Life In Turkey (or) The reason I usaually stay home

Today I got up with Kaden around 6:00, not too bad. No one else was up, so I was able have a bit of a QT that was nice. I got ready and took Ashton to school, took Justin to Katie’s house and left Kaden with Chad. I headed out to Toys R Us. I have been there before, but it has been a while. It should take about 20 minutes without traffic, and there wasn't traffic that way this morning. BUT, I got lost - twice! I got to Toys R Us 1 1/2 hours later. I went there to see if they had Spiderman or Batman party plates and things. They did not! I haven't seen them anywhere. So I went shopping at the store next to the T.R.U. and headed to the mall.

The best way to go to the mall is back by our house (because it is the way I know), but there was an accident and it was slow. I finally made it to the mall. I went to the contacts store to inquire if they had my contacts in stock. They said YES. I charged them, it took forever for them to print out my receipt, and I left the store. As I left I looked at the contacts boxes and saw that they were 1.5 and 1.0 power. I wear a 7.5 and 7.0 (I have bad eyes). In Turkey you have to put a line through your 7 to know it is a seven. So I went back and explained. They did NOT have my contacts. They could get them from another store and it would be in the next day. I said OK, but when they called no one had them and I would have to wait 15 days. I said no. Then at the end, they did find some and I can get them on Monday. Now these contacts are about 2 times a much as I could have gotten them online, but as my prescription was given by the guy who checked eyes at our January conference, my file was not on record with his office and thus I cannot order contacts online. The US government feels they must control my contacts prescription, like there isn't anything else they should be doing! Finally I have paid for contacts but don't actually have any. Progress?

I proceed to the Toyz store. They have Dash (from Incredibles) plates and napkins. I think this is the best option, better than the ET plates I saw at T.R.U. Yes, ET! I also got some cute Whinny the Pooh plates for Kaden, while I was out. My second objective for being at the toy store was to get Justin a present. He wanted either a batman car or a batman or Spiderman costume. Can you believe they don't have batman cars? I did see one for around $130, I don't think so. I also finally, today, saw a batman costume. They didn't have Justin's size and it was around $55. I settled for a batman jet, which I thought was cool. Hopefully Justin will too. I ran some errands and came home.

Just so you think that my day wasn't a total waste, I went to get Ashton from school and her teacher introduced me to some of the other moms from her class. I didn't contribute to the conversation much, but they were discussing how they had to pay 25 lira for each costume their child has to wear for the program. This didn't make them too happy. I understand, Ashton is in 4 things she needs costumes for (25 lira x 4) CRAZY! Then we walked to the small T.R.U. that is near to us and she bought, with her earned money, presents for the boy's birthdays. Thankfully I am capable of ordering food online and it was delivered shortly after we arrived home.

What have I learned from all this? I should only venture out to Carrefour and Ikea, where it is safe!