Mall Rats

Sunday Sam and I went to the Twelve Oaks mall. It is a fifty minute drive away.  The crowds at this mall would make you believe that online commerce is not affecting business.  Unlike the malls that are closer to us, this mall is busy.  I drove, Sam declined and instead took on the role of backseat navigator. I was not bothered by her need to direct our route.  I think my navigation skills are declining with age.  I used to let Billy drive when we went up north.  She like to drive and I preferred to control the songs on the radio. 

I was in a bad mood.  Too much time on the weekends to brood.  I was fixated on Ten year old Ford Escapes (Billy's car).  I see them everywhere and even though I know Billy is not the driver it gets my mind going.  The audio version of the Untethered Soul helped me focus and recenter myself today.

At the mall I managed to buy several things, a pair of casual shoes, a pair of jeans, a pair of dress pants and several shirts.  Some of the shirts were so cheap I thought about buy duplicates!  I mean who can pass up a David Bitton Buffalo shirt for $8!

"This is how my life usually goes," I tell Sam as we walked toward the mall entrance.  "I'll be shopping and suddenly there Billy will be with her pack of man haters."  The pack of man haters include her mom, her aunt (mom's twin) and her cousin (aunt's daughter). 

"What do you mean?"

"Remember I told you about the girl long ago I was infatuated with who rejected me?  One day I am shopping at Lakeside in the mens department and I look up and WHAM, she is on the other side of a clothes rack from me.  She wasn't even married at the time."

We did not see Billy.  I was actually able to forget her for a while.  Spending money on myself is more therapeutic then spending it on her.

I have four vacation days left this year.  I do not have any vacation plans and there is only seven work weeks left for me this year.  I could use the vacation days to create long weekends but weekends are hard.  I will have to save one or two for doctor appointments for dad.  Perhaps I can talk Rose into going on a long weekend somewhere.