Close Enough
Yesterday I went shopping.
My husband came with me. This is not my preferred method of shopping.
I like to shop alone. I like to take my time looking, trying on, comparing. I may return to the same store an hour later and try on an outfit again. This is my right. I don’t take it well when someone might look at his watch and roll his eyes. I’m not naming names.
I was shopping for sweaters. It’s cold. I want new sweaters.
I am easy to please. I want warm. I want cozy. I don’t want thin, but I don’t want bulky. I want cool and funky, but not teenager. And I want something different from what I already have.
How hard could that be?
My cardigans. Pullovers are in another room.
I was gracious about my husband tagging along. Because we went to the mall. And he can park.
I had to go to the mall because I wanted to check out a store whose clothes look very very cool on its website. But what if it’s all photography, and the clothes are really dumb? And the only store within 50 miles of me is at the dreaded mall. And my husband can park. He can park his truck in a space the size of a bathmat. So I let him come.
And he was really good. He followed me and stood at a comfortable distance from me, and watched me fondle sweaters.
I was contemplating a burgundy pullover. It was long, tunic-style, which is my current love. But it was a little too thin. Not lush enough. I want lush.
But I was thinking about it anyway. Because the color was nice.
And Hubby finally came over.
“That’s okay,’ he said. “But I bought you a sweater that color last Christmas. And you told me you loved it. But you never wear it.”
Well, now that is totally possible. I have an item or two (or twelve) in my closet that I told him I loved but I may not have been telling the exact truth.
But honestly, I couldn’t remember it. And I have a memory for clothes that, with all modestly, is unsurpassed. I can describe the dress I wrote to my National Honor Society induction in 1969. (yellow, billowy sleeves, very short, floral border at the hem)
But a burgundy sweater just last Christmas? Or red? or cranberry? or wine? Or the year before?
I drew a total blank.
“You gave me a burgundy sweater?”
“Yes, I did. It was some kind of dark red. And it had a really fancy pattern in it.”
“The only sweater I remember from last year was the Ralph Lauren. Longish. V-neck. Cabled. I wore it this week. Tuesday.”
He nodded.
“It’s navy blue,” I added.
“Yeah,” he said. “That’s the one.”
notquiteold 
Priceless!
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Or something like that.
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Expensive?
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How about “costly?”
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Well, he did remember it was a sweater.
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You’ve got a point. That was quite an accomplishment.
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My husband is the same way. The things he remembers well (they usually involve numbers) and what I remember are completely different. Often, when we go to a restaurant we’ve been to before, I will remind him A) that we’ve been there, and B) what he ordered. After that he’ll usually ask me “Did I like it?”
I like to shop alone too. If hubbie goes along, I try to find him one of those what I call “husband daycare” chairs stores often provide.
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Did I like it? Ha! (and when I sit my husband down in the husband daycare chair, he falls asleep, which I guess is not so bad.)
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So close and yet so far away….lol
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I will never understand his brain.
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Some things are meant to be a mystery. heh.
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So funny!
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Well, he’s always good material.
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Setting husbands aside (for a moment), I have a serious question for the dedicated sweater lover you clearly are: What do you do about moths?
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I don’t seem to have a problem with that… but I have no idea why.
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Immaculate housekeeping? (Unlike mine.)
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I think not. Do cats eat moths?
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If they can catch them, probably. Or at least kill them. Apparently my two are just not doing their job.
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And my husband would only remember buying the sweater if it happened during a particularly spectacular play off in some sport.
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My husband remembers what kind of spark plugs he had in 1969. And every year since.
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OMG. My sentiments exactly when it comes to shopping with someone else. Just give me money and let me go on my own….I’m just like a teenager.
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I like the freedom of not worrying about anyone but me. Even the last time I went shopping with a girlfriend we had a really nice time, but there were times when I knew she was ready to move on, when I was ready to linger for a very long time.
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And moths must be dependent on where you live. In Texas, not an issue. (But cockroaches are and they eat clothes, too. Ugh. ) In Colorado, well, I put on a pair of cashmere gloves after a summer of non-use and ummm ……they were lacy. And they weren’t supposed to be.
