Tag Team Shopping

It’s been a busy 24 hours. Last evening my husband and I went to my sister’s home to celebrate Chanukah (next week it’s Christmas at the in-laws). I traditionally give her a hostess gift and this year I lucked out and found a really cute “applesauce bowl” at Bed Bath and Beyond. In case you’re not familiar with Chanukah, latkes (potato pancakes) are traditionally served with applesauce. The bowl was inexpensive but looks nice and, best of all, it can be used for any Jewish holiday dinner. When it came time for gift giving, my sister gave each of us a really useful pill container which hangs on a key ring. This little item she found at her local supermarket. What woman doesn’t need to carry her choice of headache reliever with her at all times?

Today, my sister and I decided we just had to have more applesauce bowls and pill container key rings to give to other family members and friends. She wanted at least 4 more bowls for Chanukah gifts and I decided I needed at least 11 more key rings to give as Christmas gifts. Now, we live approximately 25 miles apart which gives us a lot of territory to cover when shopping. So, my sister started at one Bed Bath and Beyond where she found three additional bowls, now marked down 50%, and then went to two additional BB&Bs but without luck. I canvassed my area and visited three BB&Bs and found four more bowls. In between my visits to the BB&Bs, I also managed trips to seven of the local supermarkets finding an occasional pill container key ring here and there. My sister had better luck at the 3 markets she visited finding a total of 7 key rings. All the while, we kept in touch by cell phone comparing our successes and failures (let’s hear it for free in-network calling). If you’ve lost count of our final totals, here they are:

4 bowls (me) + 3 bowls (sister) = 7 bowls
5 key rings (me) + 7 key rings (sister) = 12 key rings

So in the end, we successfully completed our mission, proving we can accomplish whatever challenge is placed in front of us…as long as there’s shopping involved. Now I only hope none of my friends and family read this before they find their key rings wrapped beneath their Christmas trees.