The list

Hey, are you ready for this, are you sitting on the edge of your seat?

Guess who is the proud new owner of a Saks Fifth Avenue credit card?

Let me back up a minute.

First thing this morning (well, I say "first thing", but it was more like nine o'clock, which is as "first thing" as I generally like to get on a Saturday) Jeff discovered that our lovely back flowerbed had been ravaged by a gopher.

If you look closely, you can see the line of broken dirt of the tunnel that parallels the back fence. It follows the whole fence line and is interspersed with whopping great mounds of loose dirt.

Jeff and I had planned a day of shopping anyway, so at our first stop, Ace Hardware, we picked up not only a free quart of paint for Bethany, but $19 worth of gopher-murder.

One down.

I love our local Ace Hardware. It always has what we need in the way of home repair supplies and is full of employees who will not only help you to find what you need but will instruct you on how to use it.

We drove to REI, on the prowl for some minimalist running shoes. After trying on some Vibram FiveFingers, Jeff's attitude quickly morphed from suspicion to discipleship. We stayed true to our purpose, however, and drove across the street to Bridgeport Village without succumbing to the siren song of the Vibrams. We hit pay dirt at the New Balance store, where we both found some minimalist (as opposed to barefoot) shoes for $59 a pair. The Vibrams will have to wait and see how we adjust to this first step. 

Another one bites the dust!

As we headed back to the car, I remembered that I had seen a Saks Fifth Avenue store as we drove in. On a whim, we walked over to it. Jeff has a very expensive Zegna suit that we purchased at Saks about fifteen years ago and the pants have worn out in a sensitive area. I thought there was a slim chance that we might be able to buy some matching pants. No such luck, but we did find some very nice Saks suits on sale that are made of Zegna fabric and are very nicely tailored. Jeff obliged me by trying on four suits. We bought two of them. By the time we got all of the discounts, plus an extra 10% for applying for a credit card (apparently, the one we got when we bought the first suit got canceled when we didn't use it again), we got $2,400 worth of suits for $755. And the name of a tailor who can fix the original suit.

I felt pretty satisfied.

Hmmm, that one wasn't on the list. We are dangerous when we shop aimlessly.

We were ravenous, so we stopped at Arby's for lunch.

Using coupons, of course.

Making up for the Saks thing.

Two cheese, two plain, a large curly fries and two iced waters.

Jeff was in heaven.

He kept saying Mmm, I love this.

He almost choked on his sandwich, laughing so hard because of all the photos I was taking.

That boy needs a haircut.

He shall have one tonight, if I can fit it in between hemming and altering new suit pants.

Then we went to Costco and spent frivolously with the annual reward from my AmEx card. We got more money back than we spent.

And another one's down, another one's down, another one bites the dust!

Then Jeff decided he needed a nap.

So we drove home.

He had his nap.

Now.

Let the war on gophers begin!