I Hate Shopping

Really. I mean, I know this calls my gender into question, but I really hate shopping. At least, shopping for non-consumables, such as clothes, furniture, etc. And the fact that I had to drive to Omaha this morning and spend all afternoon doing such shopping should bring pity into all of your hearts.

We need new furniture for our living room. What we have in here now, we bought for our first house about 18 years ago. It's really worn out. It has needed replacing for quite a while. So, we trekked down to Nebraska Furniture Mart to see what they had.

Good heavens! You've never seen a massive collection of furniture like that. It was overwhelming. It made my head swim and ache.

We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted going in, so at least we were able to eliminate a good 7/8 of what they had. But still, the stuff that we didn't eliminate all started to look the same . . . it all melted together in my mind . . . I couldn't distinguish one from another, or anything there from what we'd already looked at here . . . it started to seem like a completely pointless exercise. This is when I usually say, "Whatever," and do eeny meeny miney mo.

But there was one set we saw that was different, and that I really liked. Great big pillows for the back cushions and more pillows for leaning on. It was soft, cushy, and cozy. Nothing trendy or fashionable ("Home Beautiful" magazine will not be featuring our living room), just comfortable and roomy. That's what we wanted. Unfortunately, it was a much darker color than I wanted, but Keith thinks it will work fine. I'll trust him. I am no good at visualizing such things (which is one reason I hate shopping).

So, we have new living room furniture arriving in a couple weeks, and a couple new beds for the girls. They fell in love with these bunk beds -- bed on top, futon on the bottom. We decided that those are actually pretty practical for them. They need better seating in their rooms anyway. And how handy for sleepovers!

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it. I also needed a new winter coat. I don't even remember how old my current one is -- although I know the zipper broke when I was pregnant with Eastin, so that gives you a clue. Leslie and I went in to Burlington Coat Factory (don't have that in Siouxland) to find me a new one. There was nothing . . I repeat, nothing, that I liked. And if there had been, I wouldn't have been able to find it because there were too many coats. Sigh. I finally settled on something I think I can live with and rushed out as quickly as I could.

I hate shopping. I hate making purchases that will somehow be a reflection of me to everyone who sees it. "The clothes make the man (or woman)", they say. Please no! Don't look at what I wear -- or sit on or display on my mantle and walls -- and assume anything about me! I don't know how to express myself that way. You'll get me all wrong!

Words. I need words to communicate. That's what words are for.

And don't tell me to start wearing T-shirts with stupid sayings on them. I hate those. Ugh.