Archived: Give me the shirt and nobody gets hurt

Original Post Date: October 4, 2006
Let me say right off the bat that I take no responsibility for any typos in this entry, because I am writing on a laptop in a hotel room. I'm in Houston for the week to recruit for the great Walton College. I arrived yesterday and got to spend some time with my good friend Julie, who moved here when her husband, Michael got a job coaching football. Coach Michael graduated from Alabama, so when we all had dinner we didn't talk much about football, though I was DYING to rub it in. Julie and Michael have a too cute little boy named Justin, and hanging out with him made me miss my kiddos even more than I already do.
This morning I went to the mall next to the hotel, which is gigantic. I went to the Gymboree store because the kids need some new winter clothes and, silly me, I thought that at 10 AM on a Wednesday I could get some quiet shopping done. HA. Gymborree was full of moms in velour sweat suits who had parked their kids' strollers at the tv in the back of the store and were feverishly tearing through the sale racks. I carefully approached the girls' sale rack, and touched the sleeve of a shirt, only to have it yanked out of my hand. "I think there's another one somewhere" said the crazed woman who did the yanking. Okaaaaayyyy. It was like shopping for Cabbage Patch Kids in the 80s. I called my best friend Mandy, who is a Gymborree expert, to see if she knew why it was so crazy. Guess where she was? Yup, Gymboree. She informed me that tomorrow is the day that frequent shoppers can redeem something called Gymbucks to get 50% off their purchase, so today they are all choosing what they're going to buy tomorrow and having the store hold it. Just waiting until tomorrow to shop, she informs me, is for amateurs. Ahhh. How silly of me. I had to stop myself from RUNNING out of the store. (I may or may not have asked Mandy to secure an item or two for me with her Gymbucks--I do love their cothes!)
My friend and co-worker Autumn arrived this afternoon in time for our first recruiting event, which is tonight. From what I have seen and heard of Houston, I think it will be wise for us to go armed. I programmed 911 on my cell speed dial just in case.