Friday, October 8, 2021

Shopping, As A Pastime

 Seems like all I did during the pandemic's worst months was shop on line.

Amazon.  Target dot com.  Walgreens dot com.  Yarn shopping.  Fabric shopping other than what I did where I worked.  Toilet paper, aspirin, my prescriptions, whatever we needed could be delivered to my doorstep by any number of brown-clad or blue-clad delivery people in various types of vans and trucks.  And let us not even begin to discuss books!  ...and shoes!  My 'granny vans' came from Zappos dot com. 


Groceries could be ordered on line and picked up without leaving the car.  The mail carrier brought small packages and large ones.  Some that could be tucked into my rather small mailbox and others that had to be dropped or tossed or thrown onto the porch.  Or delivered by a couple of burly boys from one of those furniture places...

My granddaughters love to shop.  The oldest one is off to college now and is very adroit at Amazon's website.  But the youngest is still here, and her favorite places are mine too -- Michaels, Target, and The Always Amazing Goodwill, Salvation Army, St Vincent DePaul.

Last week we spent some time together as the parental unit was out of town.  On the one weekday and one weekend day when she didn't have school, we did actual shopping.  In stores!  I know, weird, right?  But it turned out to be rather enjoyable.  The weather was perfect and we paced ourselves.

Because I'm fully vaccinated I didn't have to wear a mask most places, even the ones where she did.  Wisconsin allows the merchants to set their own rules, and it's a mixed bag.  Some places 'suggest' or even 'recommend' masks whether you're vaxxed or not, and if they did, we complied.  No biggie.

We set limits, and of course she blew through her own cash (what she brought with her, lol!) at a pretty fast clip.  I told her it was for things she wanted if I didn't want to spend $$ on them, and she was fine with that.  She had her gramma-sponsored budget and stuck to it, making choices along the way.

Not that I was in love with everything she picked out!  She buys men's shirts to wear as 'layering pieces', and in my opinion they just don't always flatter.  One was an unfortunate yellowy-beige that probably wouldn't flatter much of anybody, but what are you going to do with a teenager?  Just love 'em I guess!  That lovely purple in the blue bag is a pair of fleece pj bottoms she found, and that was a good choice for her so she was happy.


Anyway, I managed to find a couple of nice higher-end sweaters at the Goodwill, bought some sale fabric at a quilt shop, and about a dozen books at St. Vinney's for the outrageous price of $1.29 each!  I picked up a copy of Ahab's Wife, by Sena Jeter Naslund.  It was on the NY Times best seller list when it came out in 1999.   I also scored a Debbie Macomber and a Kristin Hannah that I hadn't read.  Altogether a lovely time, and we didn't overspend anywhere.

                  

Well, maybe on lunch... lol!

Rock on...