Upon the Closing of Larson’s Toy Store

A locally owned 33-year-old fixture in our community recently closed its doors.

Larson’s.

It was so much more than a toy store for me.

It’s walking distance from our house.

When we moved from Atlanta to Ohio, almost 16 years ago, I didn’t know a single soul and had a new born daughter.

We took many walks up to the shopping center that included Larson’s Toys.

The staff never seemed to turn over. They got to know me and I them.

Sometimes, they were the only other adults 

I talked to in a day other than Monte.

They took the time to get to know both my daughters as the years went by.

My girls took craft classes there.

McDaniel put her little hand in cement for a garden stone that she gave to Monte for Father’s Day.

Ellie made a bedazzled tulle butterfly canopy that we hung over her bed.

And so many other things.

I could hand over my Christmas list for the girls to the staff and they’d tell me the best time to buy the items to get the best price.

They had a frequent buyer card program that I lived by. I’d save up my full card to get the $25 off to buy Ellie a Plasma Car for her birthday.

That thing was a blast! 

So happy that my cousin’s son is enjoying it now.

In fact, my cousin’s wife wanted to go to Larson’s when they visited from out of state. My sister-in-law too. It was just a unique, personal place.

So much more than a toy store.

They could handle birthday presents like no one else. And they always wrapped for free! They’d put stickers on the packages in the theme of the party or specific to the child.

Oh, and my girls would give them specifics!

I think one time they asked for bowling penguins--

and got them in sticker form on the outside of a 

brightly wrapped package for a friend.

I have always said that Larson’s helped me potty train Ellie.

She was a tough one.

It was the promise of the little bicycle with training wheels from Larson’s that finally got Ellie potty trained.

We visited that bike at Larson’s each week and the staff always asked Ellie if it was time to pull it down from its spot high on a display shelf.

The staff clapped and cheered for Ellie when it was FINALLY time.

She called it her motorcycle.

She may or may not have ridden it out of the store.

And I haven’t been able to bring myself to get rid of it. 

It’s still in the garage.

When I heard Larson’s was closing its doors in January, I rushed in to do my Christmas shopping for the littles on my list.

We are past the toy age at our house.

Sadly.

I couldn’t believe how empty the shelves were. And not a LEGO set left. I overheard the staff telling someone that they were selling the displays.

I looked for their signature giant stuffed lion that guarded the stuffed animal display.

Gone!

I was already feeling my eyes start to sting when I heard the staff, my friends, quote someone the price of the giant teddy bear that sat on top of the column by the gift wrapping station.

No!

So I stood in the empty LEGO aisle and cried.

I stared at the carpet that McDaniel peed on when she was 2 1/2 rather than stop playing at the train table for two seconds so I could take her to the bathroom.

The same floor that caught the unsure footsteps of my girls wearing their first Stride Rite shoes,

 to the women’s sizes they sported when still in elementary school.

I left without saying anything to anyone.

I left without saying goodbye.

Because it has always been more than a toy store to me.

I kept telling the girls that I wanted them to make a last trip into Larson’s.

Before it was too late.

But life continued to happen until last week when we grabbed a quick dinner next door and saw this sign on the door.

NO!

We were too late.

It’s like that part of the movie “You’ve Got Mail” when Meg Ryan’s character closes the bookstore her mother used to own and she looks back at the empty room for the last time and can actually see herself twirling as a little girl and her mother hugging her.

It is just like that.

One day it’s this:

Then in a flash it’s this:

Yesterday McDaniel was peeing on the carpet.

Yesterday Ellie was riding her motorcycle proudly out of the store.

Yesterday. 

A flash.

All those memories.

I hate that the little kids on my street won’t know Larson’s like my girls did.

It was the place to go when my girls had some spending money.

They walked the aisles slowly.

Checked out what was new.

Although new to Larson’s did not mean trendy. Their toys were quality. No Barbie or Bratz dolls. Lots of wooden toys. Hands-on. Unique toys that didn’t break three minutes after you brought it home.

Like the hand-pumped foam rocket that McDaniel got from a birthday party that my dad was so excited to use that he couldn’t even wait until he was out of the car from the party and shot the rocket out of the passenger seat window of our car right onto the roof of our house.

We spent the rest of the afternoon throwing things on the roof 

to try to knock the rocket down.

Or the game the staff highly recommended (and demonstrated for me in the store) that I bought for a game night at our church called “Jungle Jive”.  The object of the game is to do all these crazy positions as dictated by the card you draw while keeping upright a large plastic egg that has a sensor that will set off an alarm if it tilts too far from center. 

It’s hilarious. 

