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***