'What are those balloons doing, Mommy?' June 24, 2003 - 3:26 p.m.

Saturday morning we woke and did yard work. Chris cutting the grass and I trimming trees and pulling some weeds. Shortly after noon we had decided we had done enough and went in for showers. While I was in the shower, Chris' friend came over and they played video games for a bit, as I fell asleep. But only for a few minutes. We decided to go to the new Bob Evans by here, for lunch, as neither of us had eaten there before. Their Wildfire stuff is pretty tasty. The banana cream pie is yummy, too.

We decided it was the day to go look for glasses for me, at least at one place. But on the way there, we witnessed the oddest obscenity. A mating couple. Of balloons. Two large metallic balloons were going at it right there on the ground at the side of the road. It was right in front of a day camp, so there were children around!! You'd think these balloons would have the decency to get a room, or at least move to a hidden alley or behind a car. Geez. The nerve of some inanimate objects. I swear though.. these balloons were boinking! Both sideways, on the ground, one on top of the other, and the top one was moving back and forth. I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if we were to have walked over and heard static-like moaning.

After the witnessed debauchery, Chris took a detour from the glasses place and ended up at Barnes & Noble. He was on a surprise quest for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Which, of course, they didn't have. But we looked around for a bit and they had the lovely Buffy books and even Cut to the Twisp which has, like, deleted scenes from Youth in Revolt. And I also found out that the next Artemis Fowl book, The Eternity Code, is already out. I hadn't even heard anything about there being a third one yet, and suddenly I'm seeing it in the store. So there's another book to add to my already lengthy wishlist.

Once we finally got to the glasses place, the only thing I really found was disappointment. I was hopeful that their deal of two pairs of glasses for whatever set amount would actually be decent, and not Sally Jessy Raphaelish, which is what they offered. Though they did have a buy one, get one free deal. But it didn't include the cost of lenses. I didn't realize just how expensive frames were either. So we were looking at about $120 for one pair of frames, then another $60 for lenses. Actually, two $60 for lenses, so that's another $120. $240 altogether. So I said screw it, cause I don't have that. I have several pairs of contacts still and my glasses are passable to wear around the house so I'll worry about a new pair of glasses when I absolutely have to. Before leaving, we decided to ask if their 'buy one get one free' sale was a common thing, and if so, did it always include the free eye exam. The lady told us how it's almost a constant sale that they offer, then proceeded to write down some info on the back of a business card. Basically, she gave me a hand written coupon for a super deal. Two complete pairs of glasses (so that included lenses), buy one get one free, any frames in the store for only $99. I don't know if she meant to word it the way she did, but it works out to be only $99 for two full pairs of glasses, using any frames I wanted. And that just rocks. She even added to this the free eye exam and a discount on tinting or featherweight lenses if I wanted or needed either. Considering the free exam, I'm not limited to time for this and can do it at a later date. Though I'd love to have a new pair now.

It was still early and neither of us wanted me to go home just yet, so we went across the street to the mall and wandered around for awhile.

I got to play Wario Ware and look at cool toys and dvds. We walked, got exercise, and made fun of people. We even got milkshake samples. Then we came to the bookstore and immediately saw the table setup for Harry Potter stuff. They didn't have any of the normal copies of Year 5, but they had several of the audio versions and a few of the deluxe edition books. After much contemplating and financial reasoning, Chris decided he was going to go ahead and get one of the deluxe editions and we would split the cost. $30. Each. That's $60 for just one book.

We went to the register and the lady started in on her salesmenship techniques for getting us to buy the members card that allows us to get 10% off each time we purchase anything... blah blah blah, typical stuff. Since Chris and I both like to read, and because we could use the benefits immediately with this purchase, he figured why not. And when the book rang up at 30% off, he figured why not again, and told me to grab another book. That's two deluxe editions of the newest Harry Potter, which would cost $120 together. With each one at their discount, that's $84. Then figure the additional discount of 10% with the newly acquired members card, that should be $75.60, plus tax. But we didn't stop to figure it up before we left. Besides, the lady was so busy going on about how you earn points for each dollar you spend and how much we've already accumulated with this purchase alone, so we should be getting this coupon in the mail any day now and here's a 15% coupon to use on your next purchase and blah blah blah and your total is $50 something and have a nice day.

So we walk out of there going 'Woah'. There are people on waiting lists that don't even have a copy yet, and people that didn't want to spend too much money on the deluxe edition if they saw it... but we did, and now have not one, but two copies. And for cheap. That was an awesome deal. And then I start thinking about it. That's about $25 per book. Now the list price for the normal copy is $30, though most places have it way cheaper. Hell, even Amazon has it for $18. But for sake of averages and lack of any further math, you could say that we paid the same price for the deluxe edition that others are paying for the regular edition. (Amazon has the deluxe edition listed as $42, which is what it first rang up as at the bookstore, before any further discounts were added.)

We're walking around the mall a bit more and still in shock. That was a super deal. Chris even made the comment of 'See, careless spending can sometimes have its benefits'. That's a bad, bad thing to teach someone, especially a girl.

We stopped in at one of the game stores and he found that they had a preorder setup for Soul Caliber 2. He's dying for this game, though he's pissed that his favorite system has the lame special character. Why get that version when you have that same character in half a dozen Tekken games already? So he had to decide between Gamecube which has Link, or Xbox which has Spawn. Considering he likes the Xbox's controller better and he heard that Link was kinda poopy, plus Xbox having a stellar graphics deal... he went with Spawn. But you don't really care to hear this, now do you? Anyhow... he mainly did the preorder because they were giving away free lithographs and a book of the character art with it. He's a sucker for the character sketches and all things art related.

Once we got out to the car, I decided to check the receipt because this uberdeal with Order of the Phoenix just wasn't making sense. The briefest glance of the receipt and it all made sense. She didn't charge us for the second book. She grabbed it. She put it in the bag. But she didn't ring it up. And now we were torn with a moral dilemma. Go back in and fix their error, or walk away and accept it as a blessing? We decided to go with the latter, because we almost never have anything like that happen to us. So blessing it was.

But it was a good day. Yummy food, mating balloons, Eternity Code, non-expiring coupon for glasses, milkshake samples, Buy one get one free Harry Potters, and free lithograph and art book. Plus there was a really cool store in the mall where they painted furniture and even offered painting classes where you could paint some nifty looking stuff. If I had the money, I'd look into it. Though I don't need a class to allow me to paint on the furniture, I just think it would be a fun experience.

We went to Walgreens to get some drinks and he took me home. Off to see my loverly puppies and kitties and finish reading Two Towers so I can hurry and get started on Harry Potter.

But there was a dead bird hanging from the gutter, and as soon as I saw that I broke out into tears. If it weren't for the animals, I wouldn't have gone there at all. Just having to deal with the house was the worst way to end a great day.

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