7 Quick Takes about My Favorite Things, Inappropriate Things You See at JC Penney, and Where All the Missing Socks Really Go

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

—1—

I'm not the kind of person who's really into "stuff." I don't want very much, making it hard to buy gifts for me. But I acquired two new possessions this week that might be my favorite things ever.

The first is a late Mother's Day gift, because that's just how we roll in our house and can't nobody judge us:

My 14-year-old is an artist and made this mug for me, which is my all-time favorite mug and now I make ALL of my single-serve cookies and brownies in it. I just love how simple and sweet it is.

I swear she should open up an Etsy store to sell this stuff.

—2—

Also, my mat arrived! I mentioned it on the blog a few months ago, and my mom got it for my birthday, but it was on backorder. I had no idea when it would come and kind of forgot about it, but I'm so excited that it came!

The day it came, we had not only our 6 kids but also 11 of my teenager's friends over for a party so it couldn't have been more appropriate, timing-wise.

When parents arrived to pick up their kids I'm sure they assumed the mat was referring to all the party guests, but little do they know it's a party around here all the time.

Why, just yesterday there was someone playing butt-naked in the sandbox in the backyard and a party can't get much crazier that that.

—3—

Speaking of butt-naked (how's that for an intro?) I went to JC Penney this week and happened to catch a glimpse of this pantsless mannequin hiding shadily behind a promotional banner in the boys' section...

Hm. Seems legit. 

I don't know if the person in charge of the mannequins just went on break and forgot to come back to this one or what. But I can tell you that I must be super-mature because the longer I looked at it, the funnier it got.

And I know right now some of you are wondering, "Yes, but was it as funny from the back??"

When I grew up in the 80's, flashers at least covered up with trenchcoats.

The answer is yes. Yes, it was.

—4—

I also have a question about this "fashion accessory" hat I saw there. I dig the pattern and the colors, but for the life of me I am so confused by the pom-poms.

Is this a joke? Did someone break in with a glue gun on a dare and this is actually some bizarre form of vandalism? Please help me understand what's going on.

This mannequin is either totally insane or her 6-year-old made her a hat at camp.

My apologies if you've already bought this hat. I don't mean to insult you, I just don't get fashion. The junior's section is full of mom jeans with belt loops that go up to your sternum and things with gaudy plastic jewels (and now fuzzy pom-poms, I guess) glued haphazardly all over them.

From here, it's just a slippery slope to bric a brac trim making a comeback and quite frankly, I'm not sure the world can survive that a second time.

—5—

I was carrying my 2-year-old around in the kitchen when suddenly he was seized with love for me and exclaimed "Cah-doh!"

"You want to cuddle?" I asked, giving him a big hug. "Why yes, my sweet little man! Mommy loves you so! Let's cuddle!"

But then he started pushing me away and yelling, "No, cah-doh! CAH-DOH!"

I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong, so I kept rubbing his back and asking, "What's the matter? Do you want to go cuddle on the couch? In the rocking chair?" until the light bulb finally went on.

He was asking for an avocado.

Turns out that we didn't even have avocados so both of us were a little grumpy for the next few minutes.

—6—

My 4-year-old was a little nervous and awfully quiet when he visited the dentist, but he sat in the chair like a pro, wore some sweet leopard print sunglasses, and chose birthday cake-flavored fluoride.

As the dentist started cleaning my son's teeth, he said he was seeing some build-up so I should make sure to help him brush and floss regularly. That's when my son, who had up to this moment been basically mute, proudly announced "I never floss!"

Which wasn't really necessary to say because a few seconds later the dentist pulled out a fingernail he found wedged between my son's teeth.

—7—

I'm thoroughly terrible at yardwork, mostly because I don't like it at all, but one way I've found to at least sort of keep up with it is to make it a family thing.

The kids set a timer for 30 minutes and we go outside to weed, sweep porches, pick up sticks, or whatever needs to be done. Everybody who works hard gets a popsicle at the end (I can tell you it only takes one time of goofing off and missing out on your popsicle privileges to make a kid into a really hard worker for the rest of the summer.)

This week we were weeding and found a ragged pair of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle socks that had obviously been victims of the elements since last summer. (Lucky me, my kids don't just leave their socks scattered inside the house, they do it all over our property, too!)

Our basket of unmatched socks on top of the washing machine is getting quite full and I've been wondering where they all go, and I guess the answer is "sprinkled among the tulips next to the garage."

At least there was a complete pair out there. Somehow that makes me feel better than just a single one going missing who knows where.

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