Productivity

So today I elected to go shopping.  We were kidless for the afternoon and evening, and even though The Brit did not want to go, I headed out the door.  It was a beautiful day!  70-something degrees, minimal humidity; I was in heaven!

With gearing up to start working out at the Y this coming week, I needed some workout shorts.  Now, one would not think this would be a difficult outing, but thoughts can be deceiving.  I headed to the mall and though it goes against everything I believe in, I went to Fashion Bug.  I hate ours; always have and always will.  That stupid store has been my only option for years when searching for clothing and it is over crowded (yeah, big girls really want to try to squeeze through racks that are so close together we have to hold our breath and pray we don't take half the clothes off the rack with us), and filled with overpriced, unattractive clothing.  For 4 years in a row I have been in that shop trying to find a deep green dress for Christmas and you would think I was trying to find a swimsuit in November.  Red was usually not even an option and Lord knows, all the dresses must have sequins and a sequin gal I am not.

But the mall was apparently on sale, so I headed into the store from hell.  Nothing. Nada. Zip.  I found one pair of long workout pants in my new size and decided they were not worth standing in line for.  So, I headed out to Shenk and Title, the sporting goods store.  Okay, I knew it was a longshot and it was, because apparently, their policy is that fat girls don't work out, ergo, they don't need shorts in their size.

So, I headed up to my second most dreaded store: Lane Bryant.  They are more overpriced than Fashion Bug and our LB is very urban.  Everything is low cut, and either lime green, orange, black or brown or some design that I don't go for.  Now, don't get me wrong; I see many African Americans wearing their stuff and they look fabulous, but this white chick can't pull it off.  But I walk inside with the hopes of some shorts.  A heavyset woman asks me if she can help me as soon as I walk in and I ask her if she has any athletic shorts.

"Athletic shorts?"  She sounded confused as if such a phrase had never crossed her ears before.

"Yeah, you know, like shorts to work out in."

"Work out?" (I am so not making this up)

So I gave a detailed description of what I wanted and she told me what I already knew; that they could not help me.

Headed to Sears and they had moved the Women's section.  I  used to know where it was but now Petites is there.  Turns out, I had apparently blinked and missed the handful of racks of women's clothing.  Again, nothing.

So, after stopping for a protein shake (why can the mall make a sugar free protein shake that tastes wonderful, but I can't??) and getting a great bargain on a summer sweater and tank to go under it for the lump sum of $14.98 at CJ Banks, I headed to Kohls.  There, I did find two black pairs of workout gear...a pair of shorts and a pair of just above the ankle pants on sale for $15 each, in a smaller size than I would have bought three months ago.  I also picked up a tee shirt for each of the boys (Tony Hawks for Aaron and something Orange for JJ as he is a Dukes of Hazzard fanatic) as well as a pair of Speedos googles for me.  I'm hoping with swimming at the Y they may allow me to keep my contacts in my eyeballs.

This evening, The Brit and I went out for sushi and it was so good!  I couldn't eat much as the rice is so filling and I even did without the rice with my Kani Krab, but still brought some home.  We spent a whopping $28, where before surgery, we could have easily eaten $50-$60 worth of sushi.  Amazing.

Then tonight, I got a headstart on cleaning JJ's room before school starts.  The dresser, desk, bookshelf and nightstand are finished.  He's a total packrat, so I already have one bag full for the yardsale at church and another full bag of trash.  I haven't even touched the toy box or the closet yet (the closets are HUGE cedar closets, so this is no small undertaking.) but it is on my list for this week. 

School starts in TEN days!