Tuesday, Sept. 24

Up at 7:30, and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9:30, and I gathered veggies for her to dice for making potato soup. Hubbie peeled and sliced potatoes for the soup, as well as a few extra for fried potatoes this evening.

By the time I was dressed and ready for the day, it was time for me to go to the beauty shop to meet an 11 a.m. appointment.

Today, my hairdresser was in a fizz about a shopping experience at a local department store. She used a $25 off a $100 purchase to buy on-sale men's clothing for her son's upcoming wedding. She also bought a pair of shorts for herself.

But at home she discovered she needed a different size shorts, so she took them back for an exchange. The clerk charged her $1.86 for the exchange...a restocking fee, apparently. This did not set well with the hairdresser, so the clerk called a supervisor, who told the clerk to cancel the $1.86.

The amount of money is not what bothered the hairdresser. It was the idea that this store is now going to charge for exchanges, when it never has before. I think more and more stores are doing this, so it puts pressure on customers to be absolutely certain they want an item they purchase to keep from being charged that fee.

It certainly disturbs me, because I have to shop for Mother, and to do this, I have to bring clothes home for her to try. Several times I've had to take items back for exchange, and if I have to pay a restocking fee each time, it could run into money.

Back home, Hubbie had scrounged the refrigerator for leftovers for our lunch. Mother, of course, had her usual Ramen noodle soup.

After lunch, Hubbie went grocery shopping, and I made the potato soup. Following that, I made chili. Then Mother helped make a batch of blueberry muffins. I also made a recipe of brownies. Tomorrow, we'll make chicken noodle soup. All this cooking is for the weekend, when Sis and Daughter will be here.

Later, for supper, I heated leftover sweet potatoes and green beans, and fried the potatoes, and sauteed the last of the okra from the garden (which Mother had cut earlier).  We sampled the blueberry muffins with the meal.

Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then he and I went to the WDCS to choose a couple of pumpkins. Sis has agreed to paint a Halloween motif on one of them for me.

From there, we went to Hubbie's niece's house to drop off some items for her to take to her mother's house in another town. Her mother will see that Hubbie's daughter gets the items. I stayed in the car, since Niece has strep throat and pink eye.

Back home, we watched episodes of "One Tree Hill."