More From Casa Grande

Don and I have been pretty busy for the past 2 days in Casa Grande while the weather was warm and sunny. Tomorrow we’re expecting rain and I hope it moves through the area and clears by the time we leave Monday morning.

As happens with many couples we know, Don and I have different ways of shopping. He usually goes to Walmart or Safeway, only 3-4 miles from our place in Benson, begins shopping at the farthest point in the store for which we have an item on our list, and works his way toward the front of the store to check out. When I go by myself, I wander and look at things I might someday want, or to see if there’s any new yarn I like, or pick up things in the grocery section of WM along my way to the back of the store. Sometimes I even return to an aisle I’ve been through because I forgot something I wanted there.

He surprised me yesterday. He drove about 30 miles north to the Phoenix outlet mall (located in Chandler), then we went to several stores shopping for the kind of quick-dry pullover shirts and cargo shorts he like to wear. This time he was buying them a few sizes smaller. We had lunch at the food court in the mall and continued shopping. We finally returned to the truck about 3 pm and only one of the many shopping bags we toted contained something I bought for myself. And today, we went to 3 more stores in Casa Grande!

If you haven’t seen Don lately, here are before/after pictures showing how dramatic his weight loss has been.

Before – chatting with his brother Jim in the Boston area October 2014.

After – about a month ago in our ‘casita’ with Gigi.

And here we are tonight at the Hong Kong Kitchen, with the Mains (Jan & Bill) and the Kelpes (Jan & Paul).

Besides clothes, shoes and other things, Don found one of his favorite treats is now available in a sugar-free version!

And we stopped by Jan & Bill’s long enough to drop off a couple of things for them, as well as see the new light fixtures she bought for their house. They will replace the one you see behind her at the entry, as well as on both sides of the garage.

It’s been a nice chance to do some serious shopping in a bigger town than Benson, and we’re winding down on our buying, but we still need to pick up a couple more things before we leave the area. Our trip to Lake Havasu City will start early Monday morning, with plans to meet other friends for lunch at the Blue Water Casino in Parker, AZ. Stay tuned for more adventures, and follow Jan’s blog as well.