Monthly Archives: November 2008
On Target and other shopping on Black Friday
So J and I made our annually outing yesterday to do a bit of shopping. Unlike those camped out in RVs in front of stores since Tuesday, we waited and went out around noon.
Our first stop was World Market to purchase a traditional tin of german cookies we’ve bought the past two years, only to discover they didn’t have it this year. Alas, it was nice to be greeted by an associate who handed us a shopping basket. That never happens throughout the rest of the year. I made a quick once over of the Christmas decor. J picked up a silver and red tree scarf for our tree which we had put up Thursday night. More about the tree later. Then, I decided to get a box of small wooden nutcracker ornaments. I’ve recently started collecting the small wooden figurines to adorn our book shelf and guard the books each year. It’s easy to add to the collection since they usually come at least four or five to a box.
Disappointed about the cookies, we moved on. It was nice to see the store still busy with shoppers. Next stop, TJ Maxx, one of my favorite places to browse kitchenware and home decor (all that stuff at the back of the store). They had some nice things but J and I ended up buying underwear. Yes, I said underwear. Believe it or not, TJ Maxx and Marshalls are the best places to get brand name under clothing at half the price of department stores…2xist, Calvin Klein, Izod…they had a great selection. Cashiers were busy here too.
Next door, we hit Target to buy cat food and curtain rods. I know…of all things to be buying on Black Friday. We almost ended up with a 26″ flat screen for the bedroom at $299! AWESOME! But they were sold out. However, a nice associate checked other stores for us, and I’d like to point out that at least 3 other associates on the sales floor asked us how we were doing or if we needed help. One guy even pointed us in the direction of curtain rods even though we would have found them on our own. This is the first time ANY associate has ever approached me first in a Target. Rock on Target dog! I say hello, good buy, and good move on your part!
Next was Global Market…a grocery store of imported foods. I’d never been here before, but J had. Both of us were like kids in a candy store. German cookies (no tin though), sliced buffalo chicken breasts, tomatoes, black currant tea, walnut tea cake, southwestern cheese, peppermint tea, egg nog in a bottle, and an array of other goodies were loaded into our shopping basket all for about $40.00. We hurried home to make turkey sandwiches on pita bread and enjoy leftover stuffing and green bean casserole. Mmm…mmm..mmm…
Upon hanging up the new curtains in the four windows along the front of the house, we discovered we should have bought two more for the side windows to give the entire house a finished look. These curtains are cloth Roman shades in darker colors which we hung on a rod underneath our rattan blinds to keep out the sun and any prying eyes. However, the shades came from Linens n Things which is going out of business. So, we headed back out again. I’m sad to see L n T go, but honestly, I never shopped here. I’ve shopped it more now with it going under than I ever did before. Sad.
Smart shoppers have definitely been taking advantage of the deals here. There were already empty fixtures at the back of the store for sale. Lucky for us, they had two shades left. J and I perused the kitchenware again, salivating over new pots and pans (we’ve already made several trips to this store since the store wide sale started in October). But, we left with only the shades this time, not before sharing a giggle over a customer trying to write a check at the counter, right on top of the sign that said NO CHECKS and NO RETURNS. Then, another stop at another Target next door for two more rods. We took another look at that TV, but this location was sold out too. “It must be a sign,” J said.
And so we hurried home, hung the last two curtains and called it a day. People were definitely out shopping…probably taking advantage of those discounts and deals but don’t we always? As J pointed out in the car on the way home, yeah, the economy is bad and the news is cluttered with Stock Market fears, but that isn’t going to stop me from getting out and enjoying the holidays. Sure, we have no more money than we did last year. We have no business buying a new TV when the tiny one in the bedroom we have now works fine. And although I’ve already purchased most of my holiday gifts and bought none, except for things for myself, this weekend, it was still nice to get out and get assistance and see that stores were making a sincere effort to please shoppers.
Who’s Got Gas?
I seem to recall a conversation amongst coworkers many weeks ago about the slow decrease in gas prices. I told everyone the closer we got to election, the more we’d see the prices drop. About two weeks before the election we were at $1.89 to $1.99. This morning the news showed one local pump down to $1.39. Wow! Three days before Black Friday, at a time when retailers were expecting sales to be at an all time low, the stock market outtta whack, when what to my wondering eyes should appear? Even cheaper gas prices are finally here!
