Don't Forget Your Purse

Sarah with Claire Crosby and Claire's dad, Dave, after their concert.

January 16, 2020

At 8:45 Thursday morning, Sarah, Mark, and I started out on the 3-hour drive to Jacob's house in Mesa. We'd been waiting for a break in the snowy weather to coincide with days that both Sarah and Mark were able to get off work, so we could finally take Jacob his Christmas presents. He hadn't been able to join us here for Christmas, so his stack of seven gifts were still waiting under my tree.

Yes, my Christmas tree is still up. Don't judge me.

The purse I left behind. How I missed it!

[This gorgeous bag was handmade by my dear friend Debbie.]

As soon as I pulled into Jacob's driveway in Mesa, I reached for my purse in the space where I always keep it when I'm driving, but all my hand felt was empty air. Thinking someone had stashed it somewhere different when we'd loaded up the car, Sarah and Mark did a quick search. Nothing.

When I'd walked out the door of my house that morning, my arms were full and I was--as Sarah so tactfully put it--"grouchy." And apparently I hadn't noticed that my purse wasn't among the items I'd carried to the car.

There are no words to describe the awful moment when you realize your purse and all its contents are a three-hour drive away. First, I was horrified that I didn't have my driver license. I'd actually passed three highway patrolmen during the drive and, naturally, I was exceeding the speed limit each time...though, apparently, not fast enough to trigger a car chase. Then there was that sinking feeling when I realized my checkbooks, my credit and debit cards, my cash, were all tucked away in my purse. At home. Worse yet...no ChapStick. As any desert-dweller knows, having some sort of lip balm at hand is a necessity. (It's a dry heat...especially in the winter!) Thank goodness I'd walked out with my cell phone in my hand, so I at least had that.

We determined that Sarah could use her credit card for our needs during the trip and I'd reimburse her once we got back home (about $180 at the end of two days). Jacob and Sarah helped out with driving to reduce the risk of getting stopped while I was license-less. And a quick stop at Target took care of the ChapStick problem.

Jacob gets ready to discover what's inside his long-awaited presents.

Once we had all that squared away, it was time to enjoy the reasons we'd made this trip. We started with Jacob opening the six remaining gifts we'd brought him. Dylan and Jake had driven down to Mesa on the previous Thursday, so Jacob opened their gift to him at that time. They gave him The Lie Detector Game, which looks like some risque fun.

Jacob with his belated Christmas 2019 gifts.

Sarah gave Jacob the same things she'd given her dad and Dylan and Jake: an M&Ms candy bar with a Walmart gift card attached.

Mark gave him a gigantic Hershey bar, which made Jacob's eyes pop and also got the attention of Jacob's roommates, who offered to help him take care of it.

A closer looks at Jacob's gifts.

As for me, I went with a theme. Jacob loves wolves, so I gave him a black metal key holder for his wall, with the shape of a howling wolf. I got him a new shower curtain with a wolf motif and a pair of hand towels with a wolf scene on them. As much for myself as for Jacob, I also got him a set of wooden towel bars and a toilet paper holder for the master bathroom. He's lived in that house for a year and a half now, and it's time to get the toilet paper off the counter and to have clean towels hanging for his mom's visits!

A "Wolf Spirit" knife and holder.

Jacob's favorite of the gifts I gave him, though, was this beautiful knife in a cool holder featuring a wolf's head. The knife itself is decorated with paintings of wolves. It's quite a work of art.

Our first stop.

Jacob did the driving when we went out to lunch. First, we stopped at See's Candies to get a box of chocolates as a belated Christmas present for me. Mark had intended to buy me some See's Candy from the gift shop at our local hospital, the only place where See's is available in our entire area. Unfortunately, they were sold out of the sugar-free boxes when he stopped in at the gift shop before Christmas, and they didn't expect to get more in until January.

Their sugar-free dark-chocolate-covered walnut candies are the best!

So I stopped in at the hospital gift shop on Monday. They'd gotten in a new shipment, but the only sugar-free they had for sale was peanut brittle. I'm not a huge fan, so it's certainly not something I'd ever pay See's Candies prices to own. It must be chocolate! When I mentioned I was going to Mesa in a few days, the gift shop lady suggested I visit a See's shop in the Valley. And I'm so glad she did!

After lunch, on to Target for ChapStick!

We went to lunch at Carl's Jr.  From there, we went on to a Target store, where I was able to get some ChapStick. Thank goodness the pants I was wearing had pockets, since I had no purse to carry it in! I was also able to find some socks I liked while I was in Target. I've been searching for months, but no one seems to sell turn-cuff socks anymore. Yes, I'm old school. Don'r judge me.

Sarah waits outside the venue for a Claire Crosby concert to open.

We dropped the guys off back at Jacob's house, and then Sarah and I headed to east Mesa to attend a 4:00 concert. Sarah is a huge fan of the Crosby family, and especially their 7-year-old daughter Claire. When she saw this concert advertised online a few weeks ago, she jumped at the chance to see them perform live.

A pond with koi fish and a turtle outside the Grand Ballroom.

I found the venue for the concert to be somewhat humorous. On the tickets it was listed as "TP Grand Ballroom," which made me chuckle since I grew up in an age when TP meant "toilet paper." After a little research, I found it stood for "TowerPoint," but I was still chuckling because now I knew that the "Grand Ballroom" was part of a senior citizens center inside a "senior living" RV park.

