Friday, April 11, 2008

Panera and thrifting... does it get any better?

I dropped Christopher off for his four hour work day (he is leaving for a youth retreat in the Southern part of the state this afternoon). Rather than drive all the way home, I decided to have a lovely quiet time at Panera, to also stop by my doctor's office to pick up my blood glucose monitor, and mosey on through Goodwill and my favorite thrift store.

Before leaving, I taped a few pretty vintage decorating and gardening pictures onto pages in my scrapbook journal (very easy to do since I now have everything organized... will share it another day). I clipped a pen with purple ink onto the journal and tucked the Reformed Study Bible on top... ready for Panera.

What a lovely time, sipping half-hazelnut and half-decaf coffee (real cream!) and nibbling on a bagel. It is not possible to do this often... rather expensive in money and high in carbs. However, once in awhile it is such a perfect getaway. I opened the Bible to Romans, where I'm currently reading. I've been using the Study Bible for its' excellent notes.

After awhile, I took out my scrapbook journal and made some new lists as well as checking off past "to do" items... always a good thing. This really is my favorite place for study and pondering. Even though there are conversations going on all around me, the light classical music (sometimes a light jazz) seems to make it easier to concentrate. The only thing better would be to have my daughter with me to chat with. :)

I left there for the thrift store, the one where treasures are hidden. I found a stack of vintage Christmas napkins but only two were in a condition I'd buy them, even if they were only a dime each. I use them as liners for baskets, anyway. I found one vintage dish cloth for fifteen cents. My best buy? They were clearancing out all their coats and I found a very nice trench coat for my son for only a few dollars. He tried it on and it fits perfectly. I also found Beth Moore's book about the life of David and a beautifully bound volume that has With Christ in the School of Prayer combined with The Practice of the Presence of God.

From there, it was only a three or four minute drive to the clinic, where I now see a doctor. I had to give up my specialist when I lost all insurance. I like this new doctor very much, though, even better than the specialist. He listens to his patients. A great advantage of going to the clinic is they are used to working with uninsured people (and my former specialist was not). They helped me get the new bg meter and enough test strips for a year (testing twice a day)... FREE.

By this time I still had over an hour before I picked up Christopher from work so I decided to look through Goodwill... having time to actually look carefully through the clothes. I found a pretty Talbot's skirt half-price ($1.99) and a Talbot's black pullover top that will be perfect with most of my other skirts for $3.99. That was well worth the trip, too.

This youth retreat will be good for him since he's been so busy and stressed with school and work. (Even if it IS suppose to turn cold.) We didn't get the severe weather, it stayed in the southern part of the state. Thankfully, it will all be cleared by the time he gets there. The snow flurries are still in the forecast but we're to return to 70 next week. Such is spring in the Midwest.

All in all... a good morning.

Picture: Morning Glory Coffee Shop; allposters.com

9 comments:

Quinne said...

Hi Brenda :) It sounds like a lovely morning! Thanks for sharing about it here. Love, Q

Abounding Treasures said...

Brenda,

Sounds like you had a wonderful morning! I love thrift shops almost as much as you do :o)

Blessings,
Dallas

Heather L. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Heather L. said...

What a lovely day! Sounds like you have a good thrift store and Goodwill. I was happy to discover the first garage sale of the season across the street today! Yippee! I didn't think they'd have anything for me, but I felt I needed to go talk to the neighbors. What do you know -- there was a nice big box of legos for $2!!! Yeah!!! That was a nice blessing, as was the wonderful bike we found in another neighbor's trash earlier this week which was an answer to prayer for Rachel!

Heather Anne said...

I am so glad you had such a wonderful morning!!!! I am *quite* envious, since I had similar plans for my day, but ended up being the clean up crew for two sick guys. We were supposed to have a teacher's day off and the children and I were headed for thrifting and lunch at Tim Hortons. Well, I got my day off from teaching, but it wasn't what I expected or hoped! It is an honor to serve my family though, and what a blessing to have indoor plumbing and lots of rags on hand! Is there gastro-flu running amuck in your neck of the woods? I do hope not!

zetor said...

I treasure my thrift shop finds, and they seem to last ages. You have had a good day.

Anonymous said...

Why do you need free medical things, which should be a priority in your budget, but have all kinds of money to spend on teddy bears and thrift shops. Do you really need all this stuff or do you need your medical items. Sounds like you know how to use the system.

sherry said...

What a lovely, inspiring day you experienced, Brenda. There's a Panera in my city and I've never thought to take time alone there with a good cup of coffee. Thank you. :o)

Bless you dearly.

Lyndee said...

It is very easy to be judge and jury for others but when it happens to us it never feels good. Cindy needs a chill pill for this one.
Who was it that said if I have only two dollars left I would spend one on bread to feed my body and one on a flower to feed my soul?
Be blessed!