Thanks for voting in my poll, everyone! I'm hoping that when February rolls around, I won't disappoint you guys. I appreciate your confidence! It's a Wednesday that feels like a Monday. I hate holidays in the middle of the week! I worked most of yesterday, then took Kyle to the mall. My trip was threefold in purpose:

1. Look for deals on winter fashion;

2. Serve as my own "advance team" for Christmas shopping;

3. Perform some recon for formal dress shopping.

First, let me just say that retailers must be anticipating slow sales this holiday season, because I have never seen such deep discounts so early in the year, especially on clothes. A lot of new merchandise is already 25-30% off, and that means after Christmas, it will be a fire sale. I plan to stock up on lots of sweaters, long-sleeve shirts, and maybe even a new coat soon.

Also, Kyle is not turning out to be a very a good shopper. He got bored at the mall and began to fuss, then started reaching out from his stroller and tried to pull clothes off the racks. Then, when I let him out of the stroller after we went down the escalator, he ran right over to the "down" escalator and tried to stick his little fingers in the space where the stairs fold and go into the machinery. When I took his arm and led him away from the escalator, he threw a temper tantrum (screaming and crying) right in the middle of Macy's, the little stinker. I put him back in the stroller and wheeled him off, and luckily, he stopped crying about a minute later. Hmmmmm.....quick temper, but doesn't hold grudges. I wonder where he got that trait from? :)