This weekend was a little disappointing because I didn't get to go for that ride I was hoping for. The nice weather didn't make it here until Monday. I was able to get some shopping done, however.

I went down to the Mall of America to get a refund on the sale price difference of the jack I bought a couple of weeks ago, only to find out that the sale doesn't start until Thursday. Argh. The last sale notice that Sears sent me got to me a day late, and this one a week early. Well, I needed stuff from the mall anyway. I got a cast iron skillet and a double walled cake pan while I was at Sears so that I can cook steaks and chicken. It's the next best thing to having an open flame (some even say better), which I gave up when I sold my house and its awesome Jennaire.

A quick trip to William Sonoma cost me $170 for a J.A. Henckel 10" carving knife and two icing spatulas. I thought I was all set to make my birthday cake but then I remembered that I didn't actually own a mixer. I guess I'll be shopping again tonight.

Halloween was fun. Maybe half a dozen trips up and down my stairs to give candy to about two dozen trick or treaters. I had bought about 12lbs of candy since there are a lot of kids in my townhouse complex. I remembered reading that chocolate is an acquired taste, and that many kids don't like it, so I had a bunch of sugar-based candy as well as chocolate-based ones. About 25% of the kids reached for the sugar-based candy instead of the chocolate. I'm glad I remembered that.