A post in which the Christmas gifts are sorted

Although work continued to be blessedly quiet, I started feeling progressively worse through the day.  I didn't feel awful, just yucky.  With all the kissing that had been going on at the bear party Saturday, plus the creeping crud that has being going around anyway, I guess I have picked something up.  I can't really complain.  Other than the cancer, I haven't been plain ole sick sick in over two years. 

After work I really wanted to go on home, but I had that exchange to do at Pottery Barn.  I looked up locations online, and found that I wouldn't have to go to Gaffney after all - there is now one in Haywood Mall.  I probably knew that, but I go to the mall so seldom that it just wasn't on my radar.  Anyway, with a location that convenient, I decided just to go on and get this sorted.

One good reason to go ahead was that I had been unable to find the asparagus dish on the PB website.  Because of that, I figured it had been purchased on mark-down, which indeed proved to be the case.  The very professional and pleasant PB employee didn't turn a hair when I presented her with my own little white elephant.  Apparently she'd already had another returned earlier in the week.  She called the outlet for a item name and skew number, and informed me that I could exchange the dish for anything in the store, and that it was worth $10.47.  Yeah.  So it had apparently been on superdiscountmarkdown.  But better $10.47 than nothing.  I had originally just thought I would take it on to Goodwill. 

I started looking around the store.  PB is an expensive place.  I saw a sofa throw (small blanket) priced at $99.  I did check to see what it was made of, and was surprised to find that it was not woven of baby's tears or unicorn wool.  Other items in the store were similarly priced.  PB does have it's own line of luxury linens, and the towels were on 'sale'.  I could buy a hand towel for $14.  I had been kind of thinking about getting new hand towels anyway, but I have to have two of them for the towel rack.  In the end, I spent $18.58 on my PB present from Dad and Eve - about twice what they spent.  But they are nice towels, I have someplace to put them, and I'll get some use out of them.

I left the mall triumphant.  I was glad to have the gift thing sorted and done.  But I was also pretty tired.  I think I have a cold.  I decided to treat myself to dinner out by myself, which I very seldom do.  Because I wasn't feeling adventuresome (when I'm sick I want comfort food), I repaired to the K&W Cafeteria.  Now my Poppy Brown thought that God made all the other restaurants in the world, then created the K&W after he knew what he was doing.  I do appreciate a place that bakes their own bread and offers real butter for it.  Plus there is the pie, which is un-matchable.  But I have noticed a quality slide in the one here in Greenville that doesn't bode well for the name.  My fish tonight was slightly cold, slightly greasy, and too salty.  The fried green tomatoes I had were the same, except they weren't too salty.  Everything else was OK, and the pie (I had coconut cream, Poppy's favorite, because I was thinking about him) was as good as ever, but I left having eaten too much, and feeling slightly sick.  I shouldn't have cleaned my plates.  I was there about 6:30 though, and their rush comes earlier - the food had probably been great about 5 or so.  Also, I wonder if their demographic isn't dying out?  Most older people now are a much more adventuresome demographic.  I know Dad and Eve won't go there after the last time we went; when they ordered veal cutlet (which was $4.99, and the size of a small car door), and were quite surprised to find that it was mostly breading.  Really?

I headed on home, deciding to have an early night and get some extra rest.  I did some texts to my guys and turned in.