Losing my mind, brain cell by brain cell

M has been transitioning from 2 naps/day to 1 nap/day, and even that 1 nap is pretty iffy. I hate to admit this but I have been using the car as a prop to get her to take a nap. That's what I did last week, and it looks like it will continue this week. :-(

So this around 3:15pm today, I decide it's time to take a drive to Ranch 99 in Daly City because I had to pick up some stuff. M had already taken a 30 min nap this morning, purely accidental when I dropped off my mom somewhere this morning, I really did not expect her to nap at that time. Anyways, I wanted M to take a little afternoon nap.... so I take the scenic route to Ranch 99. I take 280 south, then hop onto hwy 1 south, with the intention of getting onto Skyline (hwy 35) which will take me to Ranch 99. M fell had fallen asleep in the car by the time I reached the 280/1 junction, yay! When I reached Skyline, I have no idea why I thought I should take the "south" exit instead of the "north" exit.

As I was on the exit ramp to get onto hwy 35 south, I wondered, howcome there's this big roundabout loop? Well, this isn't a route I take very often (can't remember the last time I went that way) so I wasn't really familiar with how the ramp was supposed to work. So I got onto Skyline and was driving along. Hmmm... the scenery looks a little different. The lanes look a little different. Geez, I guess it has been a LONG time since I last drove on Skyline. Buildings on the right side looked different. Hmm... how come it's taking so long to reach Ranch 99? Then I look over to the left side and see houses! Hmm... don't remember the last time I saw houses in Pacific on the left side. That's odd! Then it hit me. I'm going south, and that's the wrong way!!! Ok, now where can I make a U-turn? I turn into Skyline College to make my turn, and then head back north. I feel so stupid...

I don't know why I thought I should take the hwy 35 south exit. Maybe because I knew I was supposed to drive downhill on Skyline, and I thought downhill=south. I just can't believe I made that mistake. I've definitely lost some brain cells since M was born...

Oh, M managed to nap for 40 minutes. I pulled into the parking lot and knitted while she napped. We did some quick shopping at Ranch 99, then stopped by Sheng Kee Bakery for a treat. She tried the egg custard tart for the first time. She loved it. After we got home, she saw me putting away the Curry Beef Horns and wanted a taste. So we shared one of these. She seemed to like it, although not as enthusiastic about it as the egg custart tart. I remember one of the best places for those egg custard tarts was Golden Gate Bakery on Grant Ave in Chinatown. I haven't gone there in a long time, too much effort to get there.

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Nordstroms Ladies Lounge

I always thought Nordstrom had the best Ladies Lounge for mothers of infants & toddlers. They always have a separate room with chairs and/or sofa, a nice quiet place where one can nurse their baby. And they have nice cushy changing tables which are so much better than the ubiquitous hard plastic ones you find everywhere else. My little girl hates the hard plastic changing tables. I think it's partly because she resists diaper changes, will try to sit up, then flop back down hitting her head against the plastic. So I try to go to a Nordstrom restroom if there is one at the mall.

All the Nordstroms I had been to before had a decent size lounge, and their signature cushy changing table. The Nordstrom in downtown San Francisco is the absolute best. It has a very spacious lounge, and a separate room for nursing where there are two(!) cushy changing tables with a sink between the two. Perfect! Somebody who has had kids must have helped design that one.

Well, a month ago, I discovered that not all Nordstroms are so well equipped. The Nordstrom at the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, CA has to be the worst. There is a small 2-seater sofa and a chair crammed into a small closet of a lounge. People are practically tripping over you as they walk past to the main restroom area. I went in search of a changing table and saw none by the sink area. So I assumed there must be one in the big handicap stall at the end. Waited, waited, waited until the person vacated the stall, walked over there and was shocked to find no changing table at all. No changing table anywhere! So I had to go back to the closet lounge and change my little girl on the sofa. Luckily nobody was sitting there. Although the sofa is cushy and my little girl didn't complain, I just can't imagine other people liking the sight of me, or anyone else for that matter, changing their baby's/toddler's diaper on a sofa where many people sit (even though I did place a receiving blanket on top of the sofa before setting down my little girl).

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