Closed on Sunday

I had a plan. It's a beautiful sunny day outside and I resolved not to work on this holiday weekend. I need to buy a birthday gift for my 3 year old nephew and I need to buy a wedding present for my cousins. Today was the perfect day to check out the college town's local shops for unique gifts. Sunny, low humidity, perfect. Except it's Sunday.

Following a friend's recommendation, I drove to one of the trendy neighborhoods in town. It's one of those places with cute little gift shops where they sell things that you can't find anywhere else. As I easily parked the car, I wondered where everyone was. I soon realized that all the cute stores were closed up. I couldn't look at unique toys, one-of-a-kind housewares, or anything. Sighing loudly, I got back in my car and noticed that I'd been stupid enough to park between two HUGE vans. I backed blind into the street and I was off again.

I decided that the afternoon was still young so I headed to the strip mall with the chain bookstore. So I couldn't get a unique toy, I could still get started on the nephew gift with a book. As I sat at the light, I remembered that there was also a cooking store in the same shopping center. Perfect! I hummed along to REM as I felt my enthusiasm returning. (I was able to hum along to REM because I resorted and reorganized my iTunes playlists, then resync-ed my iPod this morning. I'm continually amazed at my ability to fill time with truly important and critical tasks now that I don't have that pesky dissertation to work on.)

I arrived at the shopping center, turned the wrong way down a parking aisle, got turned around, parked and got out of the car. I made a beeline for the cooking store. Closed. Dammit. "Is anything open on Sunday?" I asked no one in particular. I looked down the row of stores and noticed that Ann Taylor Loft was open, and they were having a sale. One shirt and a pair of shorts later, I came out. I rationalized that I would keep my purchases since they're clearly the wrong color for my nephew and cousins.

Although I knew that my purchases did not move me any closer to my original goal, I felt much better. I headed to the bookstore. I wandered through the children's section and really gave it a good try. Nothing caught my eye. I decided to branch out. So, I wandered through the DVDs. "Maybe my nephew would like Lars and the Real Girl," I thought, "or maybe Sex and the City, Season 5." I decided that he wouldn't like them because they were too expensive.

I wandered aimlessly and found myself in the History section. Ten minutes later, I left the store with "Inside the Confederate Nation," a collection of essays about life in the Confederate South. I feel sure that my nephew will be completely enraptured with this choice. What 3 year old doesn't want to know more about "Shades of Nation: Confederate Loyalties in Southeastern Virginia," or "The Moral Imagination of Confederate Family Politics"? Seriously.

One thing's for certain, it will be great bedtime reading, much more effective than that Thomas the Train Engine.