PetCo'R'Us

Ok, so this morning, as I was doing the morning ritual of which shoe should I wear that will make this outfit, my mother walks in. "Alex, we need you to go to PetCo. For a plant."

"Mum? PetCo's for, um, pets. As the name implies." I figured that she didn't get the allotted eight hours of sleep recommended by all and every health teacher.

"Well I know that! We need a plant to go on top of Oscar's fish tank." We have two beta fish, who I really think hate me because one of my favorite pastimes when we got them was to stick my fat mug up next to their bowls and stare at them. They'd get pretty freaked out and blow out their fins and puff up like a blowfish, which was quite amusing to a 14-year-old.

So, after school, I headed over to PetCo because I'm a good person, and my dad gave me $20 and told me that I could put the change for gas for my car instead of giving it back. Pretty awesome but really unusual, I just figure it's because today's my parents' anniversary (21 years, holy crap!) and he's feeling generous today. Or because he knew the chances of me giving the change back were slim to none anyways.

Back on track now, I get to PetCo, and I don't know if it's because I'm a huge pet-lover or what, but I walked in there like a kid in a candy store. Don't ask me why, it's just one of my little peculiarities that you have to deal with if you want to be my friend. I don't know what it is about pet stores, but I love it. God help me when I buy my requisite dog after I get my own place. Whatever money isn't spent on clothes and shoes, will be spent on my dog. Who cares about bills? They're overrated.

Anyways, I'm wandering around, acting like I'm 12, looking at anything and everything like I've never seen it before. I stared at the little cage of kittens until the little black one started staring at me, and I left. Finally, I get around to actually asking about what I came in there for. The plant-thing. So I go over to the person in the fish section, but, unfortunately, she's helping out this woman who cannot decide what fish to buy. Now, I'm not one to judge, Lord knows I'm horrible at decisions, but she spent 20 minutes deciding between two fish. Two. I nearly died. So, I finally get my plant. It took a good 30 seconds and I get in line.

Who's in front of me? Fish Woman and the Wee Ones. Now, for reasons I do not understand, the littlest one grabbed like a container of dog treats that were in a cylinder thing and went over to the Dog Bar thing, grabs a dog treat and starts smashing it was the dog cylinder. Her mother casually calls, "Honey, come on back over here! We're getting ready to leave!"

"No!" the little beast yells back. "I want to pound things." Now my shocked face has changed into one of those badly disguised cough-laughs. The poor man at the register either had selective hearing or was simply ignoring the little monster 'pounding' what he was supposed to be selling. Obviously the mother didn't care because they left soon after without her saying a word. Weird people in these here parts.

So, I got out of there, unscathed and was waiting for the light to turn green to turn on McKnight. McKnight at 5:00 is a fearsome thing. It was one of 'those' driving days, when everyone does something wrong and you're always stuck behind the old bitty with blue hair who believes that anything going over 15 MPH is un-Godly, you know those days. I was at the light next to Staples and Kohl's when after waiting for a good five minutes for the light to turn green, it finally does. A good three or four cars go and this old man from the lane to the right of me, who had a red light for some time, cut off the car in front of me. He just decided to go. I thought it was hilarious because this man must have been 80 years old and he's probably a few marbles short of a whole set. The car in front of me didn't see it quite the same way. He honked and flicked the bird, which made me laugh harder. I think I have issues. Then I was behind one of those 15 MPH old women. I was just turning on Seibert, and I thought maybe she drove a stick and needed to change gears. By the time we were next to that private school and she hadn't gone any faster, I realized she wasn't going to. And the crappy red mini-van behind me was tailgating me like it was my problem. How very annoying. Exciting day, hmm?

Well, this weekend is the either highly anticipated Homecoming. Everyone with a date looks foreword to it, everyone without it has to stand listening to everyone talk about their plans and their dresses and feel left out. I fall into column two of this weekend. Don't go around pitying me, because I did get a date, but stuff happens and I found myself dateless. Am I bitter? Well I was, but then I realized what would I rather do: dance my life night away listening to rap music to which I don't know the words and cheesy pop music to which I also don't know the words while screaming, "Oh my GOD! You look FABULOUS!" and "WHAT?...WHAT?...Oh...haaahaa...I SAID HAHAHAHA!!!...OH NEVERMIND!" or spend some quality time with my DVD player and some very high sugar foods? Plus, my dancing could use some work too. But my little brother's going to his first Homecoming ever. He's in eighth grade and he's going stag. One of the very few guys who will ever do that, and more power to him.

So I'm going to enjoy a nice relaxing weekend, doing very little. But I'm not upset-tomorrow's my first payday. I haven't gotten a paycheck for an entire month, and it's taking serious will power not to go shopping because I have no money. Also the older sister and the boyfriend are coming home for the weekend and I haven't seen them for a while so it'll be exciting. Actually, I think my sister is more excited to see my dog than me, and Dan could care less. But he's a Physics major and I happen to be doing not so well in that class, so he gets to listen to me jabber on about everything I hate about that class...Oh, what fun this shall be...Just kidding, I wouldn't do that!

But, I probably won't post for a few days simply because I have nothing to talk about, so have fun to all going to Homecoming, woot woot for all the floats that I don't enough school spirit to help out with, and yee-haw to everyone who's brave enough to face the freezing weather in those convertibles, driving down Mt. Royal, pretending like they're enjoying yourself.

So Happy Homecoming to all, and to all a good night!