I Suck At Target

On Sunday, my friend (Dolores) stopped by for a visit. Dolores wanted to drop a little present off for our newborn daughter (Briana) as she thought that we would be needing the gift sooner than later. And most likely, she was correct in her thinking that we would be needing her present sooner than later.

Needless to say, it was good to see Dolores again. It's always good to see a fellow Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. I have not seen Dolores in quite some time. So it was good to just hang out for a while and catch up on things. Her significant other (Loser Tom), unfortunately could not make the visit.

Speaking of Loser Tom (he's not really a loser, I just refer to him as such because he was so worried that we would think he was a loser when we first met him), I actually discovered that I have more in common with him than I originally thought. The topic of discussion came up with Dolores about having children. For anyone curious, Dolores is self-proclaimed to be afraid of babies because she is an only child. I don't know if there is a term for being afraid of babies. A babyphobe? Of course, I already knew that fact about her, but since it was my nature to instigate I did my darnedest to get her to hold Briana. (Dolores wouldn't budge.)

Of course, there was a method to my madness. I tend to take a lot of pictures. My latest kick is taking pictures of everyone who holds Briana while she is a baby. There have been a handful of friends who have not held her yet, Dolores being one of them. Someday I'll get a picture of her holding a baby... someday!

Anyway, somehow the conversation about babies led me to learn something about Loser Tom. It turns out that he and I both lost children. I lost my son (Braden) as he was born extremely premature. Losing a child is definitely not something I would wish upon my worst enemy... even a scourge of evil. I think hearing the fact that Loser Tom lost a child simply surprised me because it seems that losing a child is more commonplace than my television-warped reality made it out to be. It really is something that is hardly ever talked about. Of course, now knowing this enlightened fact, I will still refer to Tom as Loser Tom.

Following the visit from Dolores, my friends (Cass and Ellen) also stopped by. They happened to be in the neighborhood (dining at Not Your Average Joe's in Norwell... yum!) and asked to meet Briana. As usual, it was great to hang out with Cass (future mayor of Quincy) and Ellen.

Interestingly enough, Briana did not cry when she met Cass. We have a running joke within our circle of friends that Cass makes little children cry. The joke may have started with my friend's (Aimee) son (Rio) who ran away after meeting Cass. Luckily for Cass, children cannot vote in city elections. I have been unsuccessful in convincing him to run for mayor. The sticking point (among other reasons I'm sure) is that being mayor brings a whole bunch of politics and people knowing your business and all of that. And well... Cass isn't much for that. That's probably why he doesn't use Facebook all that often... which is also why a Facebook group would be the perfect way to get him elected as mayor of Quincy. He'll never even know!

Anyway, it was great hanging out with Cass and Ellen. Shortly after they left, Karen and I then headed off to Karen's parents in Quincy for a home-cooked meal. The trip was actually another milestone for both Karen and I. That milestone: going to Quincy was the first trip we had with Briana that did not involve going to the pediatrician. Yes, it's sad. We really haven't traveled much since Briana came home, in part because the doctors put the fear of God into us in not exposing her to the public (germs)... and also because I was afraid to drive anywhere with her in case of any road raging accidents (on my part).

Regardless, dinner was great. Karen's mother was naturally all smiles. It's good to have such a loving family. After dinner, Karen and I made a brief visit to the local Target. Now I suck at Target.

Going to Target was my big night out. I really have not gone anywhere since Briana was born. And truth be told, the visit to Target was because of Briana. The reason why we went to Target was to pick up a file folder, which was to be used to contain Briana's information like her medical paperwork, her old ultrasounds, etc. Basically... it's a Briana scrapbook... although with less pictures and more information... and more usefulness.

And of course, so as to not expose Briana to the public, Karen waited in the car with Briana while I made the executive decision on the file folder. Needless to say, it was a quick visit to Target. But one of the bonuses of the trip, aside from the file folder, was that Target gave away free reusable bags that night to celebrate Earth week (which is still week). And of course, if it helps the environment, I'm all for it!

So now we have a green Target reusable bag to help cut down on the use of plastic bags! Woo hoo!