To Shop or Not

Now that I've retired, I've actually been doing some shopping in real stores.  Where once I  was a world-class shopper, old age, arthritis, bad feet, poor eyes, and a brain that no longer can cope with 10,000 items all in one place (I stand and stare at canisters for the kitchen unable to choose between the round ones, the square ones, the flat ones, the thin ones, the clip top ones, the white ones, the clear ones, and the 200 other choices one has to make) has sapped me of my shopping savey.

I bought a wedding present the other day -- online.  The choices were Target or Crate and Barrel.  I originally picked out a more expensive gift from Target -- but they didn't have automatic mailing to the couple and I couldn't find the invitation for the proper address.  So Crate and Barrel got my business because it was one stop shopping, wrapping, and mailing -- and no information other than the couple's name and payment type needed from me.  Hurray!  My kind of shopping experience.  It also got me to RSVP -- on line of course -- for the wedding itself. 

I do have to trek into Trader Joe's to get the natural dog treats they sell -- plus Hubby loves their ginger snap cookies and their salt-free nuts.  All other dog products, including food if I choose, can now be ordered on line.

HyVee has yet to decide to deliver groceries to my home -- so for the past six years, they have been my bi-weekly shopping trips.  I can satisfy my jones for shopping right in the grocery aisles.  And once a month we usually do a Sam's run -- when I was teaching Hubby did the Sam's store expeditions, but since I've retired, he doesn't bother going inside.  He sits in the car and pulls up to the door when I come out.

I spent last month wandering around in my nightgowns because:  1) it's horribly hot and clothing makes me sweat and 2) my bras are just uncomfortable.  I've known for the last two years I needed to go bra shopping -- and once in a while, if I HAD to go into WalMart I'd pick up a cheap bra in their handy-dandy bra drawers.  When you wear an ungainly DD or sometimes DDD cup size, bras are not easy to come by.  And, add to that, if you really want all your bras to be front-hooked, it gets even more complicated.  The last time I bought bras, I chose a selection online, and figured one or two would fit properly, and I ordered.  And they all fit -- some better than others -- but they weren't frayed or worn gray with washing, so I wore them, no matter how comfortable (or uncomfortable) they actually were. 

Of course, that meant that all the companies I'd ordered from sent me weekly emails about underwear sales.  This morning I bit the bullet and ordered a new selection of mammoth sized, front closing bras.  Hopefully, again, some of them will be comfortable.  At least they won't be totally worn away from washing.  Interestingly, I found a place where I could order bras in very unusual colors.  Normally, in my size you get white, tan, black.  But their forest green and mahogany bras were cheaper than white -- by about $2 to $5 each -- and what do I care if the bra I'm wearing is a strange color.  Only Hubby will ever see it -- so I got the cheapest ones in the style I picked and I will be wearing quite a rainbow of colors.  Once upon a time (when I was a size 10 -- man, that was years ago) the pretty colored bras were more expensive. 

I used to book shop with an ex-boss of mine.  We'd go at lunch and she always had great recommendations for me.  Now I order books online for the Kindle from Amazon and they are sent wireless.  When trip planning though for Chesapeake Bay I did have to order maps and travel books that I could carry around with me.  It had been awhile since we'd seen hardback books.

I even ordered meds online when I had the Blues -- but now that I'm retired, like Hubby, our scripts are filled at the neighborhood Walgreens.  Of course, drive through is so convenient we rarely actually go into the store. 

I currently have a shopping list for a WalMart run sometime in our future.  I hate those stores.  They are so darned big and you never can get checked out quickly.  I prefer Target but they are more expensive than WalMart -- and they just don't have the same variety of selection (the awful variety that dumbfounds me when I actually try to make a selection). 

I got the lid to my cheap two quart liquid container caught in the bottom of the dishwasher and the dryer thingie melted it.  So I need a new 2 quart container for my generic Crystal Lite refreshments.  My original one came from HyVee but now they only carry these huge hard plastic ones and I don't like them and they are too hard to handle.  Target has the same containers as HyVee.  So at some point, when I'm feeling really good, and it isn't the weekend I need to make a WalMart run for some cheap lipstick, a loaf pan (I gave Hubby one for Christmas but we never got home with it from Houston), and a  two quart drink container. 

Ah, the art of shopping.