The doors opened and I heard angels singing "Laaaaa!"

Let me begin by saying that I used to be "Queen of All Things Shopping". I admit it. I was a shopoholic. It was like...a sport. The thrill of the hunt and all that. I could go for days. Hell, I have gone for days. Ok, maybe just two days, but two days of all-out shopping...8 or 10 hours at a time...well, that's a lot.

I'm no longer a shopoholic. I've gone through the 12-step program.

There are a lotta reasons that I checked myself into rehab, money being right at the top of the list. But it's funny...the longer I've gone without a 'fix', the less I like shopping when I DO have the opportunity.

Nowadays, I'm pretty much a "get in, get what you came for and get the hell out" kinda shopper. Which pleases Ziggy to no end. Unlike my ex, who was also somewhat of a shopoholic, Ziggy would rather poke himself in the eye with a sharp stick than go shopping.

It's kinda sad, too. Peoria has a lot of great places to shop. We have a very nice older mall. We have a fantastic, new 'outdoor' mall, Grand Prairie...tons of stores and little shops...lots of restaurants...it's a really neat place. But I rarely go to either one. We have a couple of Wal-Marts, K-Mart (gag), Target (YES!), TJ Maxx (my absolute fave), Marshall's, a couple of Big Lots...you get the picture. It's a shopoholic's dream.

However....

One of my most favorite places in all the world to shop has finally arrived in Peoria.

Gordman's

opened last Friday! (And it's better than YOURS, Jules! hehe)

I first fell in love with Gordman's when the ex and I would take weekend trips to St. Charles, Missouri. When I learned that my daughter would be moving there, my first thought was....WHOOPPEE! She's gonna live where there's a Gordman's! I was thrilled. To this day, every trip we make to St. Charles HAS to include a stop at Gordman's.

And when the first talk of building Grand Prairie was goin around, the scuttlebutt was that Gordman's would be one of the stores. I was ecstatic. When the place finally went up, even though I rarely shopped there, I'd periodically run out there just to see if there were ANY signs of a Gordman's yet.

I've been running out there "to see" for a couple of years now. I'd decided that it was all a big, fat lie. Just to disappoint me.

But several months ago, on one of my "to see" trips, I SAW THE SIGN GO UP!. Just the sign, though. So I stepped up my "to see" trips, using the excuse that I wanted a Starbuck's coffee. I drank a lotta Starbuck's, lemme tell ya.

At any rate, the grand opening was Friday. I couldn't help myself. I KNEW it'd be awful. I KNEW it'd be crowded. And it was. I swear ta gawd, you'd have thought that it was the only damn store in town. The large parking lot was packed. The traffic was jammed up something awful. The checkout lanes were five and six deep. Women were grabbin stuff off the shelves and racks like they were givin it away.

And I was right in there, grabbin too.

Somebody help me. I think I've fallen off the wagon.