I took my youngest niece to see Puss N Boots yesterday. I didn't think it was as good as the other Shrek movies, but she really liked it. Spent $12 on my CC that gives 5% back on movies this quarter.

Since I knew we were going certain places today before I picked her up I went to Safeway and used one of the $50 SW gift cards I got a couple weeks ago to buy 2 $25 GCs. One for Red Robin and one for Barnes and Noble. I got 2 more gas points for doing this, because they have a 4x gas point promotion right now. That will save me $4 on gas when I go to fill up.

I met mom at Walmart to walk first. She showed me some facial stuff she wanted for xmas and I got that for @ $42.

We went to Red Robin, which is her favorite place to eat besides Taco Bell and I used the whole $25. And I got 2 more burgers put on my loyalty card towards and eventual free burger. I got a mushroom burger and side salad and took the bun off my burger.

We went to the Dollar Store after that and I got 5 large coloring books and 2 gift bags. I'll donate the coloring books to the local food pantry. They give out toys in the community. Spent $7+tax.

Next was Best Buy where I got an XBOX connector set for my niece for xmas - around $33. My sister won an XBOX for something at her office, so that's a nice thing for them.

At Barnes and Noble I got a book for my oldest niece and a $10 gift card for the daughter of a friend. Spent aroung $18, so still have a little on the gift card I got at Safeway.

Elephant Bar was next, I got $100 in gift cards for my dad for xmas and I got a free $20 promotion card to go with that. I paid using one of the credit cards giving me 5% back on restaraunts this quarter.

I picked out a nice stainless steel mandolin with 5 blades, adjustable, removable and with a safety guard for my xmas present at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I knew I wanted one, but not exactly the brand etc, so mom asked me to go look and pick it up and she would reimburse me for it. I gave it to her to wrap this morning when we walked. It was around $25 after the 20% coupon discount. Paid for with a discounted gift card.

The next stop was Walgreens. They have a sale if you buy a toy for $6.99 you get one free. They had some really nice dollhouses with accessories and dream castle with accessories for 3 - 8 year olds. I got 2 of each. 4 total for @ $14, which will go to the toy donation. They also had speedwheels cars for .49/each and I got 3 of those. I got 3 mailers for .49/each and 3 bags of sunflower seeds for $5. Spent around $23 and because I ran my AARP card I got an RR for $5 OYNO. This has paid for my AARP card now, all the free orders till next Sept will be bonus money for buying the one year prescription for $16.

Last stop was Walmart again. I got a large can of Planter's macadamias, almonds and cashews for $7 and the movie Fight Club for $10 for my niece. She also showed me the new iPod she wants for xmas from my mom and me as well as 2 accessories she wants. I tried to get 5 packages of crayons to go with the coloring books I got at the Dollar Store, but they were out of all but 1 of the 24 ct and all of the 48 ct. They had some of the 16 ct, but I wanted a larger size. Hope they get restocked soon, because I would like to give all these toys at once the first of December.

Last year King Soopers had Hot Wheels on sale for .50/each. I'm hoping they do that soon and I can pick up 20 or so of those to donate also.

I was pretty tired by the time I got home after all that walking around, but pretty happy I got so much xmas shopping done. The hard part is wrapping it now.


I still need one more book for my oldest niece, and one for my friend. The Conan movie for my oldest niece. The iPod accessories for my youngest niece. Give mom $50 toward the iPod and get $100 from the bank for my oldest niece and then I think I'm done. Whew!

I finished reading my book Shadows Fall by Simon R. Green. Sci/Fi - good, very different though.