Yes, Virginia, there MAY BE a Santa Claus

My dream day was yesterday. When I am in the midst of spending almost every waking hour working on costuming a play, my dream day is the day when I no longer have ANY RESPONSIBILITIES in regards to costumes. That day was yesterday, when I returned the last of the rental costumes to their rightful owner, and was finally free of my duties.

So--on to shopping. My dear friend from Mid-Mo had a doctor's appointment in STL, and that is always a good excuse for us to get together. Her appointment was late afternoon, so we met for dinner.

She was supposed to be finished about 4 p.m, and we were going to meet. I spent time lolling around Sam's Club to be near our meeting place, Applebees. She didn't call and she didn't call. Since her appointment was to consult about something potentially very serious, I got more and more concerned. Finally about 20 to 5, I called her. She said she would be finished in a short while and would meet me at Applebees.

Well, I figured it would be some time later, so I decided to go to Target to pick up a few things while I waited. Target is about 3 miles from Applebees. This was taking place at 4:45 on one of the busiest retail/going home roads in our city, Manchester Road. That word can conjure up nightmares for those who use it on a daily basis, and going quickly to Target WAS NOT A HAPPENING THING! In about 20 minutes, I was about 1/3 of the way to my destination. As it turned out, I wimped out before I got there, saw a mall that had a few potential stores where I could find what I want, and went in.

Meantime, my friend had gotten quickly out of the doctor's office, and was at Applebees, waiting for me. By the time we finally got together, she had waited a L-O-O-O-N-G time. But our meeting was great.

Then it was off to shopping for more things. The quest lasted until 9:30, way down in South County, very far from home. But, for the most part, things went well. So far, I have something for everyone except Monkeygirl. And her birthday is Dec. 26, so I need to do double duty on gifts for her. But today is another day--I'll pick her brain for ideas, and hopefully will finish the shopping today.

And, Virginia, Santa Claus may indeed show up at this house!

Now to chase the dust bunnies away, and find the tree to put up!

P.S., my friend is fine, no serious problems--that is probably the best news of the day!