A little freedom is dangerous for the wallet.

So the Other Half takes the Sons over to his parents’ house this afternoon and comes back with a power washer but without the boys. Now, I love my children dearly, but the prospect of an evening without the duties of parenthood looming kind of makes me giddy

Other Half asks me what I’d like to do tonight, and I reply, “I’d love to go shopping.” Shopping used to be a great date night for us before the Sons came along. We’d go out to eat and then wander over to the CD store or the book store and drop $100 on new music or reading materials. Ah, those were the days, when we were both making a nice income and could afford that kind of recreation. Now a trip to the book store is largely financed by gift cards that we receive for birthdays and other holidays. We keep these cards tucked away and trot them out when we need a fix. Still, it’s not the same as it used to be. We sometimes spent a couple of *hours* at the book store – I’d find a pile of crafty titles or cookbooks that looked appealing, find one of those big soft comfy chairs and settle in to choose which titles would come home with me and which were staying put. These days, we are accompanied by little people who don’t have a few hours worth of patience for watching Mom leisurely flip through magazines. And Son #2 has a penchant for curiosity in the least convenient of places. He feels he is entitled to touch anything he wants to, and touch he will! There’s nothing relaxing about a book store trip with that one. So, it’s really no surprise that I would instantly think of book shopping when faced with the prospect of a child-free evening.

So we grab a quick bite to eat at home and head out to the book store in search of crafty books. Since I already have every polymer clay book known to mankind sitting on the shelves of my own book store, I am really more in the mood to look at books pertaining to *other* crafts. Particularly, I’ve had learning to sew on my mind a lot lately. And I mean a LOT. Now, on the way to the book store is a Sears. I happen to recall that someone on some board somewhere had said something about the basic Kenmore sewing machine being a great, reliable-yet-simple machine for a beginner. I talk the Other Half into a quick detour “just to look.” Turns out they have a model that I like, and it’s on sale. After a quick conversation during which the Other Half expresses concern over our lack of space and I promise to finish cleaning the dining room and throw/give away enough unused craft supplies to create a spot for the machine before I ever open the box, I buy myself my first sewing machine. Woo hoo!

At the book store I flip leisurely through 4 sewing books and buy two, and then we’re home again. And here I sit, in a room I usually don’t frequent at this time of night for fear of waking sleeping children. I’m sure I will miss the Sons at some point tomorrow, but for now this is kind of nice. I am pretty sure that even if I didn’t miss them tomorrow, the Other Half would make sure we had them here, if for no other reason that to keep us home – night time shopping can get very expensive when you have the freedom to do it right!

Now, I need to go peruse my new books for a little while and pick my first project. Don’t worry – I won’t be abandoning my clay for fabric. An important criteria for my first project is that it must be something that will look good with a polymer clay button on it

Lisa