Monday at the Mall

I am not a shopper. That may surprise some of you. But it's true. I really don't like to shop. I always enter a store with a clear agenda of what I need. You'll never find me aimlessly roaming Target on a Tuesday afternoon. I briskly walk the store and if I happen to glimpse what I need, I stop and assess. I do not meander the aisles or peruse the racks. I don't often stop and look just 'cause "it's pretty". And I don't like to stand and debate about my purchases. Frankly, I get bored and end up thinking of the other "important" things that I should be doing. Also, I hate to part with money. I am not the girlfriend that you want to take to the mall. Granted, I've done my share of shopping with the best of them. As a child, I endured shopping trips with my mom and grandma that lasted for hours and hours. Sitting on the floor in Eddie Bauer listening to the longest conversation ever about whether Uncle Tim would look better in this plaid flannel shirt or this one. Standing in a fitting room and hearing, "Now how do those fit in the (whispered) crotch?" While glimpsing myself in teal Healthtex denim. That's right Grandma, I know you're reading and I'm calling you out. Hey- 10 year olds tend to blush at the word "crotch". Anyway, I think that you get the point. Shopping is not my favorite past time. I never go to the mall just to go to the mall...unless I'm meeting my girlfriends and that's the agreed upon rendezvous.

After a busy birthday party weekend, I had big plans for Monday. Drop Ava at preschool and head on over to the license branch for my new plates. And then I pulled into the empty school parking lot...and it registered...MLK Day. Oh yeah. Duh. Well now what? Go back home to the laundry and dishes? I think not. I had successfully gotten three of us clean and dressed (I even put on make up). So we headed to the mall. We did all of the things that we never have time for or I never let the kids do. I got the girls a pretzel dog. Ava's favorite. We rode up and down in the glass elevator. We window shopped. We smelled perfume and Ava tested lip glosses (one of her favorite activities). I finally let Ava ride the train. She's been asking since before Christmas and I never had the time. Since she was the only kid there, the guy let her go round and round for 15 minutes. She laughed and rang that obnoxious bell the whole time. Good for her. It was pure joy. When she asked to get our picture taken in the photo booth I said, "Why not?"