Thud.

Did anyone notice an atmospheric disturbance today? Sort of a sonic boom?? Yeah, that was me. Falling off the wagon.

Just to show you how disorienting back-to-school is, I was facing an ENTIRE DAY from 8 to 2:30 - with nothing scheduled. Adding to my novel freedom - the house was clean. Minimal laundry remained. Way too many projects but not much motivation to even choose one, much less complete it. What to do?

My dear friend Nina was up for 'lunch & whatever' but just had to make a trip to Kohl's to see if there were any must-have's. She had a coupon. There were sales. I didn't need anything in particular, so I thought I'd just be the helpful friend / comic relief.

(This is where I was going to write an amusing anecdote about Nina's shopping history. She begged me not to.)

The first thing I put in the cart I didn't intend to buy, really, but it was such a nice shirt for Bob, and I didn't get him anything for our anniversary and obviously had some unresolved guilt issues. I thought I'd just wander around with it for a while, before I wisely reconsidered. Bob is one of those people who really doesn't get excited about "gifts & crap" - he's equally noncommittal if I spend a bunch of time/money on the perfect whatchamacallit or just find something interesting at a yard sale. But some of his shirts could stand to be retired... So the justifications went.

Nina loves a bargain more than I do. She cruised the clearance racks - 60 to 80% off, plus she had a coupon for an additional 30% off. My math skills are kinda rusty, but doesn't that mean they owe you??? Lots of great deals, happy colors, but I resisted. For the first couple of hours.

We all have our limits. Not only did I meet mine, I invited it in for a nice long chat of mostly justifications. My tipping point? Dana Buchman.

Now I haven't shopped higher end stores for a while - or strayed from under my rock - so she was new to me. And I simply wasn't aware that she was designing exclusively for me. Seriously - colors, cut, fabric - I squealed. Repeatedly. And once that first dress was off the clearance rack and in the cart, others followed. Just like going off a diet and figuring after the first feedbag of cookies (hands free!), what's another 2 or 3? One sweater. Three tops. A glorious dress. All unbelievably cheap.

I EVEN FOUND A PAIR OF JEANS. This was a miraculous happening indeed.

I was heady with the hypomanic high of misbehavior. We had a heap at the checkout. And, surprisingly enough, I had little remorse. I joked about at least I'd have something to blog about...

Sound too good to be true? Yup - coupon wasn't good til tomorrow. They've got my things on hold; giving me nearly a full day to reconsider. Or re-justify.

So... Gentle Reader, should I walk away? What is this project worth? The jury is still out on this one. Operators are standing by.

And, oh yeah, they open at 8.