all looked at her. She said that today wasn't the best day to be looking at these cards. Then she announced, "I have PMS."

We all responded with "Aww... yeah....I'm sorry to hear that..." All which made her cry harder. I patted her arm while another lady rubbed her back. Then... the switch. "He's lucky to be getting a card at all considering I have PMS!!" She barked. One lady agreed heartily with a "Mmmhmm...you know you got that right, honey!" With that, PMS lady left us.

Jordan and I then headed to A&P to do our grocery shopping. To my surprise, boneless chicken breasts were on sale. I was choosing the ones that I wanted when out comes Meat Guy. He says "I see you're checking out my chicken". I reply with "I see you have it on sale". Yes.. I really am that witty. He suggested that I buy a family pack to save money. Then he just stood in front of my cart smiling at me.

Awkward...

Cindy picked me up at 12:30 and we headed to Costco and then to get our hair done. We were coming off the highway when we saw a man standing at the very corner by the lights, holding a sign. I felt my heart sink and asked Cindy what the sign said. The light turned green and as we drove through the intersection we read it.

Hungry
Need money for food
God Bless you

I started to cry. Cindy turned her car around and we headed back. She gave me her $5 US and all the change from her wallet and ashtray. I emptied my change purse and she pulled over. I walked over to him and when he turned to me he looked right into my eyes. They were so sad. I put the money in his hand and said that I wished it was more. The next thing I knew, we were hugging each other. I told him, "God loves you. He hasn't forgotten you."

My heart hurts for this man. The thought of him standing there, all afternoon in the cold, while car after car passed him by, just broke my heart. His cardboard sign made me think of the cardboard testimonies my church did. I am praying that one day his sign will be flipped over and will reveal God's goodness and faithfulness in this man's life.

I tried a new hair stylist today and she.was.wonderful! 2 1/2 hours of bliss I tell you. Not only did she colour my hair beautifully, she also gave me a heavenly scalp massage. I could have sat there all day! Thanks for the hookup, Cindy!

I got home in time to sit with Ian and the kids for a short while before we all headed out. We dropped Sam off at the movie theatre for a birthday party, then we dropped Ian off at the church for Youth Group. The girls and I headed to the mall to walk around for a bit. While we were in line at New York Fries I saw a woman I used to work with, way back in the day. So, I said hello. We weren't talking long before Big Mouth (which is always me in this type of story) asked about a particular guy we had both worked with at that time, named Mike. I said that we had quite the crush on each other and had dated on and off for a year and he took me to my prom. Then she said "Yes, we're married now."

Ugh.

I won't even go into the rest of the conversation. Suffice it to say, it was uncomfortable. I guess it wasn't uncomfortable enough because when we parted I actually said "Well, tell Mike I said hello!"

I bought Chinese food for my dinner and got an extra fortune cookie for Jules. We laughed when we read them, because they were both so fitting. Hers said 'You have a sense of the dramatic and a tendency towards display'. Mine said 'Be patient, good things come to those who wait'.

While we were out and about, Julie said she was thinking of my father and asked if we could go to the cemetery so she could pray for him. I said she could pray for him anywhere, but she said she wanted to go where he is resting so she can pray there. She feels sad that I don't have a daddy. I'll try to take her there sometime in the next couple of days.

When we returned to the movie theatre to pick up Sam, a woman came up to me and said it was really late to be taking a young child and a baby to a movie, will the baby be able to sit quietly during it? Honestly! Once she realized that we were only doing a pickup, she began to tell me her life story. I guess I have one of those faces. I was grateful to see Sam coming out of the party to save me!

A rather odd day, that's for sure! I'm exhausted!