Shopping, Sales, & Sleep

Dear John,

 

We all slept last night. For the fourth night in a row, the dog woke me up at the stroke of 1 AM wanting to go out - since we don't have a chiming clock, I can only assume he knows how to tell time. But other than that, all was quiet. And Hunter surprised me. He went right back in the windowsill and slept there. But since he survived Jethro when he was only three months old, he must not be easily traumatized.

 

I did go to South Bend today. And you should be proud of me - I spent money on clothes without you being there to make me do it. I walked into a gigantic one-day sale at Macy's that I had no idea was going on. And I did really well - I got almost $300 worth of clothes for $120.

 

I really needed the clothes. Remember in the spring of 2011, you got firm with me and said we were going to get me new summer clothes because everything I had was stained, faded, worn out, or all three? Then came the accident, and was impossible to try on clothes with a broken collar bone. Last summer I was too busy with business/legal things and getting the house ready for the girls to do much shopping, and I wasn't in the mood for it anyway. So by this spring I had the wardrobe of a refugee. And I actually took care of the problem all by myself. When I got home from work this evening, before I put the new things away I packed up a big bag of clothes to go to Goodwill, about three times as much as I bought.

 

So it was a good day, and I had fun. It would have been more fun with you. But I do get some satisfaction out of being independent in ways that I haven't for many years. It's not like you insisted on being part of my clothes-shopping, it's just that I value your opinion and it was more fun with you. And you were there today - when I was making decisions in the dressing room, you definitely gave me your input. And I appreciate it so much.

 

Thank you for shopping with me - and thanks for enjoying it. Thank you for trusting me with money. Thank you for getting firm with me when it was time to actually spend some of it! And thank you for being with me today. You're going to love my new clothes.

 

Love you more,

Joan.