Shopping Day!

While I call this entry "shopping day", I must say it wasn't much of one...I didn't buy a thing! Boy, would Duane be proud :) Yesterday, I spent the morning waiting around for my parents' neighbour to come home so I could show her pictures of our trek on the West Coast Trail before she left town for 10 days. Once she arrived home from her errands, and Carene and Dave arrived at my house, we traipsed over across the street for the viewing session. That was all said and done after a good 45 minutes. It really wasn't supposed to take that long(sorry Dave & Carene!), especially since we had limited time to shop! I felt the need to explain everything in great detail...big surprise, I know! Though, if she's going to hike it, it's good to know what you're getting into. We left there in a hurry so we'd have more time to shop at IKEA! The time that was spent there was much more than intended as well...I think we were there for over 2 hours! Oops. But really, how can you go into a store that big and NOT spend that much time? We barely did any browsing; it was more a trip for specific things Carene and Dave wanted. Poor Dave. He just really wanted to go to a mall and shop. My pain was similar. The fact that I was shopping without money was quite tragic...and much to Duane's surprise, I'm sure. It was quite tough. Though, it's not like I had money I SHOULDN'T spend...I really didn't have any AT ALL! Like, the ATM wouldn't let me take out $20 'cause of "insufficient funds". Boo that. I've been one of those people to say "I can't go out, I have no money," when really, I do have money and I just shouldn't spend it. I hated that phase. When I have money, I want to spend it! Also, I'm one of those people who THINKS she's getting a good deal on things that say they're on "sale"...but, when it all adds up, it really wasn't a sale and I've more than likely been gypped! Dang those retail advertisements! Anyway, the few things I could have bought at Ikea went by the wayside because of lack of money, and also because I had Duane in my head saying "you could really get that cheaper in Calgary without the extra tax, you know." Why is he in my head? Normally, I wouldn't care and I'd buy things anyway, but the simple fact that my money is tight probably played a big part in my lack of shopping bags at the end of the day. I even wanted to buy things for Duane but I couldn't, and his sense of practicality weighed heavily on my head. I can't wait for my first paycheck when I get back to work in September! I do imagine I'll have some catching up to do, however, so my personal spending habits will, again, have to be stifled until I've had a chance to pay off some things and save a bit.
At the end of the day, after spending too much time at Ikea and none at Guilford, we arrived in Abbotsford and made a short stop at SevenOaks Mall(where Dave and Carene were both able to buy a few clothes). I decided there that I wanted to buy a few things, but without money from my own account I wasn't sure how I was going to get away with it. I knew I had to have money for the Imax show that night, so I decided to go ahead and take money out of the account Duane and I share. Hmmm...now, was that smart? At the time, I figured he might mind, but what was I to do? So out came $40 from the money we share(to be used for things like gas in the car, household items, trips, etc.)to be used for me and me only. Oops. I figured I could pay it back after the paychecks start coming again. Well, after the movie which, by the way, was great, we headed back into Abbotsford to spend some time at Tim Horton's with Andrew and Michelle since they couldn't come to the show.

I really do have a point I'm getting to, it just takes some time...details, you know!
That's how I remember my evenings being spent before I moved to Calgary...at the Tim Horton's at the AutoMall just chatting with friends...late at night.
It was decided that at about 11 some of us were too tired to keep our eyes open, so we said our goodnights and headed for home. I was dropped off and I was going to head to bed, but remembered that Duane was supposed to have emailed me(since I wasn't home to talk to). I came to the computer to find my sister on MSN, so I booted her for a couple minutes to check emails, which she graciously approved. There I found an email with Duane's suggestion to use $100 from our joint account! He's had a really good month at work, and he knows I'm short on cash, so as a gift, he said it was ok to use some money! What a great husband. Good thing I hadn't even told him about having to pull out $40 earlier in the day! I fully intended on letting him in on that, but I hadn't even had the chance before he "let" me access more :) Now I can go back to the mall and buy that purse I wanted *wink*