Shopping

I love shopping....but I am not very fun to go shopping with.  At least that is what I'm guessing.  My husband is always willing to go with me, no matter what I am shopping for.  But he is one-of-a-kind amazing husband.  My kids on the other hand...hate shopping with me.

When I go shopping for a specific item it is always a process.  Take for example recently I needed a cat carrier for my new kitten.  It did not matter that I already had two cat carriers.  I needed a special cat carrier because she is going to be my therapy cat and she cannot be seen hanging out in one of those boring old tan, hard sided cat carriers.  I wanted my kitten to be hanging out in style.  She needed a pink cat carrier.

Of course I decided this one evening about 7:00 at night and had to have it that night.  My husband indulged me and took me to the pet store.  I found lots of cat carriers that were less than perfect.  My husband found one that wasn't pink, but it was the right size and a really good price......but it wasn't pink.

**For some reason this in this picture I would fill in my red shirt and when I saved it parts of the shirt did not save.  So I'm not trying to look inappropriate...my computer is out to embarrass me.**

We kept looking and I could not find the perfect one, so I started settling for the blue one my husband had picked out.  But he could tell I was not happy with it.  I was thinking...how could I settle when we had only been to one store so far this evening?

So my husband agreed to take me to another pet store.  That is a trend with me.  I can find the absolutely perfect item that I am looking for, but if it is at the first store I looked, I can't help myself, I must keep looking.  The perfect item might be out there and if I stop looking I won't find it.  Never mind that this rarely happens.

So we go to the next pet store.  And I was right!!!  They have the perfect pink cat carrier.  But it is too expensive.  Hmmm....I keep looking...time is running out, I must find the perfect cat carrier tonight.  It's not like I have a need for it tonight or tomorrow, I just want it tonight.

I keep looking through the store, the perfect one was actually a dog carrier, I figure I will go check out the cat area.  And there it is.  The perfect carrier for the perfect price.  And I can purchase it, because before I ever got to this store I had checked at the big box stores while grocery shopping, I had checked online earlier that day and I had been to the other pet store already this evening.  If this had been the first place I had looked I would not have been able to bring myself to actually buy it.

So I thought I had been entirely reasonable that night only going to two stores.  I can't imagine why my kids refuse to shop with me.

Who does that?

I have recently picked up a new annoying habit.  I say new because I don't think I have done it in the past, but maybe I did and I'm just now becoming aware of it.  I like the sound of new though, because I really don't like the thought that I may have been doing this for years.  As for the annoying part, it's not annoying to me, but if someone else did this I would be annoyed, so even though I have not been told I'm being annoying, I'll assume this is the case.

Okay, I hope that was clear and we can now move on.

So here is how the new annoying habit works.  My husband and I are getting ready to go somewhere....for this example lets say the store...and if you want to be specific let's say that big box store with lots of blue everywhere and low prices.  (We happen to live around the corner from such a store and go there pretty much daily, if not two or three times a day.  Having ADHD and living so close to such a store is both a blessing and a curse...I can go into that on some future post.)  Okay so back to my husband and I going to the store.  He will say something like, "I'm going to go change my shirt and use the restroom then I'll be ready to go."  I will say, "ok" and proceed to get my phone out and either check Facebook or kick a friend's behind in Scramble With Friends. (My two favorite app on my phone.)

He will come downstairs and say something to the effect of, "Ok, I'm ready".  I will then shut off my phone and start heading out the door with him.  And then the new annoying habit kicks in.  I will think of a hundred things I have to do before I leave, such as go to the restroom, find my purse, keys, wallet or sunglasses, turn off some lights, start the dishwasher or any number of small activities.  My sweet husband will stand by the door whip out his phone and never say a word as to how I could have been doing all this while he was getting ready.  I do everything I need to do before heading out the door for our run to the store and half-way to the car I will realize that I do not have my phone.  I cannot possibly go to the store around the corner without my phone so he again waits while I go find where on earth I put down my phone.  And he never complains...ever.  (Reason number 5,326 why I love him so much.)

So I have been slowly noticing that I have this new annoying habit, but it usually only delays us 5 minutes or less so I haven't been worried about it.  Plus my amazing husband doesn't complain so I haven't seen the need to change my ways.  Until this weekend.  Same routine...we were going somewhere and my husband stated he was going to go get ready to go.  I messed around, I believe on the computer this time, until he stated he was ready to go.  This time I said, "sure I'm ready, but do you mind if I take a shower first?"

Really?  Who says that?  (Well...me I guess)  I had had plenty of time to shower while my husband was getting ready.  I had had plenty of time to shower all day long.  I waited until he was ready to go before I decided that I might want to shower for the day.  It was about 6pm by this time.  And you know what he said?  He said, "okay" and patiently waited for me.  Amazing.

So now being aware of my new annoying habit I'm going to consciously try to get ready while my husband is getting ready.  Because I would like my new annoying habit to become the old annoying habit I used to have but no longer have anymore.