Conglomeration of Random Carp

Well, it should read, "Crap," but I liked the typo so much, I kept it!

It's a beautiful day in the boonies where I live, and I should be outside gardening, since Harrison is asleep and Hutton is working with his ABA therapist, but I'm here composing this work just for you! Aren't you feeling special that I chose you?

After reading this post on Allie D.'s blog, I thought about my own commute. I don't work a "real" job, so what I do can't really be called commuting, but then when I consider that I am a stay-at-home mom (really a stay-at-home-part-of-the-time, drive-the-kids-to-various-appointments-and-run-errands-the-rest-of-the-time), driving my kids around is part of my job. If it were just me, I'd have easy "commutes" of going to the gym (12 minute drive), the grocery store (5 minutes for Safeway, 14 for Fred Myer), and Target (about 15 to 20 minutes depending on which store I choose.)

So, my commutes are:

• 25 minutes to take Hutton to school on the days he doesn't ride the bus. The past month, I've made this drive A LOT because of all the crap (carp?) I've been doing at his school: co-chairing the big fund-raising walk-a-thon, helping with the class art projects for the upcoming big fund-raising art auction, and going to various meetings and presentations.
• 30+ minutes to take Hutton to his speech and occupational therapy on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, at prime commute time of 8:30 a.m. I really loathe this one, because it can be anywhere from 25 minutes to 40+ depending on traffic, and there's never any indication traffic will be bad until it's too late to choose another route. It is usually my fault we're late when we are, because I always take 5 minutes longer than necessary to fix my makeup. Because, you know I have to make a good impression on Hutton's 20-something therapists, the barista at the Jitters where I get my mochas after I've dropped Hutton off, and the various workers at the ghost-town of a mall* across the street from the therapists' office.
• 40+ minutes to take Hutton to his homeopath once every 6 weeks. Yep, I'm a freak who believes that homeopathy is actually helping my son's behaviors and health. The homeopath is just so nice and attentive, though, and I SWEAR Hutton starting pooping on the potty almost immediately after we went to him the first time.

Harrison only goes to Gymboree once a week, and that's 15 minutes, so I don't really mind that as far as commutes go. So far he's the easy child, but that was the case with Hutton, too, before he was 2 1/2.

Oh yeah -

* The ghost-town of a mall across the street from Hutton's therapist. This is a weird mall. It was once a wonderous place full of delightful shops, I'm sure, but now, it's in a strange state of upheaval, rebuilding, and rebirth. When Hutton started therapy in Factoria (I like to pronounce it incorrectly as Fact-o-rhee-a, like diarrhea) last year, the mall had more stores than it currently does. Gottschalk's, which always had great sales, which is probably why it closed, is no longer there, and the toy store where Harrison and I would go to play with the Thomas trainset is also gone. There used to be a little tea shop there, too, where I went to a baby shower for a friend. The Factoria Mall has an Old Navy (my fave place for cheap clothes, though I have to actually try them on, as their quality control is all over the place, and a small could really be a large), only accessible from the outside of the mall, like in a strip mall. It has a Target, my all-time favorite chain store, which is accessible from inside and outside the mall, a Safeway, only accessible from the outside of the mall, a Rite Aid, accessible from inside and outside the mall, a Nordstrom Rack, accessible from inside and outside (I found a great pair of jeans there recently that would have cost a lot more than all of my other jeans combined if I hadn't found them on sale at the Rack). Then there are lots of other little stores inside - a book store, a card store, small clothing stores, a post office outpost, a Seattle's Best, Jamba Juice. Then it has a PetCo, Red Robin and a day spa place. Recently they opened a children's museum inside also, which is nice, because it gives me and Harrison something fun to do during the two hours of Hutton's therapy, but it doesn't open until 10, so I still have an hour to kill ahead of time.

You're getting the idea, right? This is not a "regular" mall in any sense of the word. It's just weird. There's no telling which of the small businesses inside will last through the year or what will open in their stead, or in the giant spot once occupied by Gottschalk's Department Store.

Well, I had much more to write, but that blurb on the Factoria Mall took longer to write than the original mall designers probably took to plan the place out.