Macy's used to be one of my favorite stores, but truth be told, they don't have much that i want. I really didn't want to spend much over $25, the amount I had for a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket. I browsed the lingerie area, but ended up wildly overpaying for a Scandinavian garlic press (I usually chop my garlic and am hoping the press will release more flavor) and then 2 small juice glasses, a very pretty green with bubbles in the glass.

When I pulled into my space at the parking lot, i noticed a woman sitting in the car next to me. A beat up old car filled with "stuff." It occurred to me she could be living out of her car. I was sort of thinking about it when i went inside the store and considered striking up a conversation with her when I came back out, but while her car was still there, she was gone. I took a closer look inside the car. There were a lot of empty soda bottles that i supposed she was going to recycle, but there also seemed to be a lot of mail. I mean, piles in the front seat and the back. I saw one phone bill. Again, these thoughts take a while to circulate in the old noggin, but as i was getting back on the highway, I wondered if it was her mail or if she was possibly stealing mail to commit identity theft. The thought occurred to me because ID theft is one of the big topics i write about at work. I guess I'll never know.

Stopped at Trader Joe's and got some essentials for me: the California dried "slab" apricots (getting pricier all the time but oh what a treat), a bag of organic pears, 2 containers of steel-cut oatmeal, some cereal and cereal bars and some organic jams.

Then, my final stop, Costco. I actually stood in front of a nice compact 22" LCD HDTV for $299 and considered getting it, then giving my small kitchen TV, which works perfectly fine, to my mother. I had to give myself a mental kick in the you know what to move on. Spending $$ is too easy at Costco.

I also rolled up the $400 wool rug i just bought and put in the dining room and hauled that baby up to the attic. It was very heavy and i could barely get it upstairs. Then i unwrapped the replacement bamboo "rug" (purchased so i wouldn't have to worry about the cat scratching it) and laid that down.


Absolutely beautiful for $189, free shipping. I can't recommend www.naturalarearugs.com enough. This is my third bamboo mat. It's the perfect solution to cats scratching carpeting, it's priced GREAT compared to regular rugs and looks beautiful. My only small complaint is that it isn't too hard to leave scratch marks on the bamboo if you don't, for instance, have leg pads on your chair legs.