Even "Credit Card Woman" Won't Spend $200 On A Cup and Saucer!

My husband has a very dry sense of humor.  Once, he referred to me as "Credit Card Woman"; The Fastest Card In The South.  It's a good thing I take teasing with a grain of salt!  However, those words came back to visit me this past weekend as Caitlin and I embarked on yet ANOTHER wedding task.

I was only heading to town for a few minutes, just long enough to pick up a birthday present for Robby.  Parker Ann had spent two days and a night with us and I looked pretty rough.  But when Caitlin called to request that I stop by a local gift shop to "help" her with a wedding task...well, I just couldn't resist!

Previously, Caitlin had looked around a bit for her dishes, but she hoped to get all of that out of the way this particular afternoon.  As we walked into the shop and entered the little room where brides select their china, every day wear, crystal and flatware, I suddenly became caught up in the "new bride frenzy".  I realize that it is easy for me to inflict my ideas upon her, so I determined ahead of time that I would just look at what SHE had in mind and only comment when asked...OH, and perhaps register for a new set myself (can't the mother of the bride do that?!)!

While we waited for the salesgirl to assist us and write our selections down, we began to pull dishes from the shelves and set up an entire place setting on our own.  Keeping to my resolve of "letting her pick it herself" didn't last for very long since Caitlin continued to ask, "Do you like this...or What do think about that?"  Finally, I made a couple of suggestions to go along with what she had chosen and we were quite pleased with our choices so far when the sales associate eventually joined us.  She noticed that we were looking for a cup and saucer to go with the setting and THAT is when I decided that a gold set would top everything off perfectly.  Caitlin noted that she had seen one earlier and asked where it could be found.  The girl walked over and quickly found it in the corner, behind a plate.  IT WAS PERFECT!  We were admiring how beautiful it looked perched atop the stack of china when Caitlin suddenly asked, "How much is that cup and saucer any way?" (Ahhh...my practical child).  Sheepishly, the associated looked at us and relied, "$200."  YIKES!  Caitlin physically jumped away from that cup and saucer as though it was on fire and in danger of burning her.  She also suddenly cut her eyes in my direction and said, "NO WAY!...Get that cup off of there!"  I have to admit that I was also in a bit of shock and agreed that it was WAY too much for ANYBODY to spend on a drinking vessel...although it WAS so very pretty (sigh...).  Caitlin then accusingly asked me, "Why do you do that, MOM?!"  Hmmm...I replied with a question myself, "Why do you ask me to help?  You know I pick things out first and look at the price last." Agreeing that our taste far outweighed our pocketbooks, we longingly looked at that gold cup and saucer as we set it back in its corner (maybe it was in the corner for a reason...).   The associate snickered, nodded her head and we immediately began the search for a replacement set.  Finding one, we set it atop her place setting and stood back and smiled at our selections. 

Later that evening I commented to my husband that day had been one of the most fun "wedding task" days I had experienced so far.  Appearing a bit confused since he could not even imagine looking for china to be considered "fun", I explained further; "I think what made it so enjoyable was the fact that I didn't have to spend any money on this particular task!"  Well, not yet, I thought...I was pretty sure that I would be filling in any bits and pieces she did not get for wedding gifts.  However, one thing was for sure...This "Credit Card Woman" would NOT be burning up HER card buying any $200 cup and saucer sets; Even SHE has her limits!