Saturday, November 6, 2010

Day 21 Of Forty Days of Gratitude




It was one of those cold days that autumn will throw your way to remind you that winter is on it's way. The temperature this morning was only 40 degrees and I could see my breath as I called out to my dog as we took an early morning walk. I watched as my warm breath became became misty tendrils in the dark morning sky and then evaporated. I wanted to crawl back into bed beneath the warm electric blanket curled up next to my husband. Instead I warmed up some tea and had some cookies for breakfast.

I know. I know. Cookies for breakfast are not healthy and they will not help you lose weight but they truly were calling my name.

I turned on my computer and began working on my blog. I was a woman on a mission because companies were counting on me to do a product review and I still had to get my shopping guide ready. The house was quiet and the dogs were lying by my feet.

I let Darryl sleep in despite the fact that we had lots of errands to run. I loved the fact that I didn't have to rush anywhere. On the agenda for today was a stop at Lowes, Bath and Body, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Walmart. Little did I realize that little pleasures awaited me at every turn today.

Our first stop was Lowes. It turns out that the appliances for my new kitchen were all on sale. We took advantage of that sale and after we paid for my new stove and dishwasher we had to run to get a couple of filters for our heater.

Then I heard my name and I turned around. There was a former student whom I had taken a special interest in years ago when he was in my class. He was living with his Grandmother because his father had abandoned the family years ago and his mother had died. I noticed that he was slacking off in class because he wanted to be a bit of a class clown.

At first he thought I was picking on him but after I spoke to his Grandmother she realized that I had his best interests at heart. By the end of that year he was enrolled in college and I felt his life was on track.

Today I found out that he wound up not finishing the classes he had been taking and was out of school for now. He was thinking about going back to school to be a teacher. He said he wanted to be a history teacher and I told him about a program that allows people to get an education degree and agree to work in struggling schools to work off their college loans. I suggested that he ask the financial aid officer about the program.

We spoke a little longer and then he mentioned that if he was going to be a teacher he wanted to teach like I did because he felt that students learn better when the book isn't being rammed down your throat. He said he liked how really excited I was about what I taught and he wants to teach history because he's excited about that. I would say that our conversation is one that many teachers hope to have and for me it was definitely a moment of gratitude.

After Lowes Darryl took me out to eat at Chili's. I know he really didn't want to go but I was in the mood for soup and I wanted to try their all your can eat soup and salad. I didn't realize that it came with salsa and chips. I ordered their Potato Soup and at the last minute Darryl decided to order the same item. Let's just say that happiness is Chilis potato soup on a cold day. Darryl must have told me four times that this was the best potato soup he has ever had.

After we finished lunch we headed over to Walgreens with a Register Reward for $6 that we had to spend or lose. That's when I noticed the candy was 75% off. We bought four pounds of candy for $6. All we paid was the tax. This was an unexpected little surprise.

One of the things I was excited about going to Bath and Body Works this weekend because of a sale they were having. You could buy three Bath and Body Works signature body washes and/or lotions and you would get three free. In addition to that I had a coupon for $10 off $30. I was able to bring the price down to $23.01. I had two gift cards that I had won earlier this year and each of them had a few dollars left on them. I used them to bring my total down to $3.43. How's that for a great deal? I was sooooo excited.

We had $8 to spend at Rite Aid from some Up Rewards that were going to expire. Darryl was able to purchase a couple of things he wanted.

From there we headed over to Walmart where we discovered that everything Halloween had been marked down 90%. I wound up getting some great Halloween stuff all for under $6. That certainly was a treat.

The last little surprise had arrived in the mail when we were gone. It was coupons for free hot dogs and free Oscar Meyer cold cuts from Kroger. I love free so I really was happy to see those coupons.

So as you can see despite today's chilly beginning there was so much to be grateful for today.

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