RECESSIVE SHOPPING GENE

My sister Liz was coming for the weekend and wanted me to plan a girls' shopping day.

“I guess that sounds like fun,” My husband, Steven said as I told him about the plan. “I'm just glad I don't have to go.”

I understood what Steven was saying. Shopping with my guys consists of going to the store to pick up what we need, then coming right back home. The goal has always been to spend as little time as possible in a store. I've gotten so good, at that kind of shopping, that I wasn't sure spending the day mindlessly wandering around a mall was going to be much fun.

Boy, was I in for a surprise!

When Steven opened the door, later that evening, I was practically giddy. My arms were weighted down with all my shopping bags. Liz was right behind me laughing as I dropped my bags onto the nearest chair.

“Wow! You've certainly been busy!” Steven said.

“Oh my gosh, look!” I held out my arms to show him the deep grooves I had from carrying so many bags. “I hope these aren't going to be permanent!” I said, rubbing my arms.

“She definitely had fun.” Liz said to Steven as she put her bags down too.

“What did you get?” Steven asked.

“You would not believe the sales they were having!” I reached into the first bag. “Isn’t this the cutest sweater you've ever seen?” I held up the black cardigan for him to see.

“Don't you already have a black sweater?”

“Not like this one!” I tossed the sweater onto the back of the chair and reached into another bag. “They were having a sale on hand soap.” I held it up for him to smell. “Lavender.”

“It smells nice.” Steven looked into the bag. “So you got five of them?”

“It was a great sale!” I went for another bag. “Oh...and when we stopped to get some lunch it turned out to be National Cheesecake Day! Can you believe our luck?”

Steven looked over at Liz.

Liz nodded. “It was National Cheesecake Day.” she confirmed.

“Did you stop for dinner too?” Steven asked.

“We ate lunch so late that I couldn't eat another thing.” I looked over at Liz. “What about you?”

“I'm still pretty full.” she agreed.

Steven looked at both of us. “Then I guess I'll order dinner for the boys and I.”

“That's a great idea! You do that while I start putting some of this stuff away.” I went over and gave Steven a hug. “Did I mention how much fun I had?”

“You did.” Steven started to laugh.

I began gathering up my loot. “I’ve been living with guys for so long I forgot how much fun shopping with a girl can be!” I couldn't stop smiling.

That's when Liz looked over at Steven. “I'm pretty sure that, right about now, you're grateful that I don't come for the weekend more often, huh?”

Steven smiled as he looked at all my bags. “You're a mind reader.”
“Oh, by the way...” I held out one of my bags. “I brought you and the boys pieces of cheesecake too!”

“Thanks!” he took the bag and headed to the kitchen to put it in the refrigerator. “Now you're a mind reader too!”