Toy Story... a very cute movie that came out over 10 years ago now. For most of you, you probably already know what the movie is about. For those few who haven't seen it, here is a little synopsis. Toy Story is about the 'Secret life of toys' when people are not around. A little boy named Andy loves playing with his toys, especially his cowboy doll named "Woody". When Andy is not around his toys come to life, playing into the thought we always had as a kid... "Why aren't my toys where I left them?" And of course as a kid, we always think our toys are real and have feelings.
I remember dragging my mom and my husband (who was just my boyfriend at the time) to the theatre to watch Toy Story. I didn't have kids at the time, but I have always enjoyed animated movies. And if I remember correctly, this was Pixar's first movie. Then when Toy Story 2 came out, we had to watch that one as well. One of the rare instances where the sequel lives up to the first movie. When the DVDs came out we added them to our collection of movies at home.
Then Isabella entered our lives... we introduced her to disney movies at a young age. I look back and wish we wouldn't have but it was hard as heck to get that girl to sleep!! =) So as she gets older, she really starts to enjoy the Toy Story movies and loves the characters. Christmas 2005 we decide to get her most if not all of the main characters from the movies. It took us a while to find them, but she was so excited to open her presents and find, Woddy, Jessie, Buzz Lightyear and Slinky the dog. David told me we have Bullseye, but I don't remember seeing him in the basket of toys in Isabella's room. She loves these toys and usually plays with them on a daily basis and being the way that I am, I can't help but think these toys are exactly like the movie.
This past Christmas Eve... David has the day off while I had to work, I got off at noon, but still! ;o) The clock strikes 12 and we all dash out the door and I head to Superstition Springs mall to pick up some last minute stocking stuffers. Now you are probably asking yourself why I would brave the mall on Christmas eve... Well there are 2 main reasons, this was the Christmas of 2008 where the US and many other countries were in a bad recession (and as I type this, we still are) so I had a feeling the mall wouldn't be too packed. And the 2nd reason... I usually know the side of the mall to park on where no one usually goes to park. It's always by a department store that people don't shop in too much or an entrance to the mall that isn't near the most 'popular' stores. I get what I need and start to head home, as I'm driving out of the parking lot I call David to see how he is doing with the kids. Maybe they took over the house and he's buried in the back yard!! hehehe Nah! I know that would NEVER happen! I call him and ask if he would mind if I picked something up to eat. Now wait a minute!! Don't get the wrong idea here, I'm not asking for Permission... I just didn't want to go and grub only to find out they were waiting for me to go eat. So David mentions he's hungry too and wants to meet me somewhere to eat. I was like... Sure!! That sounds great!! He mentions a place not too far from our house called Baci's Italian Bistro. They just moved into their new building and we've only been there a couple of times. I usually put up a fight because every time we go there we end up walking out of the door $60 or more poorer than we went in. Their food is awesome and they serve you gigantic portions but the plate I really enjoy is $20 and so is David's... so with just our two plates we are already at $40 and we haven't fed the kids yet!!! LOL
Any whoo... So I meet them there for lunch and to my surprise their lunch menu is quite affordable. The kids are excited to see me and Isabella has her Jessie doll with her from Toy Story. We enjoy our lunch laughing and talking about the holidays and the happenings from the year. We finish our food and ask for the mandatory box to put our left overs in. I think Baci's owns stock in the company that supplies their boxes for left overs because you will never leave that place without one. As we walk out of the restaurant, Isabella wanted to hold one of the To Go boxes and I had the other one while David was holding on to little David. We proceed to get into separate cars, put the food in the back seat and head out to a couple of shops to do some last minute shopping.
Later on that night as we were enjoying our Christmas Eve I realized that I hadn't seen Isabella playing with Jessie. So I turn to her and ask, "Isabella, have you seen Jessie?" She ponders this question for a couple of seconds and then proceeds to tell me No. As she answers my question, I go through my memory bank and remember the last time I saw her... Baci's!!! I then ask her... "Did you leave her at the restaurant?" And this time she takes a little longer to think about it and tells me... I don't know. I do a quick look around the house to be sure she's not stuffed under a couch cushion or hiding under a pile of toys in her room. My search leaves me empty handed so I grab my keys to check the car. Maybe Isabella accidentally left her there... and again my search leaves me empty handed.
Now this is where the missing toy is affecting me more than it does Isabella. I can't stop thinking about the movie Toy Story and how sad Jessie was when she was left behind by her 'owner'. Here it is, Christmas Eve and she is now a 'Lost Toy'... (if you've seen the movies, you'll understand). So I decide to call the restaurant, hoping they were still open... They answer. "Hi, my name is Michelle and I have a weird question for you. You see, we were there earlier today for lunch and my daughter left her toy there. Has anyone turned in a toy doll?" He puts me on hold to check. Meanwhile I'm thinking to myself... She's got to be there, that is the only place we went today where I saw Isabella holding her. He gets back on the phone... "Sorry, no one has turned in any doll." I said okay even though I was thinking to myself... they just didn't look hard enough. At this point David is telling me to forget it and hopefully it will teach Isabella a lesson and she won't bring toys with her anymore. But I just couldn't let it be... Jessie was lost and of all days... Christmas Eve!
So I hop in the car with Isabella and we take a little road trip to the restaurant. We get there and I ask if I could look on the side of the table where we were sitting. He says to me... "You were the one who called earlier right?" When he said this, I knew at that moment he thought I was crazy. They let me look on the side of table.... nothing. So I give them my name and number to call if anything shows up, knowing full well they just threw that paper away the moment I walked out the door. So I somberly walk back to the car and tell Isabella... "Jessie is gone". We drive back home and when we get there David asks me if we had any luck but he could already tell by the looks on our face.
I was sad that night and wondered to myself... "Why am I so distraught over this toy"... "It's JUST a toy!" But it's because of that darn movie Toy Story... I couldn't help but feel sad that Jessie was now 'lost'.
......
A couple of days pass by and David goes outside to get something out of the car. He walks in and tells me... "Look what I found" I look at what was in his hand and its Jessie. I asked him where he found it and he said she was in the Trunk. The weird thing is, I know for a fact that I didn't open the trunk when we left the restaurant and I remember distinctively that Isabella didn't carry her out of the restaurant because she wanted to help me carry the boxes of left overs. I didn't put the left overs in the trunk because I didn't want them to slide around so I put them behind the drivers seat on the floor. So how did she get in the trunk.... maybe it's like the ending of the first movie when Buzz and Woody show up in Andy's car after chasing it down the road for miles.... hmmm... One can only wonder!!! ;o)
