The Cactus Store

Since Chad was away this week, and Clara and I had school, Trevor and Grammy headed to the Sonoran Desert, in search of Giant Saguaros and other prickly things (you rock, Grammy!). Trevi, other than being a bit disappointed that saguaros don't bear fruit at this time of year, loved everything about the trip. From the sounds of things, they had quite an adventure. From the looks of things, a gift shop in Phoenix has some serious restocking to do. Trevi is now the proud owner of his very own saguaro - this little guy is about 10 years old, and needs only one tablespoon of water per month. Watch out for the pokies, Manny!
Within 15 minutes of welcoming her brother home, Clara had commandeered all of the souvenirs and opened her own gift shop. She has quite a knack for store display, and her prices are very reasonable. Clara has opened at least three or four dozen different businesses over the past few years. She got her start in the restaurant industry, but her entrepreneurial spirit does not stop with food service. She has run beauty parlors, dance academies, craft workshops, and she has sold just about anything that she could find, create, or imagine. She calls herself, "Ma'am", and works the cash register, as well as most other aspects of the business. When the store is open, she mercilessly shouts, "OPEN! OPEN! OPEN!" until anyone in earshot is so desperate to quiet her down that we go and buy something. Sometimes, when I have spent all of my energy and 100 fake dollars buying beaded bracelets or my own pencils, I start to be less than enthusiastic about shopping. I try to convince Clara to close the store for awhile...go take her lunch break. But the girl has an unparalleled work ethic.
"Store" can be a great game. Fun and creative...even uses math skills! But it can also cause violent civil unrest. Clara is a girl who likes things the way she likes them. Trevor is a boy who doesn't find symmetry and realism all that important in the grand scheme of things. And, he doesn't always want to be the bag boy. He has aspirations of getting promoted to cashier...or, dare he dream it...of being a partner some day. He invented his own character name for the store game. He is, "Sirmamsircondry". Yes, you read that right... "Sir Ma'am Sir Condry". Although today, for some reason, he wanted to just be called, "Condry". Can't say that I blame him....
Chad, always a very, very kind husband, let me sit and drink my coffee while he dutifully picked up the official purse, and made several trips to The Cactus Store. He even bought a t-shirt that I know for a fact is way too small for him. Clara was glad for the business, since Trevor started boycotting after an altercation over the placement of the fridge magnets in the display.
There was a bit of thievery going on, too. Trevor hired Harold the Helicopter to swoop in through the store window and make off with a box of prickly pear candy. He then hid all of the candy inside Harold, to avoid being caught. Now that I think about it, that candy may still be in there....