Rob, I enjoy reading your journals; thanks for sharing. I didn't get to church as the Interstate north and south was closed for several hours due to severe icing and the resulting tractor-trailer accidents.

Ha!! ... I can back you up on that Keeks (very addicting)..but fun!! Been a CTS member since 1976..when I was just a young thing. We went to Cape Cod when I first discovered them.. We would go there for vacation every year. As I told kathleen, I would go from one to the other all over the Cape. They usually have pretty much all the same stock..but every so often I would find something different that one of the others didn't have. I got friends addicted, when they would come up to visit at the Cape.. I remember when RI opend their first out of the Cape..A friend called me to say she was in a Hotel and it was right across the street from her!! Then they Moved to Manchester, CT. We lived in NY and would drive 2 1/2 hrs from NY to go..As time went on...more and more. Now BB&BY have bought them out, and they are really popping up. So now kathleen and I have another 'Partner In Crime' to swap stories...Sorry Ladies..but I'm sure they will be coming soon near you..be patient... Also, as kathleen said they are NOT as good as they used to be since new ownership..but still worth going.. jane

We paid cash and stayed within budget. We even found some ways to give nice gifts for free. Bonus points from our debit card gave us $100 gift card to Home Depot which we gave to my brother who could really use it and a $25 Walmart card we used to buy a grandmother's gift. I had $20 more in gift cards from participating in an educational research study which bought a grandmother's gift. My husband had earned Amazon points through an incentive program at work which he used to buy me an accessory for my Kitchen Aid. We also received a $50 rewards card from Men's Warehouse which I used to buy 4 men's shirts from the clearance rack which happened to be buy one get one free. This was a rare blessing for us and my husband just took a very large cut in pay so we appreciated all the free stuff and even though I could have used the Home Depot card to buy the drill for my husband I decided to pay forward some of our good fortune, by giving it to my brother who we usually just get a couple of tshirts for. He was surprised and thankful!

I really, really enjoyed that. Thanks!