We took it to the beach one year.

I hate that our little neighbors won’t know the excitement my girls had at a birthday party when they saw that special Larson’s wrapping paper and customized sticker scene picked just for them.

But I’m so glad my girls did.

Thank you, Larson’s. For being there to watch my girls grow up right along with me.

You will be sadly missed.

Because you’ve always been more than a toy store to me.

10 Things I Can’t Live Without

I haven’t linked up with the #TuesdayTen at The Liebers blog in a while.

A long while.

I’ve also not known the sweet sense of accomplishment 

that only loading and unloading a functioning dishwasher 

with actual glass and porcelain and stainless steel can provide.

Sigh.

So here is the latest list:

10 Things I Can’t Live Without

1)  A kitchen.

I know, I’m a broken record. But seriously, meals are tough to prepare without a sink and running water and a stove and just one real knife. To say that we are sick of take-out is SUCH an understatement. I was LITERALLY sick of the Thai take-out we had Saturday night. So much so, Monte and the girls had to go to church without me Sunday morning. 

2)  Running water on the first floor.

It’s made me think twice about cutting an apple or cheese or lettuce when I know I’m going to have to go to the basement to wash the knife and cutting board in the utility sink where we give Nigel his bath. And wash out our paint brushes. And where spiders go to die as it turns out. 

In all the changes with the house, the workers took out one of the only two lights we had in our laundry room. And by lights I mean a naked bulb screwed into a socket. So now the remaining light is way off in a corner far from the utility sink and washer and dryer. I never really know if what I’m cleaning is clean. Or what I’m washing is in the same color family. I broke down and bought those color out sheets that are supposed to right any laundry wrong by pulling out color where color should not be. They work!

3)  A place to recharge.

It’s been a fairly new discovery that I am an extrovert that needs alone time to recharge. Not sure why I’ve never been able to put my finger on that. But lo and behold, I am. And when you are living in a construction zone with lots of people coming in and out during your “recharging time”, it’s hard not to want to throw a fit. Even when they are installing your hardwood floors. 

4)  My laptop.

I know, that makes me seem way more important or geeky than I am, but it is pretty key to my writing. And getting ideas on what paint colors to put in the kitchen and family room. And what style of cabinet pulls and knobs I like. And HOW MUCH a leather sofa is going to cost (?!) And, of course, what the latest deal is on Pick Your Plum. 

5)  Water.

No, #6 isn’t going to be air. I’m dead serious, I LOVE water! I’ve never been one of those people that has to force herself to drink 8 glasses a day. I surpass that easily. Happily. In fact, I may have mentioned that I was pretty stressed about how I was going to live without filtered water during this construction project. You want to know how? LOTS and LOTS of bottled water. We may single-handedly fill an entire landfill with just the bottles of water consumed during this house project. It’s crazy. And can we talk about how flimsy the bottles have become? The crunching sound the thin plastic makes when you simply pick it up is deafening. Drives. Me. Crazy. I hope to never purchase another bottle of water for a VERY, VERY, VERY long time after our house is done.

6)  Air. Kidding! My family.

I really do enjoy being with the people that live in this house. They are my favorite people. I’m so sad when I hear it isn’t that way in other families. That dread and maybe even fear exist upon one of their own entering a room. I can’t even imagine. And I say that as a parent of two hormonal girls. Monte and I look forward to growing old together. Well, continuing to grow old together. 

7)  Reading Material.

Not only do I feel the absolute need to read devotions and the bible (not in a legalistic way), I really enjoy it. I like good reading. It can be in the form of a blog post or an article in a magazine or a book. I’m never without reading material. In fact, I like to read during commercials while we are watching TV. Last night I read the most interesting article on the link between diet and Alzheimer’s while Monte was upstairs praying with the girls. SPOILER ALERT:  I’m on a fast track to not knowing who my favorite people are by the time I’m 60 if I don’t lay off the candy. Sadly, sugar is not good for your mental health. 

I’ve just started reading Sophie Hudson’s latest book,  “Home is Where My People Are”. 

I’ve already laughed out loud and texted my mom on just how right she is in describing small town life. In particular, small town church life.

I’m also reading “Enough. 10 Things We Should Be Telling Teenage Girls” by Kate Conner. 

This book is just awesome and I’m only two chapters in. It’s written by a mom in her twenties, so it seems a bit more fresh and relevant. Believe me, once you actually HAVE teenage daughters, you are no longer fresh or relevant. My daughter saw me dressed for a party and said she never wanted to get “so old” that wearing my particular pair of gray pants seemed like a good idea. Ouch. 

