Shopped 'Til We Dropped

(Happy anniversary, Cheryl and Jerrett!)

We had hoped to be able to see Susan's brother and his wife in Mandan, ND today and maybe take them out to supper for their anniversary, but their work schedules and prior commitments made them unavailable today. That didn't stop us, however, from making the trip to Bismarck/Mandan anyway. After all, we had shopping to do!

We arrived at Sam's Club late in the morning having worked up just enough of a pre-dinner appetite to fully appreciate all the food samples being doled out at stations set up throughout the store. We loaded up the van with our purchases, filled on gas ($3.11 per gallon at Sam's Club--I can't believe that that price is a bargain in ND at the moment!!), bought some items at a dollar store (including supplies for Suzanna's bug collection due this week at school as well as tchotchkes for the girls' bedrooms), and made our way to the Ground Round for dinner.

Then we went to the Kirkwood Mall to shop, getting clothing items as well as supplies for Susan's library at school. We made a stop at the candy shop in Scheels Sports (strange place for a specialty candy store, I realize) and enjoyed samples from a variety of fudges and candied almonds that they make there (and Susan and I refueled with some gourmet coffees). Our mall adventures ended in Target, where even I got some clothes--which I say because I don't usually clothes-shop. Actually, I even left Sam's Club and Payless ShoeSource with a couple pairs of shoes.

The sun was going down, but we were not deterred. We shopped at Hobby Lobby, Old Navy, and Kohl's, too (by the way, even more clothes for Kevin), arriving at each with just enough time before closing time to get what we needed and get out (one store closed at 8:00 P.M., the next at 9:00, and the next at 10:00). We were all still stuffed from our afternoon dinner and later afternoon snacks, but we still stopped at Texas Roadhouse (which closed at 11:00 P.M.--notice a theme?) to share some appetizers as a late-late supper before returning to Dickinson.

The girls found Texas Roadhouse to be, in their words, "freezing," so some cuddling was called for while we waited for our cheesecake-to-share to arrive.

The girls pooped out in the vehicle on the way home and quickly got into bed once we entered the house. Susan and I stayed up to clip tags off clothes and put everything away--and to comment on the serendipitous reunions we experienced in Bismarck. At Sam's Club, we saw Susan's cousin Todd, his wife, Trista, and their son, Trae--who live in Dickinson, but whom we don't often see here! At Old Navy, we were reunited with Liz, a theatre friend from years ago in Grand Forks, ND. Her two now-pretty-much-grown daughters recognized us as we shopped and phoned her to tell her to stop by, so we had a good visit there in the store! Liz's family moved to Bismarck several years ago, and they're enjoying life and work there.

P.S. Loaded in the CD player as we drove: Värttinä's album Seleniko, the tribute album If I Were a Carpenter, a collection of television themes songs, Paul Simon's album Graceland, Sting's album Ten Summoner's Tales, and Ricky Martin's album Vuelve.