Letting Go of Ikea

So it's a cloudy day and I decide to drive to Ikea, check out the new outdoor patio furniture, play in the kids' area with my boy, and stop in for a snack. That's the plan.  I didn't clue in right away when I saw that the kids' play area was shut down that Ikea was undergoing a giant move to their new location across the parking lot. All they had were a few baskets of washcloths, a stack of carpets, some pillows and other small items. I wasn't too disappointed, I figured we could at least stop in for coffee upstairs.  A lady behind me started yelling at the clerk: "What? You mean I drove all the way out here for nothing? Can I talk to your manager? Why didn't you post this on your website? This is f*****ing ridiculous!" I was a bit shocked by her reaction, jeez, take it easy! Upstairs, we lined up for a yogurt and a coffee and when I got to the till...cash only. darn. no cash. no big love at Ikea today.... we headed downstairs to the bank machine, my boy yelling for his yogurt. It was out of service. I asked the woman at the register if she would do cash back. no. I still wasn't really fazed. Where was the universe trying to take me today? Not Ikea that's for sure.

I got in the car, searched for our map book to find an interesting park to go to, but I couldn't find it. Okay. I'm meant to go home or wing it. I decided to wing it! "Let's get lost!" I encouraged my boy who still hadn't quite forgotten about the yogurt. We got on the highway going East, then off, then on again going West. Getting lost is fun. Then I saw the Lulu Island Winery and knew things were turning around. They had a huge selection, but we settled on a blueberry wine. Images of drinking blueberry sangria on my non Ikea patio set popped up in my mind. Yum.

We continued to get lost, and found ourselves in Steveston. The sun came out. Things were definitely turning around. We had a yogurt and a sandwich at a cafe and headed off to the park. We found train tracks, and a mini train, my boy was in heaven! "Thomas! Thomas! I go get it!"

Once I convinced my boy that Thomas was sleeping in a utility shed and wouldn't come out we headed off to the water and enjoyed the fishing boats at the quay. 

Before we headed home, we sampled a delicious raspberry sorbet at the local ice cream store, but just as the lady was scooping it in a bowl, I noticed a sign: Cash Only. Again! I smiled in disbelief. The lady said: "Oh, just search the bottom of you purse, it's only $1.75. " "I've searched the bottom of my purse too many times already, I replied disappointingly. I wasn't about to go around town looking for a bank machine to pay $2.50 in fees for $1.75 sorbet. My boy was seriously disagreeing with this plan. The lady smiled at me, filled a bowl and said " It's on the house." Wow! What a great day!  Thank you, frustrated lady at Ikea for reminding to go with the flow.