last few weeks

I went to upstate NY the week before last - stayed with my mom (at my childhood home). They have a lot of yardsales on Fridays there, but the Friday I was there, it was pouring rain. The garage sales were still held anyways, we just took umbrellas.

I mostly bought a bunch of books. One of my better buys was a Longaberger Berry Basket with protector for $1. It had a big ugly ivy in it so I think a lot of people who saw it didn't realize it was a Longaberger. I was going to throw the ivy out, but my mom wanted it.

Also bought the above vintage lamp $2 and the set of four vintage glasses ($1).

I got to visit with everyone I wanted to: family, one of my old high school friends and one of my old coworkers. This same time last year when I visited, I went cold turkey without internet for over a week, but this time I took our laptop. It was a rude awakening when I found out that you have to pay for wireless at McDonald's and Borders. I thought it would be free. No problem tho since a Moe's Southwest Grill is nearby.

I also did all the regular retail shopping I wanted to do:
Christmas Tree Shops, Aldi's and Dollar Tree , Toys R Us, and Kohl's. Where I live, the closest Dollar Tree, Toys R Us and Kohl's is a good hour away. (Yes, the Dollar Tree is a dollar store, but I think its nicer than your average dollar store).

As usual, I took Jacob to Chuck E. Cheese (twice) and found a new place to take him to called Jeepers It was $14.99 for one hour of all you can play games and indoor rides.

One day after I visited my brother who lives in Albany, I drove downtown (to see my old office building) and to see what has changed etc. I snapped a pic of the capitol building which is near my old office building.