Had a day off today. So after a morning in the office....
After the school run at lunchtime is when my day off really kicked in.
And something weird has happened. It used to be that weekends in the run up to Christmas were murder and Christmas eve a disaster.
I remember a Christmas eve in Devon which was a nightmare. I'd taken my dad's bright orange Mark II Escort into Newton Abbot for some last minute present buying and the traffic was horrendous. The car didn't fare too well and the rad decided to pop a leak in the car park. I don't know quite how I had the presence of mind to deal with this given the panicked state I was in, but I do remember going to Halfords and buying something called Radweld or similar, and a bottle of water or two, which gummed things up for the traffic jam and journey home.
Anyway nowadays it's the evenings that are to be avoided.
I went to Lakeside this afternoon and planned to get home to help Dave with the kid's bathtime. Shopping wasn't overly productive but I did make a dent in the Christmas list and I spent a lot of time checking out the merchandise for future trips out. As I left, traffic was at a standstill in every direction. I tried to fight my way out but then Mel phoned and persuaded me to return to the shopping fray.
So whilst waiting for her to join me I dipped into Ikea. Bought a load of things I didn't need but that will brighten the house over Christmas. Grabbed a hotdog, and I later confided in Mel that there's something very satisfying about junk food. Then it was over to Costco.
We shared a trolley and joked with some staff on the way in that we call it the £100 shop because even if you need nothing you spend £100. They replied that it was now the £200 shop. How we laughed, until at the checkout we realised "many a true word..."
So lots of cash later....we left. I mainly bought booze. Mel mainly bought booze. Mel was buying it for other people. I wasn't.
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