In case you were wondering

what happened to me, I am here. Somehow the days go by, filled with dinner and dishes and hairballs. The children are taking a few tennis lessons this summer, much more enthusiastic about that than fencing. We watched pretty much the entire U. S. Open golf tournament, and today William tells me he wishes we had cable. I asked what he would watch, and he said he would watch the first nine holes of the playoff. I didn’t bother to tell him there’s an entire golf channel. Plus, I still don’t get the whole golf thing. My dad was in La Jolla watching the Open, but their plan was to leave Monday, so I am not sure if he delayed it so he could watch the playoff. One thing’s for sure, you would think that with all the money spent on golf, they could find some better commentators. The Monday ones were better than the weekend ones.

The garden is alright, the cat has not returned, but neither has the sun. It’s been one day of hot and windy and three days of chilly lately. I know it’s only mid June but I predict snow in three months so these plants better get a move on.

Today I took the children and drove down to the Sears store at Cherry Creek. They have a Lands End store there. It creeps me out to even enter a Sears, they are identical to how they looked in 1982 when they refused my mother a credit card to buy a new stove for her newly purchased house (you know, back in the days when people with a good job and credit history were actually denied credit), and she swore she’d never buy anything from them again. And she never did. And I, continuing to carry her grudge, haven’t either. Even after I met John, whose family believes the sun rises and sets on Kenmore appliances, I was steadfast. He being the reasonable person that he is, allowed me to insist on getting our stuff from Best Buy. Then Sears had to go and buy Lands End, and I’ve had guilt ever since. So. They do have a few things that I like that are impossible to find elsewhere, like plain ole short sleeve solid color sweaters. I almost ordered them but after tax and shipping (and tax on the shipping), knowing I would have to send some stuff back, I thought I’d just go try it on and save some trouble.

William loathes clothes shopping, even for himself. He is not a whiner, though, and I rarely go shopping even without him, so I figured he could suck it up and join the legions of bored children before him who had to shop with their mothers. Plus I told him to take a book and I offered him a McFlurry afterward if he cooperated.

So we drive down there, and it’s about 30 minutes away. I found the parking garage, found the Lands End store and thought I must have been on the wrong floor. Surely they had to have had more stuff. But no. The sweaters in question were not there, even though 6 weeks ago the store was packed with them. (I tried to shop that day, with John, but it was still spring and even though it was 80 degrees outside, they still had the heater on and I was about to suffocate, so we left, after complaining.) All that driving for nothing. But at least I got to pay $2 for parking. I’m pretty sure the quality of their stuff has declined since Sears took over. Hmph.

I did have a good idea, though, driving behind a wimpy hybrid car: there ought to be some kind of cruise control that automatically kicks in when a person starts using their cell phone. I don’t care if they drive slow, but the speeding up and slowing down really annoys me. Two times the hybrid waited to the last second to merge in front of me and each time I let her in, but the stupid back window was so small I couldn’t tell if she gave me the thank you wave. (I very much believe in the importance of the thank you wave.) I’m guessing no, because when I passed her she was yakking on her phone.

We finally made it to the golden arches. I had a buy one get one free Mcflurry coupon, plus a $1 certificate. Even with those I paid $4 for three small ice creams. They were so small I had to squint to find them. Back in the day they were large! And practically free! I know it’s been a million years since I bought ice cream at McDonald’s, but it looks like it might be another million before I go back. Ouch.

I am bummed about the shopping, but I feel a little wiser. Too bad wisdom doesn’t match my blue skirt.