Swimsuit Shopping ... EEEeeeeckkkkk!

Anybody know of the existance of a super skin-shrinking miracle cream I can buy? I went swimsuit shopping today ... 7 weeks after having a baby ... not the best idea but it had to be done. Since we are going to the beach this month and I really don't want to wear my maternity swimsuit nor my pre-baby bikini, I was left with the option of going swimsuit shopping. As far as my weight loss goes, I'm doing even better this time than last so I really can't complain. (I think it's because I just don't have time to eat much.) Only problem is all the extra skin on my belly. Carrying a 12-pounder really did some work to the skin on my belly. My Aunt Audrey pointed out to me that it was the equivalent of carrying twins, if not more. And she has a point ... no wonder strangers kept asking me if I was carrying twins every time I went to the grocery store while I was pregnant. Especially in the last month ... happened almost every time I left the house!
It was an interesting trip to say the least. We really only have two stores in Lake City that I can find clothes at ... Penney's and Goody's. Well Penney's had some plumbing trouble on monday. A pipe broke and flooded the store so they had to close for clean up. Then on Tuesday the equipment that was cleaning up and airing out the store released too much carbon-monoxide and caused the mall to be evacuated. They were up and running today with only two ladies dressing rooms available and the place smelled like a public restroom that had not been cleaned in a while. Pretty nasty but the swimsuits were all 70% off so I couldn't pass that up. Not too much to pick through though since it's back-to-school shopping time and not get-ready-for-your-summer-trip-to-the-beach shopping time. I did manage to find something wearable though.
Next we went to Goody's where they had these huge sale racks. I immediatly found a really cute green and brown skirt that I just had to have and then spent about 20 minutes digging through everything to find a matching brown tank top. And of course since i'm in the "after-baby" phase of clothes shopping I have to have everything in three different sizes before I head to the fitting room. So at least 30 minutes after walking into the store with Brody riding along in the sling and Houston in the stroller, we head to the fitting room. Now keep in mind that i'm tired, Houston is getting tired and fussy and I have to pee ... but I really want this skirt so here we go. I take one step into the fitting room and this store employee stops me and says "no strollers aloud in the dressing room" ... which is news to me since i've been bringing a stroller into this same dressing room for about two years now and as recently as last friday. I tell her this and she says it's a new policy and that she will watch Houston for me ... yeah ... like that's gonna happen. When I go into a dressing room Houston plays with the hangers and Brody sits in the stroller ... that's how it works. So I tried arguing my point with her and she points at the stack of clothes I have and says "yeah well you're also only supposed to have 4 items in here at a time". My blood pressure is rising at this point. So we have a short discussion about their "new policy" of a stroller being a "safety hazard" and how they are now placing someone there to monitor the dressing rooms, which they have never done before. So I inform her that because I am a mom with two small children, their new policy means I will never be able to shop here again which is a loss for them because I do a lot of shopping here. I then hand her my stack of clothes and say "and now you are going to have to put all these back" and I then walked away. On my way out of the store I found another employee and told her I wanted to talk to a manager. I got an assistant manager and told her what I thought of their "new policy". She said the stroller thing was because of the people coming in with the "big cadillac strollers that have places for bags in them" and that my stroller would be fine. (my stroller is a small umbrella stroller that doesn't even have a place to hold a drink, much less any shopping bags) So much for the "safety hazard"? She offered to go tell the lady in the dressing room (who i'm sure would not be happy to see me again) to let me in. I said "no thanks" and told her that i'm not going to buy anything here today and that I just wanted to make sure they knew my thoughts on their "new policy". So much for my beautiful new skirt! Oh well, it was principle at this point. And what about only letting us take four items into the dressing room? I can't even try on a whole outfit that way right now. I had three sizes of the skirt and three sizes of the top ... that's already six items!