A Conscious Decision

So... I have  many things I want to write about, but before I do, I just have to write this little post about an experience I had this weekend that is even more proof that God has a great sense of humor.
Anybody who knows me knows I love a good clearance sale. I can see those little orange tags from a mile away! And anybody who knows me also knows how much I love Target. Love it, looooooove it! And when Target is having a clearance sale, and they always are having a clearance sale, I am higher than Lindsay Lohan after a court date.
This past Saturday I was at Target getting last minute costume accessories for our annual outing to ZooBoo (I'll get to that in the next post). Mason needed some black shoes, so while I was picking them up in the shoe aisle I spotted an endcap overflowing with shoes, each of them dangling a little,orange tag! I was in a hurry and really had no time to be looking for shoes for myself but I mean really, there is always time for a shoe sale. I rummaged through the lot of zebra sequined flats, some God-awful furry flip flops and then to several pair of blue and white tennies. They were super cute and just what I had been wanting, as my current sneakers are great for exercise, but not so much for show. The tag read a normal price of $27.99 on clearance for $19.27. Too much, that's not clearance. I tossed the pair back on the shelf and happened to see a pair on the bottom that were priced at $8.74, with a normal price of $34.99. They were the EXACT same shoes and out of about fifteen pair, they were the only ones with the $8.74 and $34.99 pricing. Hmmmmmm, this totally looks like a case of a price mix-up and clearly these shoes were not supposed to sell for $8.74. But they were soooo cute and they were my size and if the price tag says $8.74 then I should get them for $8.74 because it's not my fault someone messed up the pricing gun and anyway I spend so much money at Target they should give me the shoes for free, plus a pair of socks because I deserve it! I'm sick, I know. So, after I told my conscience to pipe down, I plopped the sneakers in my cart and headed off to the cosmetics section. I needed to get Mason some red nail polish for her ladybug costume.
Up at the register, I felt like I was trying to smuggle a bomb onto a plane or something. I nervously placed the shoes on the conveyor and tried to make small talk with the cashier, hoping she wouldn't sense that I was a horrible, terrible person about to get one over on Target. I kept watching the scanner to see if maybe by some chance the shoes would ring up at $8.74 on their own, but they didn't. $19.27 showed up on the register in green digital numbers and just as she was tossing them in the bag I said "Oh, I thought those shoes were $8.74? The tag says $8.74". She checked them and said "You're right. I'm sorry!" She said she was sorry! I pictured the devil getting my room ready in Hell. I paid the bill and hurried out before the pricing police got wind of what had just transpired and hurried home to get ready for our evening.
I showed Brad the shoes, leaving out the part that they weren't REALLY $8.74. There was no need to tarnish his image of me."Aren't they cute? I love them!" I said as I danced around the kitchen with my prize in my hands. I took them into the bedroom and laid them on the bed. Mason came in to get her nails painted with the fire engine red polish I bought earlier at Target. I alternated red and black to go with her ladybug outfit. They looked so cute!When I was done, I set the nail polish on the nightstand and proceeded to get myself ready to go. Camryn was in her room screaming from behind the gate so after I had Mace and Nat ready to go, I let her out. She came galloping into our room, tweaking and biting her hand. She was in her zebra outfit and hyped up because she knew we were going to the zoo that night. As usual she was taking whatever was in her way and flinging it here and throwing it there. I had planned on going as a vampiress and was in deep concentration in the mirror, lining my eyes just right with jet black liner when out of the corner of my eye I saw it. It was like it was in slow motion, me turning around, my hair flying in the direction of my head, my eyes like saucers and my mouth forming a perfect O, shouting "Noooooooooooooo!" as I watched Camryn,bright red nail polish container in one hand and the lid with brush attached in the other, fling a splash of cherry lacquer on my brand new sneakers! My should have been $19.27 but I'm so slick I got them for $8.74 sneakers! "No Camryn, no, no, no!!!!!" Brad grabbed the polish out of her hand and put her back in her room. I grabbed the shoes and immediatley started dabbing them with acetone soaked cotton balls. Our bedspread was also streaked with red, but I didn't care, I just kept blotting the white mesh with nail polish remover, but it was all in vain. There was no way those shoes were coming clean.
I was so mad! Brad kept saying "Don't worry about it,just go back and get another pair. They were only eight bucks." That's when I figured if the shoes weren't going to come clean, at least I should. I told him the whole story and we both had a good laugh at how quickly karma responded. She may be a bitch, but she's an efficient one. We headed out to the zoo and I actually forgot about what happened until one of our friends said "What is on Camryn's shoe? Is that supposed to look like blood?" I glanced down and sure enough, somehow Camryn had assaulted her own shoes in the process. I just looked at her shoes and then turned to my friend and said "It's not blood, it's Wet and Wild #27...long story, I'll have to tell you later!"