Sunday Shopping Spree

Lance and I just got back a short while ago from Big Lots, where we picked up our new patio set. He is out on the patio right now assembling the table. The boxes just take up too much space in the garage. I'm not sure if he'll put the chairs together today or not.

We picked up some other stuff while we were there. Nothing I actually needed, of course, although I looked for a few items that I needed and didn't have any success finding them.

I got a new jewelry box. I needed one that had a cabinet for hanging necklaces, and it's got 4 drawers on the side for other things. It was only $12. I've seen similar ones at other stores for a lot more. So I sorted through my jewelry and weeded out the stuff I no longer wear, which I will be donating to Goodwill along with the old jewelry box.

Also got a tiny little garden gnome, which I named Gunther (German pronuciation)...he's sitting in my garden I have by the front entrance to the house. Picked up a new lunch bag since the one I had was getting stained and gross. Lance got an umbrella stand to go with the patio set and a new barbecue brush. I think that's everything. But it was enough.

The rest of the day will be spent doing laundry and vacuuming, probably doing some reading too, and taking Reece for a walk if it dries up and warms up a bit. Otherwise, I'll have to play with her in the house.

Time for lunch...I have leftover Greek food from last night! Yum!

Change...of the coin variety

We have a huge jar that we put spare change into (well, I do...Lance doesn't. He leaves piles of change laying all over the house and I pick them up and put them into the jar).

I can't remember how long we've been collecting these coins. I'm pretty sure it's been since before we left Germany. Seems they put a partially filled jar of coins in a box when they were moving us out of the house. At some point before I got my job, I counted out all the coins. $114.50. I had them rolled and everything.

Alas, our BECU branch doesn't deal with cold, hard cash at all...everything is electronic. So we seem to have nowhere nearby where we can take the change.

A good deal more has been collected since then.

So next week, we'll take the jar (which is so heavy now that I can barely lift it) to the Coinstar machine at the nearest grocery store.

We won't get a cash voucher. Coinstar charges a surcharge for that. Instead, we'll trade in all these coins for a Lowe's gift card (no surcharge!). Whatever change we have right now would be used toward a household project anyway. We may even have enough to almost pay for a storm door replacement.

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I think I sprained my knee. Not a major sprain or anything...believe me, I've done that before. But just enough to make it painful to stand up/sit down. Walking on it doesn't really bother me though. As long as my leg is straightened, it doesn't bother me. It's deep knee bends that hurt like a bitch...and straightening up from them.

I was playing with Reece when it happened. My knee just popped and I felt excruciating pain. I'm not even sure what I did to cause that. But I crumpled onto the couch in agony. Reece was immediately at my side, licking my face.

Haven't looked to see if there's any swelling.

Anyway...we just had dinner. Lance wanted to order a pizza but I'm getting a little tired of Papa John's. So I dug a package of L'il Smokies out of the freezer that I had since Christmas. I simmered them in a mixture of barbecue and teriyaki sauces (so the sauce wasn't too sweet, and had just the right amount of tang). And we just had them with a Pillsbury french loaf and flavored cream cheese, crackers and cheese (white cheddar and Monterey Jack) and olives. Right now, so much better (and more economical) than pizza.