Comfort and Joy

The sun rose today on shoppers already weary from shopping since midnight.  A few even were out Thanksgiving Day evening.  I'm all for getting a good deal, but it would have to be something really special to drag me out in the middle of the night.  And I am a night owl.

But I also like my creature comforts.  One of those basic comforts is my jammies.  Right now, it is not even 8:00 p.m., but I have on my new pajamas (bought at a Black Friday sale today).  I almost always wash my new clothes first because of dyes, sizing and other chemicals used in the manufacturing process.  Not today.  I was upset (story for another time) and all my comforting jammies are in the wash.  I figured as long as they don't itch, I'll wear them.  I don't know, though.  Certain, uh, sensitive portions of my torso, are feeling a little...roughness.  Oh well, I can change.  But I've digressed.

Ah yes.  Creature comforts.  Nothing makes me quite as happy as wearing something jersey knit, having my sun-mimicking lamp turned on, a good book (is there any other kind?  Well, yes there are actually...but another time) and something tasty.  The only thing missing is someone to cuddle with.  Four out of five ain't bad, I guess.

So for those who stayed up to get in line before midnight, well, I hope it was worth it.  For those who got up before sunrise, well, I can understand that--somewhat.  A couple of years ago, I got my benefits check on Christmas Eve day--direct deposit is great. I was at WalMart at 5:30 a.m. hoping to beat the crowd, only to find out they didn't open until 7:00 a.m.  So I went to Home Depot who had opened at 5:00 a.m.  And I still got to WalMart before it was too crowded.  Then I went home and went back to bed.

Today, I got up at 6:30 a.m.  For me, that's almost a miracle.  I went to bed early last night (12:30 a.m.) so I could get an early start.  I had to wash my hair and then I had to check the bank accounts.  Once I was online, I went to Facebook and Bebe was cuddling with me (Oh! I do have someone to cuddle with!) so it was 7:20 before I left.

The first store I hit was Half Price Books.  I had a coupon, of course.  I spent two and a half hours there.  I had finally learned how to access the internet from my cell phone so I was able to call up my Amazon wish list to make sure I didn't buy any duplicate books.  So cool.  Since I hadn't eaten, I was getting kind of lightheaded and dopey.  So my second stop was Dunkin Donuts.  I know, not very healthy and not good for the blood sugar.  But I figured...all right, justified it, by reminding myself that the pumpkin muffins would be gone after Christmas.  And there isn't any better coffee.  Anywhere.  

Starbucks?  Smells like a used cat litter box.  I can't get past the smell to actually taste it.  Gloria Jean?  Too pricey and still only so-so.  Peets?  Heard of them, but haven't tried them.  Seattle's Best?  Good second choice.  Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf?  Nice place to sit and I'd rank the coffee as third choice.  It's a Grind?  Love the name, but haven't tried the coffee yet.  However, I've digressed again.

While in DD, I used my cell phone to send a message to my Facebook friends about where I was and what I was doing.  (I gloat because learning how to do that was no easy feat!)  Then I headed to Catherine's, where I purchased the above mentioned jammies.  And a pair of earrings.  That's it.  Really.

Third was Ulta.  I went there to get a gift card for my daughter.  She's been wanting--and putting off getting--a new hair straightener.  The ones she likes are the over-$100 kind.  When I got there, it was a mad house.  The check out line was a good 10-12 people deep.  So I browsed.  I went back and looked at the straighteners.  Yeah, the best were $149 or so.  I found a good one for $59, but my daughter is a prima dona.  She doesn't want to settle for less than the best.  I keep telling her that the highest price doesn't mean it's the best quality.  So I browsed some more.  I found the Rusk shampoo I like and decided to splurge on myself (like I hadn't been doing that already?!).  I found the self-adhesive fake eye lashes which were on a "two-for" sale.  So I got two, naturally.  And just a few other little things for my daughter's Christmas stocking.  I pulled out my Ulta perks card.  My card is old.  I got it back in 1989, when most of the stuff I bought there was for myself.  The card is still good and when the clerk saw it, she treated me like I was the Grand Dame of Ulta.  Funny, I always think of Grand Dames as being old.  I guess I was wrong.

Lastly, I went to Target.  By then it was almost noon.  But getting cat litter was absolutely necessary!  I'd been to WalMart on Wednesday, but they had been out of the Arm & Hammer brand.  It's not good to change litter brands.  Cats don't like that.  And cats have innumerable ways to show their displeasure.  I got a few other things, too.  The hummus my daughter likes was on sale, which precipitated a rather lengthy phone call to her about which flavor she wanted and my trekking up and down aisles looking for flatbread.  I finally found it in the bakery section (right next to the deli where the hummus was) but it wasn't the kind she likes.  Aaargh!

I was home around 1:30 p.m.  That's six hours of shopping (with the exception of the DD stop).  After I put away the few refrigerated or frozen items, I took a few bags upstairs, fed Bebe, then dumped the rest of my bags by the stairway door and crashed on the couch.  My little entourage of feline friends snuggled around me and we napped.

Except for an incident with the old cat, it was a great day.  I'm happy.  But I would never have done all that starting at midnight!

Nectar of the gods!