Two Fun Days

On Monday Gary and I went north to Michigan City to the Lighthouse Premium Outlets to do some shopping.  We do that occasionally, even though my favorite outlet shopping spot is in Sevierville.  We were on a mission for a few things, and we found them!

Next stop was the Bass Pro Shop in Portage.  We like that store also and have visited it several times.  I know this sounds weird, but we do like the clothes there.  I like the more casual styles and they seem to fit me better than those from other stores. Plus I like the longer tails on shirts so I can wear them with skinny jeans or leggings.

The only problem with shopping in these two places is that now they are not just an hour away, but two!  We agreed that while we had a good day, it will be a while before we make the trip again. We put over 200 miles on the Escape just in that shopping trip.  But it was fun!

Yesterday our plans changed a little. We were planning to visit the Indiana Historical Museum and wander through the Christmas tree display.  We went last year and really enjoyed it.  Since Cooper was running a fever and Megan had asked if we could help out with watching him, we cancelled our plans for Friday and moved the trip to Indianapolis to that day so we could be available.  Then Matt decided to stay at home with him, so we changed our plans again to a shopping day.

It started at Cracker Barrel, always a good place for breakfast.  I found a breakfast that I can eat with fewer points than my favorite Momma's French Toast Breakfast (love that French toast but too many points for me!)  We discovered that we can find some reasonably priced items in their Country Store also, so we did a bit of Christmas shopping after we ate.

Next stop was Lowe's to pay off the bill for the appliances and some other items for the new house.  We had opted for the "No Interest for 6 Months" plan instead of 5% off the total price.  I had been paying a few hundred each month, but we decided to just pay it and be done with it so we did.  Landon had asked Papaw for a tool box and had given him a list of tools he would like so Gary shopped for that for him.

A stop at Five Below was next.  Megan had found an item available at that store and asked us to stop and see if it were in stock.  We hit pay dirt in that place.  EVERYTHING was $5 or less so we picked up some stocking stuffers and a few charging cords for Nick plus some things for the kids. We decided that paying $5 for games that they may tire of in a week or so or lose the pieces from was better than paying $20-30 for a game and just as fun.  And we found the item that Megan had asked about too!

Gas was under $2.00 a gallon at Sam's so that was the next stop.  It had been a long time since we filled up the tank for around $20.

Staples was next.  Every year Gary gets me a calendar that hung beside the front door at the old house.  It replaced one that we always used to get at Peoples State Bank in Francesville. Since we don't bank there anymore and since they changed to Alliance Bank, we found another calendar at Staples that worked well.  The only problem now is that there is no good place to hang it at the new house---except on the back of the cabinet door in the kitchen where we keep our medicine and paper plates and other stuff like that.  It works for me, but Gary isn't used to it yet.  Anyway, we found a calendar there plus I needed something under the chair in the sewing room, so we found a pad that was perfect for that.

Since we were in the area, we went to Barnes and Noble.  I had missed out on just browsing there during Megan's book fair before Thanksgiving. Landon, Tessa, and Cooper were with me and my focus was keeping an eye on them.  Plus Brian and Melanie and the girls were visiting and stopped by so I spent some time with them and introduced them to Matt's folks and a few other friends.  I stopped at Starbucks and ordered a chai latte (never again) and browsed.  I finally caught up with Gary and of course we found several items we liked, including a couple of musicals for Megan, three puzzles, and a few books for gifts for us!

It was time to eat again so we went to Cheddars Scratch Kitchen. I like going to places where I know I can find something to eat and keep within the points for the day.  This time I tried something new - lemon pepper whitefish on rice with baby carrots and a house salad. It was great!  I was stuffed, but then it hadn't really been that long since breakfast.

Back to Home Depot we went to do the same thing as at Lowe's---pay off the bill for the lawn mower.  This had been an unexpected expense since the old owners had left a mower here and we were moving ours down as well.  The one they left didn't last through one mowing and was not worth repairing. Ours was needed at the old house to continue to keep the yard nice.  So we had to shop for a new mower and wanted one that would last us for several years.  Same option as at Lowe's - no interest for 12 months, but I wanted to pay it off, so we did!

Homeward bound after that.  And we had plenty of time to do other things with the day!  Another perk of living closer to Lafayette!  We really enjoyed the shopping fun and just being together.  It was a good day!  Plus Christmas shopping is always fun, especially when the crowds are small and the stores are not crowded.  The busiest place we were was Cheddars!  Everyone has to eat, I guess!