And they say the government doesn’t control our economy? HA!
So should we take this as a sign to get out and spend to our heart’s content? Not me. But I’m sure that’s what the government wants you to do. What? You can’t afford your mortgage? Fuggedboutit! Fill up your tank and with all that money ya save, go out and spend, spend, spend! Cause this is Amurica!
Googling Phelps
Wow! I’m so thrilled about all this traffic that’s been coming to my website everyday. I wonder what’s bringing people here? Could it be my bestselling books? Could it be my photography or paintings or award winning poetry? What could it be?!
It’s that darn article I wrote about Michael Phelps and the new swim suits they wore at the Olympics this year. Geez…
WordPress does an awesome job of keeping track of what brought people here and how they found you, so that’s how I know. Here’s the latest Google searches which brought people to my site and the number of hits I got from each…
Okay, people, the Olympics are over. Stop searching for naked pics of Phelps and get on with your life. Michael Phelps is not going to sleep with you!
Thanksgiving with J
Yesterday, I braved Saturday shopping traffic to buy groceries for Thanksgiving. Tight on funds to buy stuff for Thanksgiving and regular groceries to get us through to the holiday, I decided to clip a few coupons and do some “multiple location” shopping to try to save money. This consisted of a trip to Wal-Mart and a trip to Shop-N-Save.
Although the coupons saved me 15 dollars, they almost weren’t worth it. At both places, the cashier forgot to ring my coupons and had to go get Gozar the Key Keeper to unlock their drawer, push some buttons, and give me cash back.
I’d also like to point out that our Wal-Mart is the worst ever. It isn’t a Super Center, and on any given day of the week (not just at holidays) going inside is total chaos so I wasn’t expecting the Saturday before Thanksgiving to be any different. I go inside and there are no carts, and there are about 20 people waiting on carts. Rather than join them, I go back outside and retrieve one cart for myself. Going back inside the entrance, at least 5 people jump on me asking if I’m done with the cart. While shopping, 2 people asked me where I got the cart. Muliple times I had to wait because people were right in front of what I needed, talking on their cell phones, and trying to make a decision, although I swore they were just standing in front of what I needed to bug the hell out of me. It worked!
Next, I was off to the grocery store. I didn’t have to bring in my own cart, and at least the aisles are bigger so it’s easier to reach around people and get what you need. I loaded the cart with all the traditional Thanksgiving food, plus food J and I like to eat for lunches on work days. At check out, the cashier tried to talk me out of my Butterball turkey because the other two brands were on sale. I thanked her but said no thanks, and it turned out that when she rang up my turkey it was on sale too anyway. And like I said, she forgot to ring my coupons. But the cash I got back was enough to buy us Chinese for dinner last night. Yeah, I know…all that time and money spent buying food and we order Chinese for dinner.
The older I get, the more I like Thanksgiving. Now that I don’t work in retail anymore and don’t have to put up with holiday shoppers, my company gives us Thursday and Friday off for the holiday, so it’s a nice four day weekend. Unfortunately, if Christmas falls in the middle of the week, my company only gives us Christmas Day off. With family out of town, I usually have to save vacation time to use if I want to go home for Christmas. And I usually do go home to Tennessee since Thanksgiving has become mine and J’s holiday together.
So despite the coupon clipping, the cart snatching, the people in my way, the traffic, grocery shopping, the slow cashiers, the lack of money, and lack of time, I will find time to enjoy my butterball turkey and J’s green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread stuffing, pumpkin pie, spiced wine, and maybe some egg nog or boiled custard. No matter what, I’m thankful to have the time off to enjoy such things. I’m thankful to have a job to at least afford to buy the food. I’m thankful for our lil house we have to come home to and our big kitchen to cook in. I’m thankful for J who is the only reason it is a home. When I can’t be close to the family back home in Tennessee, J is my family right here and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
So before the Christmas rush and scurrying off the rest of the year, it’s nice to stop and be thankful for life, for love, for home, for happiness, for family, and for the opportunity to spend it with someone I care so much about.
In Search of Tennessee Part 2
It’s been a while since I wrote here, so I thought I would start today with those Calvary Cemetery pics I promised in my last post. Calvary is the neighboring cemetery to Bellefontaine. With an hour left that day before the gates closed, J and I drove through Calvary and snapped a few photos.
