How can someone go from being a shopaholic to someone who detests shopping? Within a span of less than 20 years.

Sox. That's all I really needed. Sox. I was down to three pair.

Craig was tired of me "borrowing" his so he actually gave me $100 to go out and buy sox. The five 20 dollar bills sat on the kitchen counter for a week before I said to myself, "take the damn money and go buy some damn sox."

I first checked the circulars to find the best deal. Kohl's was having a 30% off sale on Gold Toes. Not good enough and Craig wears Gold Toes, so I couldn't buy those as there's no way to tell which are mine and which are his. (One of the few dilemmas of a gay household.) JC Penney was having a 50% off sale on their Stafford (store) brand of sox. That sounded good. So I loaded my pockets with the five 20's and headed to the mall.

It was remarkably empty for the Saturday night after Thanksgiving and I found a parking space less than 25 paces from the back entrance by Joe's American Bar and Grill. I trekked over to Penney's stopping first in Pottery Barn cause I love their concrete floor. (Yes, I'm a freak.)

As it turns out, Stafford was not on sale for 50% - but a measly 30% and I spent a good 20 minutes searching around the Men's Department for the special area that they must have set aside for this promotion. Didn't find it.

I decided that maybe being a bit more upscale (a return to my old ways) might be in order so I headed down to Macy's. Maybe their Alfani brand of sox will be on sale. Well - they don't make Alfani sox.

Guess where I ended up? And this is quite embarrassing for someone who in his 20's and 30's only shopped at I. Magnum, Marshall Fields, and Nieman Marcus.

Sears. I bought my sox at Sears.

God, I'm old.

So now I am the happy owner of ten pairs of new sox and three pairs of old sox. I got my concrete floor fix and I learned that Macy's doesn't make Alfani sox.

And I only spent $32.

Don't tell Craig.