The first chapter describes femininity as a superpower given by God and how if it is improperly taught and regarded, it can lead to burkas or spandex miniskirts. (Not a peep about gray pants.) Great stuff!! I’ve already bought the teen version of the book for my girls to read. 

Hopefully, one chapter will address
BEING NICE TO YOUR MOM.
Ahem.

8)  My people. 

It’s been so vital these past four months to have people stop by and see our construction zone and offer their opinions on so many things that I never would’ve thought of on my own or paid someone to tell me. I need all the free help I can get! Especially now that we are at the crucial pick paint color(s) stage. 

My parents drove 4 hours last week to bring an over 100-year-old barn beam to me to use as a fireplace mantle. 

Isn’t it beautiful?

The going rate around here for anything barn wood and old is about $500. Dad found a guy who’s barn fell down and he was planning on burning all the wood and beams. Can you imagine?! He gave us this beam, get this, FOR FREE. 

Also, the dinners! It’s been so great to be invited into homes that use real plates and knives and forks and glasses that don’t crinkle so loud when I pick them up to take a sip that I have to turn the TV up louder.  We’ve been brought meals too. Real actual delicious homemade meals that didn’t make me so ill I had to miss church. We certainly have been loved by our people through this whole project.

9)  Fellowship.

We left a church about 5 years ago. While we were trying out other churches, it was just the worst feeling of not belonging. I missed the fellowship of church. A church where I KNEW people and they KNEW me.  And no wonder, we were MADE to fellowship. To be in the company of other believers to encourage each other and hold each other accountable. I posted this recently:

But the verse goes on:

24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

See? We are meant to spur one another on by MEETING TOGETHER, fellowshipping. Doing church. God says so. 

10)  Funny.

I think we all knew that was coming. Seriously, if I get so far “in” a situation where I can’t see the funny, than I’ve lost hope. And hope is all we have. Like Tim Hawkins’ said, it’s our God-given weapon against this world. I could not have fought off lice without it. Or managed to walk about town with three bandages on my neck covering a fiery red tear drop shaped chemical burn with an intact mole in the middle of it. Or survived ANY doctor appointment with Carisa. Not one. 

So that’s my list. 

What 10 things could YOU not live without?

God Knows My Funny

Yesterday morning was intense.

Lots of different emotions coming out loudly

and some tersely typed in email form.

Just an all out 

very tense,

no good,

horrible,

bad morning.

Not the way I would’ve preferred 

to spend the early part of my day.

Then I got a call from school that McDaniel was sick and needed to come home.

Not how I planned to spend the rest of my day.

Some time before I picked up soup, saltines and orange juice, I got a text from my mom with a little nugget that changed my day.

Without too many specific details,
an elderly woman was escorted out of the public library in my hometown wearing nothing but

a coat, 

a pair of shoes 

and a smile.

No, she wasn’t drunk. 

I asked.

But she was in the book club that my mom leads 
at that very same library.

Poor thing is on the slippery slope of senility.

She might very well be at the bottom of that slope now.

Not that senility is funny.

It isn’t.

But the incident was funny.

And I needed to laugh.

In the same way falling can be painful

but it will ALWAYS be funny to me.

Always.

Of course, I had to text Carisa all the details while I was asking to borrow her Little Green Machine carpet cleaner.

You would NOT believe the caked on mud and construction dust on our entryway rug.

Carisa commented that old ladies were supposed to be cold all the time.

Layered in cardigans and turtlenecks.

And then she asked if she was driving still.

Can you imagine if someone dropped the elderly lady off at that library knowing there was nothing between her friend 

and her coat than her birthday suit?! 

I so hope the coat was an appropriate dress length.

So hope.

I made Carisa promise that she would not allow me to walk around a public library wearing nothing but a pair of shoes, a coat and a smile one day.

But who am I kidding? 

She’ll be the one dropping me off.

And videoing it.

Senility and my future aside,

that story came at just the right time. 

Laughing loosened up the tension in my back.

I could relax my shoulders finally.

It was the big sigh that I needed to sigh.

Carisa gave us the new Tim Hawkins concert on DVD for Christmas. He is a Christian comedian who just cracks me up. He cracks up the entire family.

Watch it! 

I laughed until I cried at one part and when I texted Carisa that information,

she knew the EXACT part I lost it.

She knows my funny.

Tim says something so profound in the video.

Something like,

"Laughter is God’s weapon for us against this world."

You see, God knows my funny too.

And He knew when I needed it most.

While typing this, I thought of something I saw in early Fall:

I was driving out of the Whole Foods parking lot, when a car with the license plate reading Kevin1 ramped right up on the median between the in and out lanes.

