Just to close this whole sock saga for good, I returned them to the store today. I realized it must have been a small miracle that there was actually someone to check me out when I bought them in the first place, which let me temporarily forget that Macy’s is also the store I began to hate because there is never anyone to help you – and I mean when buying. I remember once I got so frustrated I wanted to walk out the front door, clothes in hand, so that when the alarm went off I could say, “I wanted to buy these, but nobody would take my money.”

So I went to the empty hosiery department thinking I should return to the same place I bought them. Paced a while with that ‘I’m looking for someone to help me’ look, then when I gave up on that I wandered around the store finding five more empty departments before I went back to mine. Settled in for a wait, leaning on the desk with backpack on floor, for five minutes (I timed it with my phone), occasionally glaring at the security cameras because someone must see what’s going on in their store. Finally I set out again and managed to get in line behind someone else who was returning things, someone who must have found the secret key to summoning an employee.

I didn’t let myself browse the store afterwards, lest I get tempted by something else that no one would let me buy.

Selina, Michael, and I have joined up to get in shape, lose weight, and keep each other accountable. A sort of late New Years resolution. A sort of I Want To Look Good Pregnant (oh, and be healthy too) resolution for me. (Actually I hate the concept of New Years resolutions and there’s no reason you can’t decide to make a change for the better at the end of February.)

Being in the mall meant resisting an Auntie Anne’s pretzel, chocolate and banana-filled crepe, bubble tea, and an easy takeout dinner from the food court, even though I was suddenly starving when I hit the parking lot. I have to remind myself it’s okay to be hungry. Also eating a 340 calorie pretzel won’t mean I’ll eat that much less for dinner. Meanwhile the bakery is going to be my downfall. I made crack brownies last night, so good that I’d keep eating them even if I was standing on the scale while doing so.