This past weekend, Carolyn and I spent a straight 7 hours shopping up in Round Rock. It started out as a, "Hey we should visit IKEA on Saturday morning", and then metamorphosed into, "We might as well hit up the Round Rock outlet mall while we're at it." 

I should have remembered how long it takes to shop at IKEA. Even though you might know exactly what you want, you still have to navigate through the maze-like structure just to find what you're looking for. Along the way, you can't help but look at the home furnishings and get ideas for how you want to re-do your entire house. That, coupled with the strategic placement of their cafeteria "rest-stop" right before you get into the home decorations, there's no way to spend less than 2 hours in there.

Carolyn and I spent a solid 4 hours lost in the IKEA labyrinth but ended up with some good items. I got a replacement desk for my computer, we found a bar stool for our kitchen, and we bought some photo frames for our blank dining room wall.

Then, as if we hadn't done enough shopping, we drove next door to the outlet mall and spent another couple hours there looking at gifts and clothes. In the middle of it, I wanted to complain about how tired I was and just go home. I know Carolyn would have understood and agreed to go home, but she was really enjoying our time together. I was also reminded of how days like this are gonna become rare in a few weeks. In fact, I tired myself out assembling IKEA furniture this weekend as well. When will I have the time to do that again in the next couple of months?