Two elderly ladies were in the front seat. 

The one driving could barely see over the steering wheel as she committed to the median ramp and decided to just ride the thing out.

The entire length of the median.

The passenger lady had her mouth open wide in laughter and may have slapped her knee once or twice as they drove by me, lopsided.

It occurred to me that they were not Kevin1.

And that ol’ Kev probably would not have found the incident
nearly as funny as I did
or the passenger of his car.

Oh, I do hope those ladies were wearing pants!

 I was on the phone with Monte when I told him the library story.

He said,

“You needed to laugh.”

He was right.  

It was just the weapon I needed to slice the head right off 

of my nasty mood.

Then Monte thought he’d add to my “funny arsenal” and told me that he left his gym bag in his car and his workout clothes were too cold to put on so he held them under the hand dryer in the men’s locker room at the gym.

Ba-dum-bum-CHING

[Crickets]

I’d been on all fours sucking mud and construction dust out of carpets

and dealing with a sick teenager

ON TOP of 

the very tense, 

no good, 

horrible,

 bad morning.

I needed a bigger weapon.

Thank goodness, God knows my funny.

Under Construction…Still

We seemed to hit a lull around the holidays on our house addition.

Partly due to the fact that it was the holidays,

and partly due to the weather.

We had two snow days last week.

The first actually because we got snow--4 or 5 inches.

It was fun because it wasn’t dangerously cold and we could actually go sledding without fear of frostbite.

Ellie, our neighbor Claire and McDaniel.

Ellie, me and McDaniel.

Why is Ellie on our fours?

While we were sledding, a guy from our city paper came out of nowhere and asked to take some action pictures.

We said sure and then McDaniel decided to sled down the hill on our neighbor, Claire’s shoulders while covering her eyes.

Three seconds later, I crashed spectacularly down the hill with both legs straight up into the air and a thick snow beard on my face.

We felt a little nervous about what our pictures would look like if they made it into the paper.

The girls teased me that it could just be a picture of me by myself, zooming down the hill in some sort of sad, “Snow Day for Moms Too” pictorial.

We didn’t make the paper, after all.

A teacher pushing her kids on a sled did with a very familiar sounding title of 

“Snow Day for Teachers Too”. 

But the photographer posted a picture of the girls on Instagram.

How did we know that? 

Claire became instantly enamored with the photographer, looking him up and following him on social media. He does take awesome pictures.

Great picture!

Our second snow day came two days after our sledding day due to extreme cold.

The extreme cold being negative 400.

 Or something close to that.

I know this because I was out in it with Carisa getting her distorted mole removed at the doctor’s office.

8 stitches!! 

And I didn’t have to watch one single one of them! 

THANK GOODNESS, I got to sit in the lobby and see on the TV how a woman found a snake in her toilet.

Like THAT hasn’t been a thought in my head 

EVERY TIME I use a pit toilet.

But this was her HOME toilet!!!

Honestly! Can we please not have to see that in a 3-D attraction coming soon??

“Attack of the Toilet Snake” 

(or something a little more gripping than that). 

Moving on…

Monte and I braved the cold to pick out a light to go over our farm table in the new space. We’d been searching and searching in all types of stores.

Monte ran into an old friend (and her guitar)
in a flea market we went to.

We even combed through online stores on Etsy. We finally decided on this one we found in a local store called Objects For the Home:

It’s made of wood and metal. Monte wants to use Edison bulbs instead because he thinks candelabra bulbs are girly.

But I am so glad we have that done. 

Now only six more lights to pick out.

I finally picked out a kitchen faucet yesterday. It seems it is taking me longer and longer to make a decision on all the little details.

The girls took one look at it and screamed that it was the same exact faucet 

that was on the Disney show “Jonas L.A.”

Well, how about that.

The kitchen sink just arrived in a box so big I expect there might be a mistake and a “a very special award” in it involving a leg and a lamp shade instead of a stainless steel sink.

Back to the house…

In spite of the snow and cold, the dry wall got completed by two brothers who loved to listen to dance club/rave music with a driving beat and no more than four different words sung over and over and over.

It was mind numbing and soul sucking.

And it made me miss “Highway to Hell”,

as much as it pains me to type that.

Drywalling involves sanding which involved me dusting and mopping the floors only to see an hour later that mopping the floors turned the drywall dust into a white pasty film.

Seeing that made me have a moment.

And it wasn’t one of clarity.

Monte bought the girls yoga mats and they started doing workouts in the new space.

Before the yoga mats.

The hardwoods started going in this week.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3--all done!!

