There is something about listening to Christmas songs that makes my eyes well up with tears. I guess it is what one calls nostalgia, but nostalgia about what?

I watched the American Idol Christmas. Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken and the rest of them. They are all brilliant performers, and as they do every year, my eyes were filled with tears again. I get so emotional sometimes -- I'd like to blame it on PMS, but that's not always true. When "Rachel" gave birth to "Emma" on "Friends" I cried! And one long distance phone company broke me down into tears with their awfully emotional commercial. I admit it -- I am a big cry baby.

I bought some hair trinkets today, and a pair of jeans that I desperately needed. Hair trinkets were really cheap, a buck or so a piece, but the jeans were a different story. I haven't shopped for clothing for many reasons: one, because my mother works in wholesale and gets many items at really ultra low prices; two, because the mall parking lot drives me senselessly crazy; and three, I am fed up with the long lines, the endless trying on of clothes, and so on and so forth. So basically, I am a huge lazy-ass and I refused to get myself over to the local mall.

I finally got myself there, and found that since the last time I went clothes shopping (which was last millenium), prices has skyrocketed. I remember waiting for a pair of jeans to go on sale and buying them for $20. Their regular prices were $30. I went to Macy's today, and the jeans on sale were $30. The cheapests ones to be found at Macy's were $30. I finally found one that wasn't so low-ridery, and it was $50!! I thankfully had a gift card I received from work (one of the few perks), but it still felt like a fortune! Many others were $70 or even $128!! I felt that Macy's might be at the high end when it comes to prices, so I shopped other stores in the vicinity.

I was extremely disappointed, because nothing pleased my frugal shopping sense. Sweaters (nothing diamond encrusted, I assure you) were in the 70's, dress shirts were in 50's, slacks were between 50 and 100, and jeans were from 50 to 128 (not on sale). I don't know about everyone else, but those are mighty high prices for me.

I would like to defend myself and say that I only went to Macy's because I had a gift card and for months my mother and I tried to buy something for her, but with little success. We bought her two pairs of shoes and two handbags, but nothing more, and we still had over $100 left. So in actuality, the $50 Polo jeans I purchased didn't cost me a dime. Actually, I guess I did sort of work for it, since I received it as a reward for hard work. But anyhoot.

See? $49! I wasn't lying!