After dropping The Son off for his Friday classes, I made the trek northward for my appointment with the auto body shop.  I had, literally, a fender bender in December after a very icy snow storm.  Apparently the entire metro area was involved in one accident or another because today was the first day they could fit me in — for an estimate!  The bumper needs to be replaced but there was no damage done to the actual body of the car.  Our deductible is $500.  The total repair bill will be $624.63.  Ugh.  Even worse, it’s a two-day repair.  How in the world we’re going to get by with one car for two days is anyone’s guess.  I need to call on Monday to see if we have rental car coverage.

On the way home from the repair shop, I stopped at Wild Oats.  They have officially stopped carrying their house-brand white flour tortillas.  This means that the one and only prepackaged bread product that I can eat is no longer available.  Words do not exist to express how devastated I am.  I consoled myself with a tray of sushi — $6.40.

I’ve decided to boycott Wild Oats and Whole Foods and their whole stupid, insensitive corporate conglomerate.  Can anyone tell me why not a single tortilla maker uses canola oil to make their tortillas?  Do you know what Whole Foods puts in their tortillas?  Soy!  I know that I’m not alone in being allergic to soy.  It’s a fairly common allergen.  Who’s allergic to canola oil?  No one, that’s who.  Or at least not me.  There are two whole sources of oil that I can eat.  Two.  I can eat canola oil and olive oil.  That’s it.  That’s all.  Canola oil.  And Olive Oil.  Not sesame oil.  Not sunflower oil.  Not cottonseed oil.  Not palm oil.  Not “vegetable” oil.  Not shortening.  Canola Oil.  And Olive Oil.  And not one single tortilla maker uses  either of those oils.

Enough of that.  On to the latest update in the Great Underwear Search of ‘08.

The Son and I stopped at a different T.J. Maxx this afternoon on the way home from class.  He picked out two more brands and styles of briefs to try.  We picked up two packages of men’s size small Tommy Hilfiger “Hip Briefs” — $5.00/ea. (one package to wash and try, the second package as a back-up in case they work; to be returned if they don’t).  We also picked up a package of Calvin Klein briefs in a boy’s size XL (16-18) — $5.99.  I’m reluctant to open them and wash them because they’re the same size as what he’s wearing right now.  And the whole reason we’ve embarked on the Great Underwear Search of ‘08 is because his current underwear is too small.  Tune in for the next installment of “Is the Underwear Right?!”

My final expense of the day was $4.00 in cash for admission to watch The Daughter’s game tonight.

A full yet thoroughly unproductive day.  Just another day in my suburban paradise….

Well folks, back to the old drawing board.  Surely you didn’t think it would be that easy?

I put the Alfani briefs into the wash last night (don’t worry, I had a full load of whites to run).  This morning I got the report:  the waistband fit fine but the actual briefs were loose.

You know, I really don’t get clothes’ manufacturers.  Do they not use real people to come up with the designs for their clothes?  I’d honestly forgotten how difficult it is to find clothes designed to fit human beings instead of mannequins.  All of those years of dressing my kids in Hanna Andersson togs really spoiled us.

The Son, though slim, has a fairly classic physique.  He’s not overly skinny (like his cousin) and, unlike so many males (including his own dad), he has a rear end.

I can only imagine what this Great Underwear Search of ‘08 is going to entail — both in time and money.  :-(   At least we’ve already done the work of ensuring that classic briefs are definitely the style of choice.  Traditional boxer shorts were rejected several years ago — loosey, goosey is simply not for The Son.  I have to admit I still don’t fully understand his rejection of boxer briefs — they’re so similar to the sliding shorts he wears for baseball and basketball and he’s had no trouble adjusting to those.  I would have thought that boxer briefs would be perfect:  the same fit without the cup.  But no.

If anyone out there has any brand suggestions, please speak up.