gotta...

put my feet up. we got back from Colorado Mills (Mall) about a half an hour ago. man, we have some tired legs...

nothing spectacular about the shopping experience though. it's more of a mecca for shopping if you're under the age of 20 or have a youthful mind yerself - maybe i'm just a fogey now ;)

it is a nice layout though. very spacious. good lighting. did i mention freakin' huge too? perhaps i'm just not one for shopping in malls anymore. i guess i can find more 'perfect' gifts through mail order, eBay, or online.

so what'd we buy? very little. lois found some Cuddleduds (camisoles) at the Maidenform store and i got a soccer ball at Gart Sports.

for me, getting the soccer ball was good because i have one phase of shopping out of the way. every year, lois and i pick handwritten ornaments from xmas giving trees at either King Soopers or Target. you know, they're for kids that are in shelters...

this year, the ornaments at our King Soopers had wishes from the Denver Children's Home. the two that i picked wanted a soccer ball (James, 15) and art supply kit (Ramon, 15). go see what i got them...Ramon's and James'. i hope they like them! i sure wanted to open the art set and try it out - looks really cool.

lois' selections were from Andrew, who wants a Target Gift Card, and Michelle, who wants a flannel sheet set. last week, we got a nice beige flannel sheet set at Foley's. we went to Target first, but the only flannel sheet sets they had were seasonal xmas prints. we weren't sure if a 14 year-old girl would like them though; beige can be used a lot more than a snowman print...

any of you ever see the movie, 'Dark Days'? it's a documentary about the homeless who lived underneath the Amtrak Penn St. Station in NYC. the filmmaker, Marc Singer, spent two years making this film, chronicling the lives of many of these people.

one of the most touching moments in the movie was near the end, when, after being evicted from their squatter village, many of the people are put into housing by the Coalition for the Homeless. one of the subjects, a middle aged female who became homeless through her substance abuse, is shown making her bed for the first time in her new apartment. you can see an ear-to-ear smile on her face, as she carefully tucks everything in and falls into the bed with a heavy sigh.

you know, we take really take for granted simple necessities like having yer own bed and clean sheets. so, when we saw what Michelle wanted on her paper ornament, we immediately snatched it off that tree. THAT is a gift that we couldn't pass up. besides, we were already avoiding the ones that said 'boom box' or 'portable CD player.' hey kiddies, it says $20 limit ;) well, hope someone with more money can accomodate those kids...