It seems so much more like there is a light at the end of this dusty tunnel with a real floor. I love it!

I needed this pay off since Monte was out of town all week and while he was gone

the bathroom sink was clogged,

the bath tub drain wouldn’t plug 

and I REALLY wanted to take a bath,

saw dust coated EVERY. THING,

my phone started acting up

and the cable went out causing American Idol not to be taped.

Now, I’m not a psycho American Idol fan.

But after a week of clogged sinks, no baths and saw dust every where, 

I needed a little American Idol levity.

Had Carisa not decided to stop in for a visit right then, 

I very well may have set the whole house on fire.

I was dangerously close to having another moment.

A BIG ugly moment.

But Monte is home now. The wood floors are completely installed. I’ve dusted and Swiffered everything. And Ellie made me this in Life Skills class.

A super hero apron.

A reversible super hero apron.

A reversible super hero apron with a pocket!

She got a 94% on the project. 

And Monte can wear it when he grills. 

McDaniel made me an apron back when she was in Life Skills 

but she threw it away in the classroom trash can.

I’m afraid she must’ve inherited my sewing capabilities.

The trim around the windows and doors is going up right now while I type this and AC/DC is singing “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” loudly on the worker’s radio.

So all is right with the world.

You are Loved

Yesterday a lovely young woman in our church sang a song I’d never heard before.

Not only is her voice beautiful,

(I’ve already told her I’ve prayed to have it in heaven and she seemed okay with it)

but the words were beautiful.

Amazed

You dance over me while I am unaware

You sing all around but I never hear the sound

(chorus)

Lord I'm amazed by You

Lord I'm amazed by You

Lord I'm amazed by You

And how You love me

(verse 2)

You paint the morning sky with miracles in mind

My hope will always stand

For You hold me in Your hand

(bridge)

How deep how wide

How great is Your love for me

Check out: http://youtu.be/D9S86nMqaLg if you’d like to listen to it.

It was such a lovely moment that there was this screaming silence in the sanctuary afterwards. I felt like standing up and clapping but I was too struck. 

Struck with the intensity and simplicity of the line:

“You paint the morning sky with miracles in mind”

I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget.

Every day. 

Every single day God paints the morning sky with miracles in mind. 

That is truly amazing.

I’m thinking of Ellie’s color “yerple” again.

The pastor took his place behind the podium and heard our screaming silence. 

He saw in our faces that we’d been struck. 

So he prayed. 

Right after the AMEN, he chucked his entire sermon. 

All his notes.

He felt the overwhelming nudge to tell us that we are loved. 

He told us over and over. 

Then he showed us. 

In the lesson from Luke 7 about Jesus being anointed by a sinful woman. He told us how Jesus explained to the Pharisees that those who have been forgiven much, love much. 

The pastor went on to refer to one of my favorite verses, Hebrews 12:1:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, 

let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, 

and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Our pastor said that sometimes we not only get out of our lane in the race marked out for us, 

but we trip down the hill and plop right into a mud puddle.

Instead of getting up and jumping back into the race, we sit there in the mud puddle feeling unworthy and unloved.

In fact, we heap more mud onto our head, for effect. 

Wallowing in self-pity and doubt.

Jesus leaves his place at the finish line of our race, to meet us in that mud puddle and offer His hand to help us up and out.

But we resist.

“No, no! I’m not worthy. 

I’m too dirty. 

I can’t do it. 

I’ll never finish this race.”

Jesus simply points to the sacrifice He made for us on the cross.

And asks if it was not enough.

Because our denying His hand up and out 

is basically saying that it wasn’t.

And that is all selfish pride.

Our pastor reminded us again that we are loved.

We listened to “Amazed” again.

"You dance over me while I am unaware

You sing all around but I never hear the sound"

I guess it would be hard to see God dancing 

and hear Him singing 

when we are busy in the mud puddle 

heaping dirt on our own heads.

What great encouragement that sermon was,

TO GET UP!

Love requires some action on our part:

STAY IN THE RACE.

Don’t roll over in the mud puddle.

And don’t be afraid to chuck your sermon notes 

3 seconds before you are ready to preach.

God’s right there with His hand out.

“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. 

Luke 7:47

I got this in an email yesterday.

SOURCE

It made me think that sometimes we “stir up” one another by simply stirring the mud in the puddle.

It takes pointing to Jesus who is standing RIGHT THERE by the puddle to truly “stir up” anyone.

Just as I was “stirred” by the song yesterday,

And my pastor was “stirred” by the Holy Spirit to chuck his prepared sermon,

I hope you are stirred.

And know that you are loved.