Business not as usual.

   Now that my odyssey is over, as of March 1, this spring, I have no involvement, except for grocery shopping. I don't bother much with coupons, except for a dollar off catfood or such. But when I receive a coupon in the mail for $10 off a $50 purchase at the local SnS, it's too good to pass up. That type of coupon has a close expiration date.  To me, that becomes a looming homework assignment,  to get done as soon as possible.
  I shopped, replenishing my supply of catfood, dishwasher detergent, frozen blueberries, all of the necessities for me and Maybe.I ended up spending $83, even after the $10 coupon deduction. So it goes.
    That same day, I went to Rite-Aid and saw they were offering considerable savings on many items, prior to becoming Walgreen's. (In the trade, we call that an R.A.-WAG transition, so I've been told!)  I stocked up on a bunch of items I wouldn't normally have bought at this time. So it goes.
   I was generously gifted with a second $10 SnS coupon.  I would have no trouble using that, I said. And I didn't, though I was unable to buy some things I had planned to. Just the day before, I had seen their array of really sturdy looking patio tomato plants, for $9.99 a pot. Today they were all gone. I'd wanted to buy a new broom, but I couldn't find any. So after I bought the $18 bag of frozen blueberries, I invested in a Carvel Ice Cream Cake at $23,  for future use, and then, being hungry, I treated myself to a Rotisserie Chicken, only slightly disappointed because they didn't have the limited edition of Fig Glaze.
   Because I couldn't find a broom there, I stopped in Rite Aid, where there was no broom either. But, as luck would have it, my Jitterbug had stopped working the other day, and they were on sale, so I bought a new one, for less than half-price. And of course, a bunch of other stuff, as the sale was now on fire. For the first time in the store, there were no available shopping carts, so I had to act before everything was gone. And so that goes. A lot of expense, but, hey, who doesn't need things.
    But there are downsides. When I got home, I found there was no room in the freezer for the Carvel's cake, even though I'd cleared the freezer last month. Those big bags of frozen blueberries take up space.So I had to revisit that task. One item that had to go to make room was most of a mincemeat pie frozen last Thanksgiving. So I need to eat that in the next day or so. My stomach already is aching---Rotisserie chicken and half-frozen pie will do that. Plus, I'm already tired of the chicken; one helping is enough for me.
   But more unsettling than anything else is what the clerk in Rite Aid said to me as he was handing me my receipt, "You have a $10 credit, but be sure to use it by May 19."