off the wagon

just as the leaves wither, the days grow short, and i have to scrape off my windshield with a credit card on the morning of the first big frost because my ice scraper is buried in a guest closet somewhere, alicia makes her november visit and we spend 48 hours shopping and eating.

there's a new mall in short pump. i've only been there an hour at a time. either to eat or return something with denise. this weekend changed all that. we arrived at 10 saturday morning, left at 3, arrived again at 6.30, and left at 10. the second time we arrived had nothing to do with shopping, tho it did have to do with spending money ... at least it fit the theme. on sunday, we arrived at 11 a.m. and the starbucks guy recognized me.

"you were here yesterday morning. do you work here?""nope, just shopping."

then the woman behind me laughed. i guess she thought i was one of those people who while away their weekends spending obscene amounts of money in stores like ann taylor loft, j.jill, nordstrom, and pottery barn. ha!

i don't remember how long we stayed yesterday ... maybe an hour. then we went to a different mall ... an indoor one this time ... where the old navy is.

the way i see it

all great writers will probably tell you that washing dishes is critical to writing compelling prose that people enjoy reading. i find that success involves a careful balance of dishes, laundry, watching football, and brushing my hair.

perhaps that's why i'm not "great" ... yet ...