Crayola Markers in Preschool.....Crayola Markers in College.

So yesterday was Emery's 4th day of preschool which loosely translates into my 4th day of freedom!  Although it's funny how my definition of "freedom" has changed over the years.  At age 8 it meant I could ride my bike to 7-11 for a Slurpee. At age 13 it meant that I could stray from my mom for an hour at the mall and shop for a new Esprit bag without someone asking, "Why is that bag $20 cooler than this one?"  At age 21 it meant that I could stop toting around Crayola markers in an attempt to mimic bar stamps so that I could enjoy my God-given right to sing a little Karaoke!  (Side note:  Don't judge!  I lived in a university town, was the youngest of my friends, and it was a time honored tradition that had been passed down by those who shared the same 20-something brain-lapse that I fear for my own children!  Did I mention Luelle isn't going to college away from home?  Ever.)  Regardless, at age 32 "freedom" means I can tote a 19 month old around for 3 hours while running errands at sonic speed, all the while thinking, "How did I not realize how easy life was when I only had one!?"  (I'm sure those of you with 3+ are laughing at me right about now....)

So back to yesterday, I somehow got it in my mind that with my 3 precious hours I was going to go to Winco and do some grocery shopping.  Now I'm not much of a Winco shopper.  It's not that I don't appreciate a good reduced-price can of Ranch-Style beans, it's more that it's just way too far away and I can't take the intense pressure of speed bagging groceries while the checker holds up the next order snickering at my inability to keep up the pace. Seriously, I loathe bagging my own groceries there; it speeds up my heart rate. The plastic bags never come apart easily and the paper bags only hold a few things each unless you happen to have a level of puzzle solving skills that warrants your acceptance onto CBS's Survivor.  So while I completely understand people's love of Winco's low price selections, I have to say I would rather save money by stretching out my (denied) hair coloring treatments than shop there on a regular basis.  To each his own, right?

But yesterday I needed to restock on things like salad dressing and canned basics and I simply cannot deny that Winco's prices are significantly better on mega-trips than my little town's Safeway where if you shop wrong, ketchup is going to cost you a good portion of your child's college savings. So I braved the crowds and stuck little LuLu in the cart determined not to get caught in the aisle gridlock that my husband (not so) affectionately refers to as the "Winco Shuffle" ("Which way you going?  Whatcha trying to get at? Am I in your way?  Can you hand me that?")  I believe with my whole heart that at the end of any Winco trip I have, by nature, bonded with my fellow shoppers more than I could have ever bonded with the girls who taught me the marker bar-stamp trick!  So it's only natural to size these people up as soon as I enter those double doors.  I mean, we're going to spend the next hour together analyzing each other carts, talking about whether Santias chips are better than Juanita's, you get it.

But do you know what I discovered?  Winco in practically empty at 8:00 in the morning! For the most part I didn't even have to engage in conversation!  I did happen upon another shopper by the cilantro but I didn't talk to her because she was too busy touching every single bunch of it and selectivity smelling some for freshness.  Are you supposed to smell cilantro?  I've never done that.  It was kind of gross and made me rethink my desire to make pico de gallo in the first place.  That's probably something that needed to be rethought anyway because I've never actually made it and I could just stop by Baja Fresh instead and eat mini-cup after mini-cup from the salsa bar to my heart's content for the price of a side of chips!   This leads way to my PSA for this week: always remember to wash your produce people!

For as empty as that store was it still took me forever to get out of there.  It reaffirmed my belief that it may just not be the store for me.  I have a low patience level, short time frame, and the money saved by shopping there is eaten by commute when gas is $4 a gallon!  In fact, I was so tired when I was done that instead of making a special trip to get a fall scented candle (one of my yearly traditions when the weather changes) I just bought one from the dog food aisle.  I did smile that it was only $7 instead the $25 Yankee candles that I desperately try to justify to myself every year.  I don't care who you are or how much money you have, there had better be gold flakes in $25 candles! And they better be made in a world of rainbows by magical unicorns where kittens cry when less superior candles are burnt!  Thank the good Lord above for Bed, Bath, and Beyond 20% off coupons, because I don't feel the same way about $19.99 candles...

Hope you all had a great week!