I’m six days into NaBloPoMo and I’m feeling a bit starved for inspiration. We’re back from our weekend trip. The girls’ and my birthdays are over, although the official Toddler Celebration is on Sunday. And a good chunk of my day consisted of doing something I really dislike, going to the mall and shopping for clothing.

I definitely flunked Being a Girl 101, or at least never mastered some of the core competencies. I never played ‘Wedding’ with my Barbie® dolls.* I’m not particularly sentimental. And I do not enjoy trolling around a shopping mall, shopping. I want the Clothing Fairy to show up and stock my closet with beautiful, stylish clothing which fits me perfectly and makes me the envy of all my less-well-styled friends. The Clothing Fairy (in my dreams) quietly removes and, if necessary, replaces any item in my closet that is past its prime, sparing me the embarrassment of realizing, much too late, that I never did get around to replacing that lost button on my pants or sewing up that seam that was beginning to unravel. I’m not unreasonable. I’m willing to take on full personal responsibility for my own undergarments (and who knew that undergarments had, or needed, their own Wikipedia entry), socks, tights, etc.. But I would really prefer to avoid having to spend my time shopping for any of the rest.

For a brief and blissful while I had a Clothing Fairy of my very own. She didn’t do the culling of the closet, but she did all the rest. And she did extremely well. Once a season she would show up at my house with a carload of wonderful things for me to choose from. She took care of any returns or alterations. It was heaven. I looked great. But, alas, all good things must come to an end. My Clothing Fairy had a baby and ceased her fairy-ing.

For a good, long while my wardrobe soldiered on without professional assistance. But that time had come to an end. (How did I know? Well, the fact that I was down to three pairs of non-work, as in ‘no high heels required’, pants left was a very big clue.) So today I braved the mall and emerged victorious, minus several precious hours of my life. I now own three more pairs of pants, two of which will still require hemming, blech, and several new tops. With any luck that should hold me for another good, long while.

And now for a rapid change of subject…

M3 posted recently about how active her girls are. Well, here’s what she’s got to look forward to. DH wrote about the birthday gifts S2 and H2 got today. And he posted a video to go with it. Take a look. Then you might want to lie down and rest for a while.

*I did occasionally play ‘Wedding’ with my best friend, Bobby F. when we were about 5 or 6, but I don’t think either of us got the expected cultural messages out of the game. The last I heard he was, um, batting for the other team, as they say.