What happens when you let me out of the house

Well, my WFMW post yesterday didn't bring in the visitors and comments like I hoped it would. At the time I wrote it I thought it was pretty good. Then Wednesday morning I go to connect the links, and it turns out the host of WMFW PICKED THE SAME TOPIC!! Talk about not fair. Oh well. I linked up anyway, since I HAD spent the time on it. I have a better one for next week.

Yesterday was BUSY. I didn't get any work done at home because I was hardly AT home. It was actually really refreshing! A few years ago I never would have thought that I would be so glad to have a day OUT of the house. When we moved to Nashville I got a full-time job. I started in June. My first day off came in September: Labor Day. That day at home was so refreshing! We didn't go anywhere (DH, as a grad student, doesn't get holidays like the rest of human working-folk), I just puttered around the apartment and enjoyed myself. Now, I'm home all the time, and a day OUT is like a vacation! Really, all we need once in a while is a day off from the routine.

What made yesterday so special was that I HAD THE CAR! LB had a dentist appt. at 10am, so I (we) had to drop DH off and I got the car :) Although I could drop DH off on any day we choose and I can have the car just about any time I want, it's not economical to do so. So we don't. (Besides, I don't like getting up any earlier than I absolutely have to.)

So we went to the dentist (LB was fantastic, btw. He just laid there and let them brush his teeth and look in his mouth. One of the front four bottom teeth still hasn't come in, even though he's now got molars, but all's well). LB fell asleep in the car on the way over and was very sleepy even while we were in the waiting room. His sleepiness was nothing compared to the pair of girls who were there. When we came in, they were sound asleep on a couple of bean bags in front of the tv. Sound asleep. Turns out they'd been medicated. I told DH about it later, and wondered what kind of procedure these young children could possible be needing to go through that they had to anesthetized for it! DH commented that perhaps it was just a regular visit, and they (their parents) had opted for "sedation dentistry". I was appalled. We hear ads for it all the time on radio, "come in, go to sleep, wake up with a new smile!" I can understand someone who hasn't been to the dentist in a long time, maybe needs a lot of work done, perhaps they have an unhealthy fear, but CHILDREN?! Seems to me these parents are teaching their children to fear going to the dentist! DH is just speculating, we don't really KNOW why they were medicated, but it's certainly a disturbing thought.

Then we went to Walmart, right next to the dentist's office, not our regular Walmart. (our Walmart got rid of the sewing/craft section!! I couldn't believe it when we walked in there earlier this week. Very, very upsetting. They were the closest shop for almost 20 miles AND had the best prices. JoAnn's, Michael's, and other such stores have all moved to Mt. Juliet, and I can't just hop over there any time I want.) THEY had a crafting section, so I took my time browsing, just enjoying that they still have the stuff. I picked up some thread for my sewing project and some yarn for a crochet project.

Then we went home and had lunch.

After lunch, naptime? Nosiree, we had more things to do. Okay, "had" is the wrong word. "Wanted" is probably more accurate. We did have a belt to return (DH needed a new belt. He found one he liked. He picked one a size bigger than he thought he needed because he doesn't like it being buckled on the last hole. When we got home, it was way too big. We returned it. He got one the next size down. When we got home, it was way too big. So I had it in the car to exchange AGAIN). Now, the belt came from TJMaxx, where they also sell purses. Me, I have a thing about purses. I seem to be always looking for the perfect purse. The problem, of course, is that my idea of the "perfect purse" changes every few months. I have a big ol' bin in the garage FULL of purses. I can't get rid of them, because I might want to use one of them someday! I had been using a purse I liked very much, but it was starting to feel cramped. (I explained to DH that the design of the internal pockets did not take advantage of the vertical space, so everything fell to the bottom, and it wasn't wide enough for that.) My mom made me a beautiful backpack purse in the vein of Vera Bradley. It's great, we designed it ourselves! But has just one little, itsy-bitsy, flaw: the straps are too short. I can't wear it like a backpack unless I'm only wearing a t-shirt type layer. (There are a couple other, totally surmountable, issues, but I won't go into detail.) (If you're reading this, Mom, please don't be offended! I LOVE the backpack. It'll be great this summer, and when we go to the Renaissance Faire, and when we go to Gatlinburg when you're here, and other times. I...I have a purse problem, and I can't seem to resist.) But at TJ Maxx, I saw a purse I REALLY LIKED. The color was fantastic, the design looked good, it was a little on the trendy side, but that's okay. It's a little bigger than I like, but I think I've been a little delusional about how much stuff I like to carry. I am a MOM, after all, and I seem to end up with all sorts of things that aren't mine.

