My husband took a bad fall on his bike trip. He got back on, though, and made it all the way home. But when he got here last night I thought we were going to be spending some time in the doctor's office this week.

He's missing big chunks of flesh all over his body. The biggest missing part being the size of a platter on his hip and butt.

Now that his personal medical team has dispersed, I'm in charge of changing the surgical dressing each day until he leaves for his next trip (which will be tomorrow). We went to Walgreens to get bandages and antibacterial ointment; and left $37 poorer.

I did pick up an Easy Saver catalog while there and am thinking about taking advantage of some of their deals. I'd be interested to hear from others who shop there to see if it's worth it. Also, is it worth paying the extra money for the Grocery Game list of deals at Walgreens?

I took my daughter to the amusement/water park today. We have season passes, but they don't cover parking or lockers or food. Just admission. So we shelled out $12 for parking (it would have been $15 but I had a coupon). Then we hauled our stuff into the water park area and threw most of it in a locker for the day at the outrageous price of $12. Yes, $12!

We hadn't been to the water park side of the place before and I didn't feel comfortable leaving stuff lying out while we were in the water, so I shelled out the bucks. But next time I think I'll just save myself some money and leave everything but towels and sunscreen in the car until we're ready to move on to the amusement park side.

In the end, it was not a cheap day. I also spent $30 for lunch in the park because they don't let you bring food into the park. I also spent $30 on boarder shorts and a swim shirt for my daughter because she was cold and hadn't brought anything warm to wear after the water park. (Completely my fault for letting her pick her attire and forgetting that it's usually a good 10 degrees colder downtown where the park is located.)

I don't feel that bad about the clothes, though, since my daughter can use them. But the amusement park food was atrocious. It really ticks me off that they won't let you bring food into the place. All the other amusement/water parks that we go to allow picnics, but this one does not. We usually skirt the issue by eating before we go, but today we were there at opening and stayed until late afternoon, so had no choice but to eat there unless we wanted to picnic in the asphalt parking lot... Eghghhghg!!! It's just makes me mad thinking about it.

Wow! I was amazed that everyone was in agreement that they would have taken both of the items offered for free in my previous post -- Starbucks and mussels.

So, here is what I did and my reasoning behind each:

Incident 1: I ended up giving the cashier my debit card. It seems like any other person would have taken the free drink. However, my thinking was that I did have another means of paying for the drink (my debit card), so it would have been different if I only had the $50 and they couldn't break it. Also -- and this is a big ALSO -- I decided that in the end it would result in good karma down the line, which explains how I handled Incident 2....

Incident 2: I took the free mussels because I figured it was the good karma from Incident 1 coming back at me. Not to mention the clerk said: "King Soopers has billions. They can afford to give you 18 mussels." Plus, what kind of grocery store only sells mussels in two-pound increments?!?!?!??!

Here are two actual money-related things that happened to me over the course of the last week. I am wondering how others would have handled them.

Incident 1: I walked into my local Starbucks last weekend at 12:30 p.m. and ordered my usual -- a venti black iced tea sweetened. I handed the cashier a $50 bill for a drink that cost $2.14 because that was all the cash I had on me (although I did have my debit card with me, but usually don't use it for "personal" purchases like this).

Without even opening the register, the cashier said she couldn't make change and asked her manager what to do. The manager said to give the drink to me for free. Would you have taken the free drink or insisted that the cashier put it on the debit card?

Incident 2: I went to the seafood counter at a grocery store that I had never been in before to buy mussels. The mussels were marked $6.99 for two pounds, but I only needed 18 mussels. The clerk, who clearly didn't work in the seafood department, counted out 18 mussels but couldn't figure out how to print a sticker with the price for 18 mussels. He went to get the guy who usually works at the seafood counter.

The guy walks up, takes one look at my measly 18 mussels and says they could only be sold in the 2-lb netted bags that were in the display case. I said I was making paella and only needed 18 mussels, but if he couldn't sell me less than 2 pounds I would take them all and steam the rest as an appetizer. He then said he would just give the 18 mussels to me for free. Would you have taken the free mussels or insisted on paying for them or the whole 2 pounds' worth?

After I see what all of you would have done, I will share how I handled each situation.

I went AWOL for a few weeks while I was busy with various projects, but I missed you all and just couldn't stay away any longer.

One of the projects was a garage sale. I only made $120 over the course of one day, but I was so grateful to get rid of two huge pieces of furniture that were stashed in my basement that I consider the sale a success.

I pawned one futon off on a college freshman, who paid all of $5 to haul it away. And, I sold the other for $30 to a 14-year-old kid who convinced his mother that they should stash it in their garage until he went off to college. (I did feel a little bit of guilt about junking up her garage, but better her garage than my basement....)

I also had a ton of freelance work the last few weeks, which is a good thing since I'm now on a three-week vacation and won't be making any money during that time. My vacation consists of sitting by the pool, dragging Mini Me to various appointments and social commitments (her's, not mine), and overall just being a full-time stay-at-home mom.