I spent Tuesday with KLTW and KJW. KLTW and I both had a great deal of school work that we should have been working on. Naturally we spent the day Christmas shopping.
My journey began at West Town Mall where I visited the Angel Tree program, which provides Christmas gifts for needy children. I picked up the tags of three four-year olds named Tyree, Zylon, and Christopher (what were his parents thinking?). Each requested a five-pack of either Hotwheels or Matchbox die-cast cars. In deference to RAW, I bought Matchbox cars as they replicate real vehicles.
I then picked up KLTW and KJW. KJW showed me her new favorite game which she learned from her Nana. She is using her kitchen set as a restaurant counter. She asked me, “May I take your order?” After this has been done, her playmate trade places with her and the roles are reversed. This process can (and seems to) go on indefinitely.
As an aside, KJW’s goldfish Dwight is now massive compared to his peers Marbles and Tang. The fish won at a fair and that survived three days of living in a wine glass now rules the tank over the fancy store bought fish.
We started our shopping at Target in Turkey Creek. KLTW’s angel tree participants requested WWE items. She enlisted my help. For once I was an expert. If you need advice on God or pro wrestling, I am your man!
Periodically, KJW would say, “Hey, guys check this out” or inform us that something was “cool”. My favorite comment came when we were in the men’s pajamas section. We were inspecting adult SpongeBob SquarePants pajamas for her daddy. Though they were her daddy’s size (read: huge), she reeled off in rapid fire succession,“I like those. Those are my favorite and I wanna wear them.” That pretty much covered all of the bases.
I was thrilled when KJW sat down next to this talking SpongeBob SquarePants doll. It is what I bought her for Christmas. (Hopefully she will not read the blog and ruin the surprise.) I now know she will like it as she nestled her way onto the shelf and sat down with it. I was pleased until I learned that she was actually relieving herself when this photo was taken.
KJW’s favorite toy was the Spike the Ultra Dinosaur which was on display. It stomps and roars and is generally impressive. The dinosaur-sized price tag does not justify its purchase though as the novelty would wear off fast.
Afterwards, I made a huge sacrifice by agreeing to chauffeur KLTW to Lifeway, which KLTW refers to as “The Jesus Store”. I am opposed to the store on many levels from their price gouging to censorship. I did resist the urge to ask for a Smyth & Helwys product or ask some probing theological question to a clerk. It took great restraint.
In these two photos, Uncle Chan is letting KJW play with a knife and watch television too closely. For the record, it was a butter knife. I am not sure it could actually cut butter much less the child. And I did remove KJW from the position shortly after she got too close.
I was pleased that we bought nothing from the store.
We then picked up RAW from work at Best Buy and dropped he and KJW back at their home before heading to Bearden. There, I returned the angel tree gifts to the mall. I do not know if I had ever visited the mall twice in the same day before. I hope I do not again. Since it was close and they had an item I on my list, we frequented K Mart before returning home. The latter stop was primarily to avoid studying.
We then returned to RAW’s and KLTW’s home where RAW made us pasta. We were short of bread and milk, so KLTW and I abandoned the family again to make stops at Food City and Weigel’s. Why is that everyone’s favorite milk? (Sorry, I drink water almost exclusively.) At Food City, I won a bear out of a grabbie machine for KJW. I accomplished this on the first try no less. Yes, I still have the gift. I felt like in olden days when cavemen clubbed their food and dragged it home. My sense of accomplishment was palpable. KJW named the bear Amos.
It was a good night with my friends. This picture was taken just after I had taken another photo of KJW. She rushed and got her phone and exclaimed, “You got your phone. I got my phone.” I love that kid! Can you tell?
When I returned home, I had an unexpected pleasure. TAM and OMM were at the house. My parents had run into them and asked them over for leftovers from my mother’s book club earlier in the day. It was great to see them as always.
Finally, I did receive some bad news from my mother’s book club. My neighbor and book club participant LWJ informed me that her church friend David Dungan died over the Thanksgiving break. Dr. Dungan was one of my favorite undergraduate professors at the University of Tennessee, where he headed the Religious Studies department. He suffered a massive heart attack while visiting relatives in Ohio. Though he had experienced heart problems in the past, his death was unexpected. As of yet, no obituary has been published. Please keep his family and friends in your prayers.
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