Yesterday was my errand day. I went to the post office and mailed several packages. I had found many items while cleaning up my files that really belonged to my children. I also found things that would be useful to the new owner of my old house. In addition, I mailed back some shoes I borrowed from my niece at the funeral (my own shoes were hurting me.) And I had a few things to send to my cousin in Florida. Altogether the postage was $14.

I also bought groceries: $45. I bought the ingredients for two new recipes I took from a Woman's Day magazine I picked up at the library "free" table. The recipes are for inexpensive entrees. One is penne with spinach, mushrooms and bacon, and the other is a Mexican eggplant casserole. I made the first one this morning, and it's pretty good. It will last me several days, and then I'll try out the other one.

While I was out, I used my new Christmas toy, a TomTom navigator. I was relying on it to save me some gas, by giving me the best directions around town. Turns out it directed me to a post office that doesn't exist any more, so I wasted a lot of gas. Oh well. Now I know that I need to look up addresses and navigate specifically to them. I do love the TomTom. It was a present from my kids. It was a great help when I went to Michigan for my brother's funeral.

I just made "new patient" appointments with a doctor and a dentist here in my new locale. I made the doctor's appointment so I can get a referral for a mammogram, which is due to be done this month. The dentist's appointment is a six-month checkup that I should have done in December, but it was too busy a month for me. The dentist's assistant told me up front that the first visit will cost $225, which includes x-rays. Ugh. Healthcare is so expensive, even if you're healthy.