Once everyone was awake and ready to face the day, we loaded into the Subaru and headed out on an adventure. Our first stop was Adam's office where he needed to drop some things off. There was shock and surprise at the Spartan nature of his desk. All around him people had computer monitors and headphones and plants and family pictures and at the very least a water bottle. Adam's desk had a notebook on it. That's all. He carries his laptop with him. He said his work is chaotic enough and he wants a clean desk. Emma and Mark tried to get him to change his mind.
I told them that if I died, and it was left up to Adam, that's what our house would look like.
Mark, in an effort to defend his dad, said, "Well if Dad died and it was left up to you..."
Emma interrupted him, "It is left up to her. Who do you think is in charge?"
Exactly.
We went to Blaze Pizza for lunch which is the closest approximation to Mod Pizza we can find. I mixed some Key lime mint agua fresca with my Diet Coke and it was a taste sensation.
Our next stop was Fashion Place Mall. It makes me happy to go to the same malls I went to when I was growing up. Sometimes I feel like I'm back in my hometown. At the Sephora store, I got the perfume I'd settled on. Adam gave me a sampler for Christmas. There were 14 different perfumes to try and then when I made my final choice, I could go pick it up. For the record, I went with Marc Jacobs Decadence. It had the ugliest bottle but I really like the perfume.
In a rare turn of events (really, this has NEVER happened), Emma asked a store employee a question. (About highlighter.) Then she asked a FOLLOW UP question. (About a brush.) This may not seem ground breaking to you, but I've shopped with that girl for nearly 18 years and she mostly stands behind me. She can never be accused of making idle chatter. She was concerned that the highlighter + brush were more than I wanted to spend on her birthday present but I was so stunned by her asking not one but two questions of the store employee, I bought them both.
I told her I was proud of her. She looked disdainful. "Why wouldn't I ask a question?"
I don't know.
I'm telling you, if you ever want to describe one of my children, do it in pencil.
We had to stop at the Lego store and the Apple store. You just do when you are with these people. Then, we went to visit my grandma, which was the point of the whole excursion after all. It's always a delight to see my grandma. We chat and she makes me feel loved and she offers ice cream and tells us to eat more candy. She gave me a beautiful new skirt and she asked Adam if he could figure out how to make her iPad louder (for when she watches BYU games that aren't on TV). Adam saw his opportunity to procure a gadget. He went to the store to buy her a portable speaker. I told her it would be an early birthday present but she insisted on paying Adam for it.
Of course she did.
How I love my grandma. I always leave her house with a lighter step.
On the way home, we stopped at the store. We needed more salt for our water softener. Mark and Emma remembered that they wanted to make us dinner. We filled the cart and...failed to get any salt.
On the way home we sang and listened to music. A few times I heard Emma and Mark harmonizing in the back seat and I wished Braeden were there too.
Emma's birthday had been on the mind. When we were almost home, Mark said, "I was just thinking, for my birthday, I'd be happy if it were just us four. Then I remembered by the time it's my birthday, it will be US FIVE again."
When that happens, it will no longer be almost. It will be a perfect day.
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