A Day with Cate

I haven't done a post about Cate lately, mostly because she moves too fast for me to get a picture of her. Here she is eating breakfast at Chick fil a. I met her here one morning so her mom could shop at our new Kohls.

You can tell that school is back in session because we were the only ones there.

See what I mean about moving too fast? Cate had a very healthy breakfast: chicken minis, fresh fruit, and chocolate milk. Did you know that you can request a bendable straw for children? (I didn't know either. My daughter told me.)

This is why Cate likes Chick fi la. There is a wonderful children's play area. She was so happy that now she's big enough to climb up the steps to this slide. At the beginning of the summer, I had to lift her up on the step.

These are the days I love.

Was it worth it?

How many of you got an additional $10 last week at Joann's for spending a certain amount?
(I can't remember exactly what the total was. I think it was $50.)

We have a new Joann's in town that is just beautiful. My hubby and I talked to another couple like ourselves - means they were an older couple - about how much we liked this new store.

Well, the honeymoon with Joann's is over. As a matter of fact, I think I'm getting a divorce.

What happened to bring about this drastic change, you ask?
I planned to spend my $10 one day last week.
Before I went in the store, I looked searched frantically through my purse for the card.
Why didn't I look for it before I left home, you ask. Good question.
I must like sitting in a hot car and dumping my purse out on the seat beside me.
Twice.
  Maybe it's on the back seat.
(Don't even ask why that might be.)
Aha! There it was.
With my card in hand, I eagerly entered the store. 

Truthfully, how many of you have read the back of cards like that? Yeah, me neither.
If you have read the back of the card, then you might as well stop reading here.

 

In the past I had gotten several of those $10 cards from Kohls.
They worked like cash. Maybe that's why they were called cash back?

I found the things I wanted and made sure they were on sale.
Then I shopped for my item I could buy with the 40% off coupon.
Never leave home without that valuable coupon, right?

I should have taken a picture of my loot, but look at this picture.

I wanted to make something beachy after reading all the blogs.
I found that lovely color of paint and a stencil because I haven't learned how to use my Cricut yet.
I found some stickers to decorate the tray I planned to stencil on.
Then I picked up the fun flippy things for my great-nieces/nephews for our
family Fourth of July get-together.

Also, visualize a metal picture stand with a gorgeous fleur de lis.

Being the retired math teacher that I am, I figured it all up in my head and went to check out.

There was a line! I can handle that. I taught middle school am patient.

The clerk was having trouble with a check-paying customer.
Register 1 wouldn't process it.
The clerk announced to the line - she wanted to keep us updated, I guess - that register 2 didn't have change.
  She assumed it would take the check. Wrong.
Register 3 worked, and by this time another clerk had come up to help with the line.
When she gestured me over to register 2, I told her it didn't have change. (I try to help out when I can.)
We moved to a register #4.

The total came to $16.71 without the coupon.
Deduct the 40% off that beautiful stand.
Total is  - are you subtracting in your head? - $13.71.
Deduct the $10 free money that got me in the store.
New total should now be $3.71. YAY for me.
The register even says $3.71.

Not so fast. (What tv/movie character says that? I just cannot remember.)

After multiple attempts, the clerk discovers that I can't use both.
What I thought was a $10 gift card is actually a coupon. 
 Now if you've shopped at Joann's a lot, then you know that you can't use two coupons in one transaction.
The clerk is very sympathetic to me, as is the other clerk who came to help her. (Remember the line?)

Maybe I should have treated myself to the stand by paying the extra $3.
But I just got mad. I told the clerk I didn't want the stand and I would start over.

I needed to find items that would total $10 for the Joann's card.
Those items needed to be on sale to meet my requirements.
Additional items include gold glitter stickers that I can use when my
brothers have their 50th wedding anniversaries, a bracelet making kit for my granddaughter,
and a cupcake for her to color for her mother's birthday.
(Ignore the Fourth of July character.)

 New total is now $10.26.
As I reach for my $0.26, a different clerk this time sadly tells me that the tax cannot be part of the $10.
You're wondering what happened to those math skills where I was adding it all up in my head, right?
I knew the tax couldn't be included, but I had originally included a wooden plant box.
It wasn't on sale so it couldn't make the cut. 

I quickly grabbed another $1 wooden something.
Now you can stop ignoring the Fourth of July character.
The total was $11.76 and my final cost was $1.76.

After I got home and looked at my stuff,
I realized how my cheapness hurt me.
I bought some stuff I didn't really need.
I didn't get something I really wanted.

I may never go back.
They may never let me back in the door.