The Mall

As I am sure most Mom's know, the mall is a dangerous place. Well, it is a dangerous place for everyone really. The mall is such an easy place to go walk some laps and get a little exercise when the weather is less than nice, the trick is avoiding temptation. Today was not quite nice enough for the park, and since I needed to go to Target for dog treats anyway I decided we would walk around the mall {I will miss our super target connected to the mall when we move....but that's all} We start at my favorite entrance {4and a half} which I always wonder why its my favorite as I struggle to get through the door with the stroller every time.It really is funny how long people will wait for you to get through a door and not even think of helping you. Maybe deep down I enjoy finding inventive ways of getting through the door with my stroller. We make it in the mall and start our laps, this mall is great for laps, just one big circle. You would think on about your third lap the people at the little kiosks would start to recognize you and stop offering you a free sample of lotion, but no. We head into Target to get the dog treats, and what do I see? 75 percent off Easter stuff, now I don't need any candy but they did have cake and cookie mixes included in the clearance. With an expiration date of July 2012 and a price of 42 cents I had to get some. I will for sure make a cake and cookies in the next year. I also stopped by the photo area and printed off 20 pictures for just 2 dollars {after my coupon from Target.com} I figure I might as well print some of my favorite Easter pictures now. My little guy was patient until the "print in seconds" Kodak machine turned into the "Prints very slowly" machine. Then I had to get creative. We were close enough to the food court that I decided to leave the machine as it printed off my photos at a snails pace {who would want to steal my Easter pictures anyway?} I asked for a cup of ice, after a strange look I got my ice. My son loves ice, most ice cubes are too big so I have to bite them into smaller pieces, but I will gladly do this to keep him happy while our 20 pictures slowly come out. He is thrilled that I have gotten him ice and I get to work chewing up some more for him. The pictures are finally done {not in seconds Kodak...} We then get back to our laps. I did a VERY good job today, I didn't go into any stores other than my planned stop at Target. I did not need to spend any money {well I hardly ever NEED to spend money} I realized today that I need to only buy what I need, now did I need the cookie and cake mixes? No I guess not, but will I use them? Yes I will, and it will make my son very happy when I do. So I guess I just need to think a lot about what I want to buy before I buy it. At least when I use my coupons and get things free I don't need to think about those items! Speaking of coupons, I am very excited to watch my Extreme Couponing show on TLC tonight. I hope to get some new tips and to be inspired {which I always am, I end up looking through my coupons every Wednesday night} So today our activity was the mall, which doesn't sound exciting to most, but to me it is a free gym {only free if I stay on my track} and to my son it is an ever changing museum of people. He seems to put up with our mall walks, and when the weather is yucky I will take advantage of that.

Kelly Callahan