monday, june 25, 2001
shopping

i have rediscovered today why i don't usually do too much shopping any more:

1. bad knees which do not take kindly to public transportation and walking,

2. the california heat, particularly in summer, and

3. spending.

i used to love shopping. like "most" women, i would browse the blouses and dresses even though i had found that pants i wanted. i didn't mind window shopping, i could use it to hint at neat presents for birthdays and christmas and what not...and figure out what i would buy when i didn't get it. i like buying for others too, especially husband and children. saxy and i had first started dating when i went out and spent quite a bit of money on clothes for him. not that i really had the money, but he really had a need and because i care i didn't mind filling that need for him. (besides, what woman would turn away from the opportunity of having a say in the way her man dresses?) there were limits, usually the bottom line in the checkbook or the end of the pay check. credit cards were, and in many ways still are, a bad idea (but i'm learning, i swear i am!). but, of course, this is at the heart of the spending problem. i go into a store wanting to buy a pair of jeans and come out with a blouse and skirt as well. and now that we have those, i must find good comfortable shoes to match.

the net actually solved most of this. i still buy too many books (but at least i am not overwhelmed by the shelves) and tend to impulse buy fonts, but other than that i don't shop unless i need something. then i track it down and buy it without the temptation of other aisles calling my name with all their sundry goodies that i (or another) would love to have but really don't need. this can still be hard on the credit card, but since i make huge lump sum payments, it's usually covered.

today we went shopping. i rediscovered california heat and bad knees, but i also rediscovered spending. we went to buy a card table and some cds for the cd rw drive i am getting within the week. this is what we were supposed to be buying. we also decided to have lunch together. lunch was first, no unexpected surprises and went well. now, off to target for above said items. we found the card table but didn't buy it because it would be too big to haul around on the bus. we will wait on that, it wasn't too expensive but we have to make sure transportation is available before we buy. no later than friday i am sure. then we go looking for cds and all we find are digital cds. not what we want since i need to be able to store data. so you would think that would be the end of it, wouldn't you?

you'd be thinking wrong.

we walked out of the above store with a hello kitty lamp and alarm clock for the oldest. to be fair, she needed the clock. a pager can only do so much, especially when you finally learn to tune it out. but from there we went to another store which did have the cds (a slightly higher price than dell, but we had already ordered the drive and didn't feel the need to tack on a belated order as well). so, we have a clock, a lamp and cds and know where the table is.

we're still not done.

in addition to the above, i picked up a planner for my writing and school, and saxy picked up blank video tapes (a pack of ten even), pen ink refills, and a can of air. after that, because of the heat we went and got more drinks to sip on while we waited for the bus.

yes, i di enjoy my time with my hubby and my oldest, but no, we will not do that again any time soon. shopping on the net is much safer.