A better look at the turtle. He was so still, I thought at first he was a carving!

As we entered the RV park, we were stopped by a friendly man at the gatehouse, who directed us straight down the street to the ballroom's location. Along the way, we passed dozens of tiny mobile homes, squeezed closely together, with little picket fences around yards barely big enough to contain the usual flamingos, gnomes, and spinning sunflower wind-catchers.

Even the ladies' bathroom was pretty classy.

Once we'd arrived at the central plaza of the park, where the ballroom was located, it was an entirely different picture. The area was expansive and beautifully decorated, with an office and a restaurant and two pools, plus lots of nice, shaded seating areas. There were fenced off courts for a variety of games, such as tennis and shuffleboard, filled with lots of active people enjoying their retirement years. Even the ladies' bathroom was nice enough to rival any found in a swanky restaurant or hotel.

Inside the Grand Ballroom about 30 minutes before the concert began.

With the exception of a couple of families with children, the audience was mostly elderly folks. I often forget that I'm an oldster, too, now that I'm sixty-five, but in this group I felt almost like a youngster! The room wasn't packed, but it was pretty well filled by the time the concert began. The Crosby's had done two concerts the previous night in west Phoenix, and on this night they also did two concerts, one at 4:00 (which we attended) and one at 7:30.

A local comedian kicked off the night's show,

We didn't know there was going to be an opening act, but the show started with a local comedian whose name I missed. I think his last name might have been Cortes, and it seems like he said he lived in Carefree, just north of Phoenix. He was introduced as "the number one comedian in his price range!" He performed for about thirty minutes, and it was great. He was laugh-out-loud funny without being coarse or resorting to potty humor.

Claire Crosby opens the concert with "Part of Your World."

And then it was time for the main attraction. Dave Crosby came out on stage and told a little about his family's history, accompanied by a short slide show, and then he introduced his seven-year-old daughter, Claire. Claire's absolute favorite songs are Disney Princess songs, and her absolute favorite Disney princess song is "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. So that was the song they opened with. [By the way, I posted clips of several of their numbers on my Facebook page.]

Claire with her mom, Ashley, on piano and her dad, Dave, on guitar.

While most of the performances involved Dave and Claire, the rest of the family got in on the act, as well. Claire's mom, Ashley Crosby, played keyboard for a few of the songs, and even Claire's two younger siblings put in an appearance. Little brother Carson participated in an onstage game that showcased Claire's and Carson's perfect pitch abilities, and even baby sister June came out briefly to wave and say "Hi" to the audience.

Claire plays the ukulele while singing "Can't Help Falling in Love"

Claire has been an internet sensation since she was three years old. When her parents recognized her natural musical talent and her love of performing for others, her dad filmed Claire singing with him and featured the videos on a YouTube channel he'd recently started.  IT. BLEW. UP. 

Her videos have now reached over ONE BILLION views. Ashton Kutcher, Nicki Minaj, Steve Harvey, and Ellen DeGeneres are among her fans. In fact, she's appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show six times so far and has had small roles in two movies. Not to mention deals with Disney and assorted TV interests.

Claire performs onstage, with her mom on keyboard.

After a great show, the Crosbys stayed around to greet fans. I was surprised that most of the crowd left the ballroom directly after the concert, but about twenty small groups stayed to meet Claire and Dave. Sarah and I were the next-to-the-last group to stop and talk with them. 

The first thing Dave said was he liked my Star Wars shirt, so I told him I got it when we went to Disneyland a few months ago. Then Sarah told him we were at Disneyland the same day his family was there, but though she'd hoped we might run into them, we never did. He asked when that was, so she told him November 8th, and he replied, "Oh yeah, that was the last time we were there." 

At that point, Sarah talked to Claire for a few minutes and gave her a necklace with a glittery treble clef suspended from a fine chain. Claire's eyes and smile got big and she eagerly reached out for it. Sarah showed Claire her own treble clef earrings and violin necklace, then told Claire she hoped the necklace would remind her to always keep her music close to her heart.

I mentioned to Dave that Sarah plays in our local symphony orchestra, so he indicated her necklace and asked if it was violin she played. She said it was. He asked if we lived in the Mesa area, so I explained where we lived, but I don't think he'd ever heard of either Pinetop-Lakeside or Show Low. Curious, he asked how far away we lived. When I said a three-hour drive, he seemed impressed that we'd come such a distance. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, we said our goodbyes and headed out to the car.

Jacob's new wolf-themed shower curtain.

After we returned, we visited with Jacob's roommates for a bit. Then Sarah, Jacob, Mark, and I went out to dinner at Boston Market.

Finally, we went back to Jacob's house to watch a little TV until we all started falling asleep on Jacob's comfy new sectional couch. At that point, everyone headed off to bed. Sarah and I were ready to doze off, but Jacob seemed to get a second wind and started installing his new stuff in the bathroom. Sarah got up to help him put up his new shower curtain. Once that was done, she crashed for the night, but then I got up and helped him install the new towel bars and the new toilet paper holder. When we were done, I was pleased to see how well the hand towels matched the shower curtain, and how well the shower curtain matched the moss-green walls of the bathroom.

It was 1:00 a.m before he and I finally crawled into bed. There's more to tell about the second day of our visit, but I'll save that for another time!

New hand towels on a new towel ring to go with the new shower curtain.