Back!

OK, I'm back from my vacation. I apologize for the lack of posts or warning for the last few days, but I didn't have time to pre-write anything, and I prefer not to announce to the world that I'm going to be away from home for a few days...

Because of the trip, there was no grocery post last weekend because we didn't go grocery shopping until today, and we bought enough food to last until Saturday, June 4th. It'll be a little different for that reason, and because we had the chance to pick up some more unusual items while we were visiting my daughter.

I'm actually on vacation for the entire week, plus next Monday for the holiday. I didn't actually plan it that way, I was accomodating someone else's schedule who wanted last week off. It's one of my cheap vacations. We did rent a car to visit my daughter rather than driving my own. Renting the car and gas ran about $140. My daughter treated us to two meals out, and we ate with friends we haven't seen in a while for a third.

Mostly, we just spent time together and went a few places that in themselves didn't cost anything. We did take advantage of the trip to go to a chain store that has some incredible deals on decent quality linens and kitchen stuff and a very large Asian market, both stores that my daughter enjoys visiting anyway. We picked up sheets for much less than they sell for locally (I've been pricing them for months). We got a nice large wok for $5. A good comforter for $15, and since I won't need it until at least October, plenty of time to make a cover for it. Two inexpensive throws that I plan to use as curtains to insulate two windows for about $3.50 each. At the Asian market, I bought some Japanese style noodles at $1.39 for 2 pounds, plus some similar things to try. Between the two stores, I spent about $95, but it was well worth the trip.

For those trying to outfit themselves, I have to lower my estimate of how much it would cost these days to get some basic kitchen equipment. They had a set of three pots that looked to be about 1 quart, 1.5 quarts, and 2 quarts, with lids for the large two, for $10. A reasonably sturdy omelet pan for $2.99. Cooking utensils for about $1 each. You could get adequate pots, pans, and utensils for less than $20. A set of flatware was $4, and some nice bowls were $.79 each. I think you could have gotten 4 place settings of flatware, bowls, plates, and cups for less than $15. They had a nice set of storage containers (18 piece) for $3.99. So I'd have to say you could put together very basic new cookware, tableservice, and storage containers for less than $50.


Oh, and what am I doing with the rest of the vacation? I spent a lot of today getting errands done, and the rest of my time off I'm going to reorganize some stuff, do a lot of cleaning, and just relax some.