poor

with that, my christmas shopping season came to an abrupt ending. it only took me five hours over two days to spend an amount of money that i don't care to mention. apparently i'm quick to spend when it comes to shopping for others, but i can't imagine spending as much money as i did these past two days on myself. weird, huh? maybe that's what i'll do next year ... and from then on only participate in christmas (involving others) every two years or so.

i enjoy mall shopping unless i'm doing it in the last quarter of the year. i was fortunate enough to be able to shop yesterday afternoon before the majority of the working world was released from its cage. even then, i made it to fridays in enough time to get a good parking spot for my car full of presents. woo-hoo!

today was a different story. it involved crowds, lines, strollers, and know-it-all teenagers. do you really think you're doing anyone any good when you stand outside a store in the middle of the walkway, waiting for your friend/spouse/whoever to come out? and when you finally do start walking, why are you coming this way but have your head turned around? despite what you think, you're not the only one here.

with only two more stops to make, my frustration level peaked, so in a seething walkway, i stopped in my tracks. then i turned around quickly, took a few steps and stopped again. then i walked in a tight circle and pretended i was lost. it was as if the mother ship just dropped me off in the middle of this mall and i had no idea what was going on. i fit right in.

i managed to trip the guy in who, several moments prior in walden books, had done nothing but stand in the only path between the bargain books and the general fiction. yay me! had he merely been looking at a book, i wouldn't have been so irritated walking around the history and through the self-help sections to get to the books directly behind him. for the record, saying "excuse me" to holiday shoppers is like asking zoey to have dinner ready.

also for the record, barnes and noble has the absolute worst christmas music. christmas with aaron neville? who thought that was a good idea? at least they had what i was looking for ... but maybe the woman at the customer service desk wearing the antlers could have been a little nicer. or she could have not worn antlers. she was a holiday paradox.