We are so happy to have our daughter in the Lubbock Youth Symphony Orchestra this year. The best part is that SHE is so excited about it and is always ready to go for rehearsals, etc. It has been fun to watch her get excited about the music.
That being said, I dread each email I get from them, knowing it will in some way cost me!! A couple of weeks ago we got the dreaded “what the kids MUST wear for the concert” email. It was a long black skirt and top with 3/4 length or long sleeves or a long black dress with the same requirements, black shoes & hose. She’s 12! Where do I find a simple long black anything for her?? She’s wearing a size 14 girls size mostly. Not likely I’m gonna find what I’m looking for at Justice!! I looked online and found a few sites that sold dresses/skirts/etc. for just such occasions (they are specialty shops), but it was going to cost me around $80 at least for the outfit. I had decided it might be what we would have to do, when what to my wondering eyes did appear? FINE PRINT! All of them said to allow at least 3 weeks for production! First concert is Oct 4!! Yikes!
I was thinking I could make her one, but even finding an appropriate pattern wasn’t going to be easy and we don’t have much time – I’m not some super seamstress or anything!! I also knew that would be pretty costly itself.
Yesterday I decided I would begin a search here in town to just see what I could find. I had been praying and dreading and praying and dreading. I told her when we finished school yesterday that we were going to go look. I had decided I’d look in the Jr. sizes and they would probably fit her. She wasn’t too excited either. (She asked where we were going – Target? – yeah, right, Target will have just what we are looking for – NOT!) She had said she would like to have a dress – not a skirt & top…but I told her we would take what we could find. Visions of UGLY dresses/skirts, etc danced in my head.
So off we went on our quest. We decided to stop first at Bealls. I hardly ever go there but it is at the end of our street and was convenient. It was actually the first time I had ever set foot in that particular store. We walked in and started searching. We found a couple of skirts in the women’s dept., but they weren’t really quite long enough (and were about $55 each). I happened to look up while in the Jr. dept and there were 3 long dresses on a high hanger…looking lonely. The two in the back were black with spaghetti straps. I saw that one was a size small and searched out someone to get it down for us. It was actually very cute. I knew she would have to wear a jacket over it, but it was marked down from $54 to $27! She tried it on and it was a perfect fit – just a little long – I can fix that!!
We went to look for a jacket and most were $40-$80, but I figured we would do what we had to do. Most were eliminated because they didn’t have the right sleeves or didn’t cover enough, too sparkly or something. Again my eyes went to a rack that was a little ways away. I saw a black shrug with sleeves just right and, lo and behold, it wasa size small and regular price $34 on sale for $24!! She tried them on together and they were perfect. WHOOHOO! I was feeling like I had just hit the jackpot! (Even though, I didn’t have even that kind of $ to spend, I knew it was a gift from God!)
We went to check out feeling all smiley – we had found exactly what we wanted at the first place we looked – AND it was all on sale! YAY! The salesperson scanned them in and gave me a total of $19.05!! My mouth just dropped….”For both of them?” I asked. She calmly said “yes, that’s right.” I was flabbergasted – I asked how that could be and she said “oh they just hadn’t been marked correctly – the scanner always gets the correct price.” I paid and we walked out with our purchases…I was trying not to skip!
I couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear – I KNEW God had heard me praying desperately! Claire is thrilled with the outfit and so am I. Hmmmmm….now for the hemming….and shoes, and hose… Oh well, those will be the easy part! Why, oh why have her feet grown so since last winter??? REALLY….she is wearing size 9 1/2! I am not sure she is my daughter….
Thanks for the lovely surprise yesterday, God!