This last picture was a pleasant surprise. There’s a giant lake in the middle of the cemetery and just as we were leaving, we heard some squawking noises. I stopped the car to take a picture of these geese through the windown and suddenly, the came running toward us wanting to be fed. Sadly, we had not food for them so I sped off before they reached the car.
Since we only had an hour, we did not stop to get a map of Calvary. I wish now that we had though. Still curious about where the heck Tennessee Williams was buried, I looked him up when we got home. Sure enough, he wasn’t in Bellefontaine as I had thought. But he is right there in Calvary. We just missed him. I plan to go back one day to visit though next Spring.
In Search of Tennessee…
Ever had one of those spur of the moment ideas that you just ran with and later wished you had prepared a bit for? That’s just what happened to J and I yesterday. J mentioned going to the Bellefontaine Cemetery to take photos, something I’ve always wanted to do ever since I’ve lived here but never had the chance to do. One of my favorite things to do with camera in hand is go to a local cemetery. While living in Memphis, I visited Elmwood on a regular basis. I’d always find something new when I went, and enjoyed photographing headstones, statues, and the occasional ghost each time I went.
Outside of the Lemp family, I’d done very little research before on who was buried at Bellefontaine, but for some reason I thought that Tennessee Williams was buried there. Instead of checking my facts before we left, I figured he’d be listed on a map and maybe we’d run into him. Well, he wasn’t on the Bellefontaine map and isn’t buried there, but lots of other famous locals are including our beloved Lemps. Adolphus Busch, the famous beer brewery founder; Henry T. Blow, whose daughter was the founder of kindergarten; the Wainwright tomb which is on the National Register of Historic Places; William S. Burroughs, the inventor of the calculator; Sara Teasdale, the first Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winner; and of course General William Clark best known as part of the Lewis and Clark duo. We stopped at Clark’s tomb first…
Clark’s tomb was amazing and definitely celebrated the expedition of Lewis and Clark with many famous quotes.
If you look close, you’ll see lots of tiny dots all over the monument. It was literally covered in hundreds of orange lady bugs, and was the only tomb we came across covered in the tiny critters. Strange…
Despite all the magnificent mortuary art and sculpture, the first day of November was a pleasant sunny day and perfect for enjoying the fall colors. The tour guide brochure we picked up pointed out that the seasonal foliage is indeed noteworthy.
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I know where the turkeys seek refuge. We came across three wild turkeys amongst the stones. Look in the upper left corner of this photo. I caught a snapshot of them as they were running away…
More photos of statues. Check out those autumn colors in the background…
This one is called “The Girl in the Shadow Box” and is the Luyties Monument. The sun was peeking through the trees quite right when we passed by and I was able to capture some fantastic and mysterious photos of her…
The Lemp Family was our next stop. Obviously, the door to their mausoleum was locked, but I did capture some interesting shots through the glass windows of the front door.
Here’s the Wainwright tomb which is on the historical register…
These dried flowers laying at the door to one tomb caught my eye…
More of various plots….
One of my favs was this sweet little girl feeding a lamb. From the back she looked like a ghost in the distance….
The Busch mausoleum had a very impressive stained glass window visible through the doors, and someone had left nice patriotic flowers in the handle of the door…
Here’s a statue that adorns the founder of “kindergarten” tomb…
A bramble of dead vines in an urn that fascinated me…
One last angel and one last colorful tree…
Like I said, Tennessee Williams wasn’t on the map and I would later discover he isn’t even buried in Bellefontaine. It was 4pm and the gates were locked promptly at 5, so with one hour left we ventured across the street to another cemetery known as Calvary. I’ll post pictures of it in my next post.
Vote for the Jack Ass
Did you know you can vote online now? That’s right! You can vote online for the mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky. So who’s running? 14 dogs, a cat, a donkey, and a human. Cast your ballot by donating 1 dollar to the candidate of your choice, and you can vote as many times as you like. The jack ass, named Higgins, is in third place with 1298 votes so far followed by Lucy Lou the border collie in 2nd and a three legged dog named Toby in the lead with 1773 votes! The winner will be announced in just two days so get on over to their website and cast your vote! The city’s website alone is worth a look! It’s a hoot! Oh, and all the money raised from the votes is donated to the city’s historical society!