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Too funny. And that conversation could have SO happened in our house.
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Many women recognize their spouses in mine. Men only come in one variety.
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Hey! I resemble that!
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I bet you do!!!
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I’d rather shop alone too. My husband is good about going to do something else while I shop but I don’t feel that I can do the browsing, trying on, going to look at something else and going back to the first place with him along. I don’t like making him wait and I don’t feel at ease or enjoy myself as much. Mine would get the colours wrong too but then he would never buy me clothes.
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My husband will buy me clothes, but a lot of them are for either teenagers or hookers. It’s nice that he sees me as young and sexy, but I can’t exactly wear a lot of that stuff. The navy blue Ralph Lauren sweater is lovely though. (enough to make me wonder if the saleswoman picked it out……)
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I also would much rather shop alone. But my sweet hubby takes me, drops me off at the door, then sits in the vehicle and either reads, people-watches or naps….sometimes simultaneously, perhaps…When I’m walking to the door, I call him on his cell and he picks me up. What a guy!
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What a great idea! My husband is a great napper! But he might not wake up when I called.
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The last line kills me, ““Yeah,” he said. “That’s the one.”
Only a man can call something burgundy when it’s navy blue. 😀 😀 😀
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Same thing, no?
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Must be. 😀 😀
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At least he has good taste. He bought you Ralph Lauren. That can’t be all bad. Maybe he is just colourblind. He Who is colour blind and makes this mistake often.
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His brain is just….different.
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Thanks for starting my day right: with humor and insight.
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You really don’t want too much insight into my husband’s thought process.
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The love of my life is an engineer. Don’t even get me started …
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OMG… has he ever tried to walk you through the way he figures out a restaurant bill?????
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No, but I had him take my height the other day with me standing against a wall – trying to figure out how much I’ve shrunk – and he used a leveling tool on the top of my head to make sure the pencil mark was accurate. It’s humorous – to be sure – but it’s one of the many things I love about him. And I have shrunk.
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You’re a brave woman. In 35 years of marriage, I’ve never shopped once with my husband. Somewhere deep inside, I know our union couldn’t survive it.
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But think of the great “material” you are missing.
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I just bought three lovely long sleeved tees, a pair of ‘slipper socks’, and nifty black and white striped tunic for my husband to wrap and put under the tree for me this Christmas. He hates shopping and rarely visits the mall, even WITH me. Last year I was shocked to see two ‘unfamiliar’ gifts under the tree with my name on them (i.e., things I didn’t buy for myself) – it was a set of brake rotors and pads for my car (he got a deal on a really expensive set – woot woot!) He can remember who won every single motorcycle championship over the past 30 years but if I offered him $100 to tell me what I gave him for Christmas last year (or what I said I wanted THIS year), he’d be stumped. Their brains work differently from ours (and its actually been scientifically proven!)
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My husband has a great memory for the presents he has purchased for me. Like the burgundy sweater with the fancy design.
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Wish me luck…WE are off to the mall. If you can do it, I can try. 🙂
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I hope you survived it with your sanity intact. Or at least thankful that he parked the car.
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Don’t we just love our men? 😀
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Something like that.
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I prefer to shop solo as well. If someone else is with you, you feel a little rushed and may not make the best decisions. Blue? Red? Both primary colors… Haha. 🙂
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I agree…. blue. red. very close.
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So jealous of your sweater collection! All nicely displayed just like a color selection ad for a store. Clothes gifts from husband don’t work unless I give extreme details (like product number).
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I have often provided him with exact details. Including what rack and how close to the cash register.
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God love him.
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God might. Everyone else….?
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Oh yes! My husband makes me nervous when he shops with me. He always has an opinion and it usually isn’t the same as mine. Also, he may be a bit colorblind because burgundy could be brown to him. Drives me crazy!
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The most frustrating part is when I REALLY love something and he doesn’t. Do I skip it, or buy it, knowing that he is not impressed?
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Howling. This is akin to me trying to describe to my ex the variances in my black shoes. It’s just Chinese to French.
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Oh, there are so many styles and different shades of black. How can men not see that?
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