Do you prefer to shop alone or with somebody?

I was off work yesterday for the Columbus Day holiday, so I thought I'd do a bit of shopping. I normally shop with Rick or my sister, but Rick doesn't have the holiday off and my sister had an in-service day at school (she's the vice-principal of a local school). Everybody I knew was working, so off to the mall I went. By myself.

It was kind of nice being on my own. I tried on a lot of pants (I have such a hard time finding pants that fit, so I can spend hours trying them on) and shirts. I managed to find three pairs of pants (Gloria Vanderbilt's Amanda pants in olive green, a pair of Lees casual pants in heather grey and a pair of black Dockers), three shirts, two sweaters, three pairs of dress socks, and some underwear. Oh, and a really great pair of black boots....I love, love, love boots and am always looking for a good pair. Because of the sales and some dept store coupons and such, I only spent $150. I left the house around 9:30 and was back home by 1:30, so that's pretty good. And I only spent half my stash, so I get to do it again! (My next off-work holiday is Veteran's Day, although a lot of people seem to have off for that one, too.)

Last year, I think I ended up by myself for a Columbus Day shopping trip, too. It may become a tradition as I did have a good time shopping alone. I didn't have to worry about taking too much time looking or trying clothes on. And I could walk around as I wanted.

What was really neat is that usually when I shop for myself, I end up buying stuff for the grandkids or the cats or for Rick or for the house. And I get nothing for me. I was determined to come home with clothes for a change.

I'm lucky because Rick actually doesn't mind shopping. We'll get up early, go to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast and we'll spend the rest of the day shopping. He'll go to all the stores, he'll wait for me to try on clothes, and he makes a lot of suggestions for clothes for me to buy. I've told several people that he has better taste than I do and it's the truth.

I just feel that I'm imposing on his time, although I'm really not. He likes to take a day and shop....even if it just clothes for me. But even for the house, he'll look and feel the towels and washclothes, he'll look at dishes, he'll look at anything. Although he still feels a just a wee bit uncomfortable in the ladies underwear section of the stores.

Still, every once in a while, it's just nice to be out and about myself.

Well, that could be it, too, but I think he also looks at it as a day out and about.

I used to go to the drags with him, but to be honest, I really hate drag racing. And no matter how much I tried to hide it, I couldn't. Now he goes with one of his cousins and I know he has a much better time.

I've tried to take an interest in other sports for Rick, but remember, I'm the one who fell fast asleep at a hockey game one night, embarrassing both Rick and my brother. I mean, they said that I was curled up in the seat and even snoring! That was the last hockey game he ever took me to.