hot (and mostly free) date

dustin & i went on a "date" last night for the first time in MONTHS. thankfully it was mostly a free date. we started out at lowes to buy parts for attempt #2 at fixing our hot water heater. to get a head start on the repairs, dustin borrowed a clerks desk and hacksaw to cut pipe in the store and then glued it in the car. i am thankful for the lowes giftcard that we received for christmas! then we went on to the olive garden where i got something different for the first time in my life. forever i have ordered a "luncheon size spaghetti with meat sauce"...never anything different. but, last night, i went out on a limb and ordered spaghetti with marinara sauce--no meat. bill total was about $22. minus a $4 dollar coupon i had, then minus last years giftcard with a balace of $6 and then apply this years giftcard, and we had a free meal! yay! then...on to jcpenneys to return an outfit of edens that fell apart. i took a quick look through the clearance and found a winter coat for cana. it had originally been $100 and was on clearance for $24.99. i had a penney's giftcard to cover the amount, so the coat was...free. next stop...target. target is a bit tricky because i always go in with a list of five things that should cost less that $20 total, and then i end up with over $100 worth of crap. its amazing how things just add up so quickly in that store. but, i DID have a list, and i DID stick to it, and i still ended up with over $100 of stuff. first i subtracted two giftcards i had for a total of $22 off, and then i had $12 cash that i could use, which brought my total to a reasonable amount to pay for necessary items like diapers, baby blankets, photo albums, and blue tortilla chips. so...the date was mostly free. its sad to have to take our whole evening to run errands, but its also nice to get it all done and save myself a trip out alone another time. i just like being in the car with dustin. he tells me all kinds of interesting things concerning politics, theology, and general life. and i just sit and listen, enjoying our time together. so...it was a good (and mostly free) evening. oh...and we paid for gas with our gas giftcard...i forgot to mention that earlier. i love christmas giftcards!!!