The price on the purse was $39.99. I realize to some people that is beyond reasonable, but for us, it may as well been $399. Way outside our budget. Way, way, way outside. (Is it really considered a budget if your bare-necessities expenses exceed your poverty-level income? Hmm, good question, but so not the topic.) So I gave up on the purse. I was slowly relinquishing it, letting it fade from my mind, when DH had a suggestion: didn't I have some gold jewelry I'd been talking about selling? Let me tell you, I was SO excited yesterday morning! We didn't have time in the morning, but after lunch, the first place we stopped was a little hole-in-the-wall jewelry shop I'd found last Christmas when DH needed his ring reshaped (and engraved. I had forgotten to do it before our wedding, and he had engraved mine, so I finally got his done.) They buy jewelry. Their sign out front says "highest prices paid." That's good, but I didn't really care. So long as I got enough to cover $39.99+tax.

The guy weighed my item and quoted me $105. I tried not to let my eyes pop out of my head as I smiled and told him that was wonderful. Then he paid me in CASH. Two bills, in cash. I think I floated to the car. Okay, time out. I KNOW what Dave Ramsey would say to do with that money. (We'll tackle that debt, Dave, we promise, as soon as we can. Please see above about bare-necessities expenses exceeding poverty-level income.) And I KNOW I just sold something that will last a really long time and I'm looking to purchase something less durable. SO. NOT. THE. POINT. The point is that we don't have the budget for little things like frivolous purses. The point is that I had never worn the jewelry since it had been given to me. The point is that I was trading something I didn't use and got no joy out of for something that I WILL use and will enjoy very much.

So we went to TJ Maxx and headed straight to the purses (after returning the belt). I took my time looking it over, playing with the pockets, clasps, zippers, etc. LB helped. He liked the pocket flap on the outside. We even went over to a mirror to see how it would look on my shoulder. Yeah, it's a little big. But if I'm going to resign myself to big "mommy purses", it might as well be a flashy one, right? Besides, I had been thinking about it since last Saturday when we had purchased the FIRST too-big-belt (the one that was two sizes too big). If I look at something, put it back, and it dominates my thoughts for the next three days, I figure I'll get good use out of it (can you follow the logic on that?)

I paid for them (the purse and the belt) in two separate transactions: the purse with cash (have you ever paid for something with a hundred dollar bill? It's pretty thrilling) and the belt with the cc (because THAT was coming out of HIS gift money, NOT MY CASH. I'm a little protective...). And then we went home. LB went down for a nap. I crocheted. Then it was time to pick up DH, then have dinner, then clean up (DH did the dishes, bless his heart!), then American Idol Results. We missed the singing on Tuesday night. How could we possibly miss American Idol?? We were doing taxes. What fun! </sarcasm> That's a whole 'nother post: coming to grips with getting a very large chunk of change "back" even though we didn't pay any taxes. But this post is long enough.

Oh, I couldn't let you go without showing you my new purse. You're dying to see it, right? I looked for a photo off the designer's website, but it's not in the current line up, which is probably why it was at TJ Maxx (although they had other purses that ARE on the designer's site...). Purty, ain't it?
I like the over-sized buckle. It creates an illusion that the purse is smaller than it is. And of course the color is gorgeous. They had yellow ones, but it wasn't a pretty yellow (as usual). It was the only one there of this style in this color. I was really glad it was still there yesterday :) Yeah, just looking at it makes me want to go somewhere so I can carry it. Ooh! I do have somewhere to go: dentist appointment this afternoon! (lol, DH, LB, and I go to three different dentists. Just the way it worked out. DH went on Tuesday, LB went yesterday, and mine's today.)

Okay, the coffee's kicking in, my head's overflowing with more nonsense I could blog about, but I better publish this and redirect that energy to something "productive" (I wonder if crochet counts...)