Dear Diary: February 15. Retail therapy.

I've been a frugal shopper and a careful eater for most of this new year, except for the episode with the jewelry armoire. But I am suffering from pent-up demand, which would not be denied today.

It all started out pretty innocuously late last month, with a handsome covered bowl I spied at the Big 8 Supermarket, where the china is almost as cheap as the produce. How nice this would be, I thought to myself, to carry a warmed-up lunch or dinner here or there in that pretty covered bowl and have it stay hot. So I bought one, being pretty sure there were several more so I could buy another for Roy if I liked it.

( Alas... )