Thursday, July 19, 2007

No Photos in This Post...

My Camera and our son (and his fiance and their Band of Friends) headed off to the big city of Baltimore this weekend for Otakon.

They left this morning at 3 a.m...oh for the days when my body could take that sort of abuse...working all day, going to bed somewhere around 1 a.m. and then easily rising out of bed to pile in the car and head off down the highway...after backing into my Cleveland Pear tree...and Runnin' over my Marigolds...

Yes, I did call and ask if Son did it...because there were 4 choices...the newspaper man, Son, Son's friend or Mr G...and I wanted to know whom to inform that if said tree dies, there will be a same-size replacement purchased and a Bill Presented...

Big Monkey...

Anyhoo...I don't actually think the days ever actually existed when I was good after 2 hours of sleep to head out on an extended road trip...I love my bed...and my pillows...and a good 8 to 9 hours of sleep per night...and I sort of morph into a Monster if I don't get my rest...

I managed to live like that when I worked my way through college...it was Not a Fun Thing...and it probably took at least a couple of years off my life...

I remember falling asleep during Anthropology class more than once...and crackin' my head against the cinder block wall...did you ever take those notes where you got home, flipped open your notebook to work on an assignment or study for a test and all you saw were long loopy squiggles across the paper? yep...

So I've never really (have ya'll watched El Dorado with John Wayne? well, there is this character Nelse McCloud...who is played by Christopher George...who I had a terrible crush on when he was in Rat Patrol...well, not when he was in The Rat Patrol but I caught the show as reruns...anyhoo...there is a scene where Nelse McCloud's drawls "Welllll, there Reel-Lee isn't very much I can do right now, is there Ja-son?...and that is how I am sayin' Really when I type it here...thought ya'll might want to know that...movin' along) done well with the Whole Lack of Sleep Thing...

Another Plastic Bag/Cloth Bag Update:

So....last weekend, Mr G & I did a run on H/M...and not until we were wheeling a buggy (yes, a lot of us Southerners call a grocery cart a "buggy"...because that is what they are :) of groceries Up to the Check-Out did I realize we had not brought the cloth bags...arrrrggghhhh...

I drive myself crazy...

I think we probably got about 12 or so plastic bags on that trip...sigh...

So, yesterday, doing my perishables run, I remembered my cloth bag! and I remembered to take all the plastic bags back for recycling...I fairly glowed from Smug...

another Thing I've Figured Out for using Cloth Bags....

Arrange your items on the conveyor belt so that the heavy items come down first and can be either put in the bottom of the bags or simply sat in the B-U-G-G-Y without bagging...

Put your delicate items and breads at the tail end of your Line O' Stuff...

This makes it so much easier to bag your own items without things being thrown all Willy Nilly about the place...and the cashier won't hate you because not only are you slowin' her down while you monkey around with re-arranging as you go but you're also tickin' off the half a dozen people behind you in line who are already More Than a Little Bit Cranky from July Georgia Heat & Humidity and she is the one who is going to have to deal with them after you Finally Move Outta the Way...

and you know what? if you have a Ton O' Stuff (and you remembered to bring your cloth bags), then you really can just load some of those items into the buggy as the cashier presents them to you, pay your bill, Put It In Gear and then just move out of the way to get your bags all set the way you want them before truckin' out to the parking lot...

An Aside: People who decide the check-out line, and more specifically the Pay for Your Stuff and Move Spot, is the best place to search for Exact Change in the Bottom of an Enormous Bag, Try to Reason with a Screaming Child Who Wants Something, Answer, Begin and Maintain a Cell Phone Conversation, Check the Receipt and Then Want a Price Check...AFTER THE TOTAL IS RUNG...well, all I have to say is There is a Special Place...

Just Get Your Stuff in the B-U-G-G-Y and Move...Now...before I break down weeping...

The only Sour Note: I can't find my bag of chips...unless the cashier just reflexively tossed those bad boys into a plastic sack, then I guess the lovely little Mennonite family behind me got my chips in with their groceries...and since I am not going back to the store for a lone bag o' chips, there sits my jar of salsa allll alone in the fridge waiting for my chips...

***Note of Interest: H/M (Wal-Mart) accepts other plastic grocery bags as well as their own***

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would be a 7-11 shopper, if they carried everything I needed. I hate grocery shopping. I'm not a very patient person, especially with myself.
I'll be watching my postman a little closer this coming week, Thanks!!

Simply Me Art said...

I Am not the Grocery Store Kind of Gal either. I am there so darn much that I could go Blind Folded and find what I need. I really dis-like it though.I would definately use fabric bags in a minute except two things, I would Never remember them and I would need about twenty of them. I feed three kids, a hubby and about 15 Neighborhood kids. Hugs Jamie

Michelle said...

OK...the big secret...if you arrange the things in your buggy neatly (not just thrown in and falling all over and such) it will cost less! I promise!!!

PAT said...

I get a tad stressed at the grocery store, too. I like to get it over with,in a hurry, no lingering. J always finds someone to strike up a conversation with, when he's along...thus prolonging my
agony;-)!

Come on by the back porch...I have a little giveaway going on!

Pat

Michelle said...

I have a question.....why am I not included in your link list??? Should I be offended? LOL (((hugs))) and you are right...you don't do well without your sleep!

sheila from life @ #17 said...

um, Belle-ah...did you give me $5 like everybody else?

Hah hah :)

Michelle said...

No but I did offer to give you a ride in my convertible...harumph!

Rabbit Hill Creations said...

Okay...chips without salsa is just down right wrong!...believe me, I know!

Darla said...

I have to go to the grocery store SOON, so thanks for the reminder to put the cloth bags in the car.

Just reading about getting on the road at 3 a.m. made me yawn tho so I may have to go take a nap first.

Darla

Southern Heart said...

I enjoy cooking more than the grocery, and since we both work so much right now, M does most of the grocery shopping and I do most of the cooking. I'm looking at perhaps trying to arrange fewer work hours soon (if it's possible), which would be nice....but I'll be back to the stress of the groceries again. :)

I can't do the 3am thing now, either. 4am *wears me out!* during the school year.

I hope that you get some chips for that salsa...yum!

Suzanne said...

Oh grocery shopping...blah! So sorry to hear about your plumbing problems...hope your week gets better. And your pear tree survives!

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

Well I like grocery shopping. I'd rather grocery shop than cook. I always forget my bags in the car. Then I have to transfer everything from the plastic bags into the cloth and walk back to the store with the plastic bags and drop them in the recyclying bins. You'd think I'd have learned by now to make sure I have them next to me when I leave to shop LOL!

Manuela

Sophie Honeysuckle said...

This post made me laugh!! Hope you are having a great week so far!

it's all about the journey...