The one thing I needed most out of my shopping trip today was the one thing I didn’t get. I was in a store where that item was not only on display, but on sale. I took the tag to the cashier, and she told me they were “out.” I was going to point out that they weren’t so out that they didn’t have one on the floor, but I had seen the one on the floor and didn’t want that one. So for my purposes, they were indeed “out.”

The trip wasn’t a total loss. The traffic was far less hectic than I’d feared, for one thing. It wasn’t any worse than it is any other time of year. And as I do any time I’m out driving, I got behind the slowest person in town, stuck going five miles an hour below the speed limit. No wonder nobody ever gets anywhere!

But that was my only complaint, really, other than the store being “out” of the one thing I really wanted. I did find many other things and filled many gaps in my list. Now I have a better handle on what I need to do to get my shopping done. If I can do that in one more trip, I’ll be happy. If I can do it without leaving the house, I’ll be even happier.

I have rules about when I can shop. I don’t like driving around at night at this time of year, and I don’t want to be in the stores on the weekend. That leaves only one time: during working hours. It’s a good thing I have some flexibility there, although not as much as I’d like. I made my whole trip in an hour and a half today, and managed to spend a tiny fortune. At least it was money well spent, since none of it was on myself.