Swag

I have welcome swag.
From the Welcome Lady.
Apparently everyone who moves to our lovely little town gets a visit from Dee, a very friendly, very talkative lady who arrives at your house carrying a large picnic basket which she proceeds to unload, covering your table with a seemingly never ending supply of pamphlets, papers, magazines, business cards and gifts from local businesses who want your patronage.

She arrived yesterday just after the electricity went out (a whole other story), so we sat in the dark and heat while she gave us our voter registration cards, told us about parking in town and divulged information on just about every service in town by way of business card or coupon, often accompanied by a recollection of a personal experience with the service.

And gave us lots of refrigerator magnets, which Ariana proceeded to grab.
And a yard stick.
And a cup filled with pens and pencils.
And several jar openers.
And a t-shirt made out of bamboo.
And a packet of seeds.
And a trowel.
And a ruler.
And an empty paint can filled with candy.
And maps.
And a screwdriver.
And a calendar.
And a nail file.
And plant food.
And an ice cream scoop.
And a ruler.
And picture hooks.
And facial cleanser.
And shampoo/conditioner.
And many little notepads.
And a reusable bag for shopping.
And yet another ruler.
And a insulated coffee mug for dog walking or driving into town to visit one of the lovely establishments that have provided us with the one of the aforementioned items.

After reviewing every single piece of information with us over the next hour and a half (during which time the lights came back on) organizing and filing as she went along, she conveniently put all of the coupons into a plastic bag ("to keep in the car so you have them right with you!") and left us to wonder at what we should take advantage of first.

We now have certificates for free dinners at a couple of restaurants, free chocolate (mine!!), free lawn fertilizer, free plants, discounts off of spa treatments (also mine), a big discount at a hardware store (which we may use to buy a generator so we no longer have to suffer when the electricity goes out) free passes to museums and more information than I will ever be able to read.