BIG mistake... HUGE...

When you're feeling a little under the weather (and speaking of which, rather fed up with the compacted snow and sub-zero temperatures), really wound up and tense, snappy and snarly... what's the best medicine? Staying at home with your loved ones in the warm watching old movies? A soothing sketch or two? Or, hitting the sales?

Sometimes I wonder where my common sense went. Apparently I took it with me shopping.

BIG mistake - we're talking Julia Roberts-style, longer than Rodeo Drive, HUGE mistake! Fighting traffic, wading through slush, fighting through crowds of zombie-like shoppers ambling three-a-breast, tangled clothes pulling six hangers off the rail, surly shop assistants with anti-customer policies....

I'm still shuddering at the horror of the whole experience now. Some people were just designed to be Sale shoppers and some of us should stick to shops that end in letters like .com or .co.uk. Much safer on the sensibilities I can tell you.

Still, there's a bright side. I'm home now, smelling sweetly of 'half price' body lotions, plugged into soothing music and... I didn't spend much!

I'm not too sure what has wound me like a coiled spring (a rusty, creaking one at that). Perhaps I have chopped too many vegetables over the past few days or maybe it's because I had to pack away 'my art studio' so we could actually sit at the posh dining table over the festive season... Am I suffering withdrawal? Should I shove some acrylic paint down my fingernails or spill glue down my clothes to make me feel better?