We had a great day! The most exciting part is that I am writing this from our brand new laptop PC! I was glancing through the Sunday ads in that come in the Sunday newspaper and the ad from Office Depot caught my eye. Under the clearance section they had a Gateway laptop for $499 after rebates. How could we pass that up? All we want it for is web surfing in the family room, so it doesn’t have to be a screamer. So far it is working great. I’ve spent the last four hours making back-up recovery disks of the operating system, and then downloading all of the Windows security update patches, and downloading the latest updates for the antivirus software. The built-in wireless worked perfectly too.

So anyway, that is the first thing we did this morning, stop at Office Depot to get the laptop. We were talking to the manager will the cashier was ringing us up and he said this was the last one he had in stock.

Then we stopped at the ATM to deposit four checks. Two of my paychecks, a rebate for the big memory card we bought for our digital camera, and Sheri’s first unemployment check.

Then we went to Blockbuster to pick out a movie for tonight. (We are watching it now.) We got Scotland, PA. It is a dark comedy based on Shakespears's Macbeth. It is set in 1975 and revolves around a hamburger joint. It either won, or was nominated for, some awards in the Sundance Film Festival. It is pretty good with a few funny spots. I think I would like it even more if I wasn’t distracted with our new toy.

Next stop: Meijer. We went to the garden section first and got eight tomato plants and one cilantro plant.

Then we got a pound of ground beef, two cantaloupes, Goulden's mustard, a couple cans of Meijer brand Crystal Light lemonade, red grapes, and I think that is about it.

Went home and I cut one of the cantaloupes up, rinsed off the grapes, and formed hamburger patties. We moved the party outside where I grilled up the burgers and we ate a late lunch of burgers (no buns), cantaloupe, and red grapes. Very enjoyable.

Then I turned the garden patch over, worked some perlite, and then planted the tomato and cilantro plants. I dug up a root ball that I didn't get to last fall. Used the string trimmer in the back yard. The last thing I did outside was assemble Sheri's hammock chair. We were missing one nut to finish the whole thing, so Sheri went to the hardware store and I took a shower.

When she got back we finished putting the chair together and then just sat on the patio together and enjoyed the backyard and the weather. While we were sitting there I also started getting the laptop going. I would start it doing something, go back outside, and then check on it every 15 minutes or so.

After a couple hours relaxing outside we moved the party back inside, did a few more chore type things (Sheri did a couple loads of laundry), and then started Scotland, PA.

The movie has about 20 minutes left, and then we will go upstairs for bed. I am looking forward to being able to read my news sites in bed again.

We felt like we had a very productive day that was also very enjoyable and had excellent weather to boot.