Sunday Shopping

While the cat's away, the mouse goes shopping.

My husband and our next-door neighbor B went to see a flying display of model airplanes. Not the usual run-of-the-mill slow-flying model airplanes that you can buy in Wal-Mart, but huge replica built-to-scale planes worth thousands of dollars. The guys drove two hours to get to the airfield specifically built for these "pilots" and their expensive toys.

There were 75 pilots and planes there today, and come September, there will be about 300, so my husband and B are planning to go back for the bigger flying show. My husband brought the camera with him, and he took great photos-- I had no idea the planes were so big and detailed, and very well-cared-for. Meticulously painted and polished. The owners of those flying machines have special trailers built for their planes, so they can take them apart and store them safely for traveling. There were three crashes today, and my husband took a photo of a smashed-up plane sticking up out of a trash bin. That must have hurt... to have to toss away a plane worth over ten thousand dollars. Ouch.

I went pajama-shopping today..... to Marshalls first, with the $50 gift-card that they sent me for the Pajama Program. I found boys' pajama-shorts for $3.99 each, so I bought a dozen of those (decorated with the Superman logo, SpongeBob, and basketballs/footballs... so there went the gift-card. Then I did my usual run-through of the clearance racks, and found teenaged girls' pajamas for $7.00, so I bought those. Then I found a few toddler ones for $3.00 each, and I bought those as well. (How could I leave them there at that price?) I am having the best time shopping for these pajamas. Makes me wish I could see the face of each and every child who picks out their pajama set.

Next stop was Target, for another one of their plastic bins.... I'm thinking positively that someone else will want to put a Pajama Box into their store/office/whatever for collecting pajamas. So just in case, I wanted to have an extra covered plastic bin. I also went looking for steak knives. The ones I've had for more than 25 years are now up at the lake cottage. The wooden handles are faded, but they're still as sharp as they were when I first got them so many years ago. My husband misses those knives, and isn't thrilled with the ones I had bought to replace them. I found a set of 12 wood-handled steak knives at Target, and these are nicely made and super-sharp. I made my husband a steak for dinner tonight, so he could test them out, and they're perfect.

On the way home, I went into Barnes & Noble, looking for a book titled "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier," by Ishmael Beah. I saw the author of this book on the CBS Sunday Morning show as I was getting ready to go out earlier today. The story of this young man, who was forced to be a soldier when he was just a 12-yr-old boy in Sierra Leone, was just so heartfelt and moving, and today, he holds no bitterness, no hatred. I wanted to read his whole story, and I figured that Barnes & Noble would have the book, and they did.

That store (Barnes & Noble) was packed to the gills when I stopped in. A mile-long line at the registers, people reading books in the chairs, on the windowsills, sitting on the floor.... and the children's room of the store was surely over the limit for the number of kids it should hold. But what a nice thing to see..... children sprawled on the floors with books opened up, either quietly reading or turning pages to look at the pictures. What a great place that is... my only complaint is that they keep the air-conditioning at sub-zero temperatures. I'd gladly stay longer whenever I go there, but as soon as the tips of my fingers start to freeze, then I know it's time to leave. (Hard to turn pages with frost-bitten fingers.)