Diary of a Housewife

I could tell you that my mom is outgoing and talks to everyone, but this is especially apparent from our shopping trip today.

First, I had to pee because I'd just had a tall cup of Barqs (it has bite!). So we got into the mall and my mom stops this couple and asks them if they know where the ladies' room is. I sit on a bench and wait for her to come over and tell me, "Why don't I ask the Macys people where their bathrooms are?" And I nod, wondering how many people overheard her, and trudge off through the fine china department, which is a silly place for a bathroom because what if a woman with kids pulls them through and they touch or break things?

And then I get back, and Alex is waiting, and mom offers to wait with her coffee in the food court while we go look for shorts to replace Alex's "work shorts" (a particularly disreputable pair of dingy plaid shorts that Alex insists on wearing every day while he works at home).

So when we're finished looking (it's fall, so they're out of shorts, but we thought there might be some on sale), we get back to the food court and aren't particularly surprised to see that mom is sitting with a total stranger, just chatting away.

We were amused, of course. It was a typical "my mom" moment. It earned a shared glance.

Anyway, my mom is as outgoing as I am shy. That's a lot.