WILD GOOSE CHASE AND OTHER TALES OF WOE

I know even before starting this post that I will get little sympathy. And not because you all don't love me, of course. More because I have defected from the lands of snow and cold, and now only blog about lovely, sunny days, and endless blue skies. But this is a sad tale that must to told.

It started yesterday with an idea. Kaylee had the idea that she wanted to have some mommy/daughter time and that we should have a fancy tea party. She wanted to bake goodies, find some yummy herbal teas, and get a proper teapot and cups. We made a grocery list and set out to get all the things on the list. And then I made my first mistake. See... I'm still a newbie in this town and so I don't always end up where I've intended to go in the beginning. You can't blame me for forgettin' that not ALL Target stores are Super! So, I couldn't get my groceries... there was still that pizza cutter and slotted spoon we've been living without. My remedy for most problems is just to "shop it off." You would think that Target (or even Super Target) would carry tea sets, I thought so. They do not.

Still, we needed those groceries and I was taking no chances this time! We headed to Sprouts, the local whole foods store, to make sure we could get our herbal teas (and to hopefully get a tea set without making another stop). Now this is where things start to get a little fuzzy for me. Somehow, without really knowing what happened, it was nearly dark and dinner time, we had just picked Brit up from they gym, and we were coming home from our day of shopping with no tea set, a yoga DVD and mat, and refills for our doggie poop bag dispenser. Obviously there'd been a stop at Petco at some point. Does this ever happen to anyone else? A whole day wasted in the car with nothing but poopie bags and slotted spoons to show for it? I didn't really even have anything to make for dinner!

Day two dawned this morning and I felt sure that I was going to finish what I had started. Bed Bath and Beyond would be the perfect place to find a huge selection of tea sets. I found their web site, used their store locater, and found a store really close to where we're staying. Simple, efficient, effective! We drove, Kaylee and I, the short distance to our nearest location, and oooooo!!! We uncovered a treasure that had been hidden right out our back door all this time! I admit I got a little distracted by the fact that we have a whole, new shopping complex just a couple of blocks from our rv park. With Kohl's, and Ross, and Jamba Juice and, and... Gateway Movies 12!!! I almost lost sight of the mission I was so excited, but no, I had to focus! A few deep breaths and we were in the parking lot of BB&B. K, now I don't usually diss people, but if you are gonna name your store Bed, Bath, AND Beyond, you really ought ta have the Beyond stuff! We walked out without a tea set (yet somehow we still were not leaving empty handed :) and I was pretty much hating tea, and parties, and even sugar cubes at that point. But the look on my little girl's face made me think I needed to try just a little bit harder. I only had one other friend to turn to... the Internet. It was Kaylee, actually, who found Abbey Garden Teahouse and Gifts, located way out in Chandler, miles and miles from where we are living in East Mesa. But it didn't matter how far because it was an actual Teahouse where actual teas and tea sets were sold. So we loaded up just one more time into the big, loud, clumsy, black truck to finally score our goal. And we drove the 1/2 hour to Abbey Garden Teahouse and Gifts. And we got there at 5:15 p.m., a full 45 minutes before they close. But they were closed. Closed for good it turns out... they had recently gone out of business. And then the tears started. Because we had been through so much already, and all we wanted was to have our damn tea party, and that didn't seem to much to ask.

And now we are back in the truck, and Kaylee is sniffling, and I am fuming, and Brit is quiet as a mouse because he knows better than to open his mouth when two girls are disappointed, and we're making the 1/2 hour drive back home. And I'm not saying that I'm putting any one's life in danger, but I am saying that there were a few people giving me a wide berth in which to maneuver because they were probably thinking it was better to give that crazy Utah girl with smoke coming out of her ears, in the big, black truck, and skull with glowing red eyes on the back, some space in which to work these things out. This is about the time that it hit me... I could not give up now! I had one more field to flush out on this wild goose chase. We were going to Pier 1!

My story has a happy ending. We just finished some yummy peppermint tea. Somehow it tasted so much better to drink it from a proper teapot and cups :) Funny coincidence: Jeff was out on a real wild goose chase today in Idaho. Wonder if his was half as frustrating as ours?