Grocery Store Etiquette 101

There's no such thing as a quick trip to Walmart. There's nothing quick about Walmart. Either you spend hours roaming around looking at/purchasing things you don't really need or you spend all your time dodging carts and people or you spend your time flipping through a magazine or ten while waiting in line.

This is precisely why I try to avoid Walmart at all cost. The other night, I was desperate and didn't feel like driving too far for the french bread I desperately needed. I packed Mousse into the back seat and went to Walmart. I knew it was a bad sign when I couldn't find any parking spaces! So, I said..."to heck with this!"

I opted for Target instead. Yes, I'm the same person who wrote that Target was for yuppies a few years ago. That blog cause a bit of an uproar. Now, I know that Target is for those who can't tolerate Walmart...yuppies or not.

Sadly, my trip to Target wasn't a quick one either. As I stood in line for 30 minutes, I pondered on grocery store etiquette:

1. Do not park your cart in the center of an aisle as you try to decide which kinda of spaghetti sauce you should buy. There are people who actually need to move down the aisle, so scoot it over.

2. If you're checking out and you know that you have 5 people waiting behind you...and there's only two checkers open. Don't argue about a 20 cent coupon. Let it go. Is it really necessary to dig through your cart full of bagged food to dig out the product to prove it to the cashier?? All for 20 cents?!?

3. There's a new invention called the debit card. Try it. It's a lot easier and quicker to use than a check book. Oh, and if you're totally against debit cards...pre-write your check, so the only thing you have to do is write the amount and sign. (I can't count how many times I've been behind someone who is writing a check and asks..."what's the date? Where am I? How much was it again?-get a clue and a debit card, lady!)

4. Control your children. I know it's easy for me to say since I don't have one. But come on...Is it that hard to keep your kids from darting out from underneath the cart or running around the store? They will get run over by a shopping cart intentionally...err, i mean unintentionally.

5. Hang up the cell phone and shop. As you stand in front of the spaghettios having a conversation while you try to figure out if you want the ones with meatballs or without...not only are you holding up traffic...but you're blocking the spaghettios! Move it...or lose it.

For the gang at BOC!

I’ve got some pretty brutal text messages regarding my blog…or more like “lack of a blog.” I won’t even try to think of any lame excuses as to why I have abandoned my blog the past few months. All I can say is sorry. Sorry to the few, faithful readers that I have. Sorry to my sweet friends who relentlessly check the site in order to know what the H is going on with me these days. And sorry to my poor blog, which has been my faithful soapbox over the past several years.

So, for the few inquiring minds who want to know…I decided to post the “goings ons” of the past few months. September and October were very busy birthday months...I celebrated my own at work. (oh so joyous!) My sister had a very special birthday this year. I would tell you, how old she is, but I fear for my life. Let’s just say it rhymes with shorty. ;) She wanted to try something new on this special birthday, so she opted to go to a Greek restaurant she discovered while surfing the web. Full of anticipation, we drove 20 minutes to the place, only to discover it was a hole in the wall. My brother-in-law went inside to scope it out for us. He came back to report that it has the same musky “old” smell that my 70 year old piano teacher’s house had. We then officially decided to go somewhere else. So we went a Lebanese restaurant. My nephew ordered “khebi balls.” He asked the waitress what “khebi” meant…and she said “goat.” I looked at my nephew and he looked at me, and I knew that we were wondering the same thing. Literally goat balls?!?!? When, he got his order, we discovered that they were meat balls made of goat meat, but the resemblance was uncanny!...Needless to say, he didn’t eat much.

Matt has dragged me to all the Disney Parks on the weekend. Thankfully, we have free tickets, so he wanted to experience each park. I never was much for the mouse or his friends….so I wasn’t all that hyped up about going. But, I must admit that it’s actually been kind of fun. This weekend we go to our last park…Magic Kingdom. I’m thinking about dressing Moussey up in a princess costume and taking her with me, so I can be like all the other moms.

Maddicakes has been in Oklahoma for the past month. I’m having new baby smell withdrawals. Her Mommy reports that she is doing just fine! It seems that she’s very much like her mom…very social, a smiler, and a giggler! She’s having her church dedication next weekend with a lil shin’ dig afterwards…Sadly, I’ll be missing out on the festivities. But, just a few more weeks until she’s back home in sunny, Florida…and going over to her house to hold her is definitely on my priority list! ;)

I will be heading off to NYC in just a few short weeks. It’s a quick weekend trip, so there will be no sight seeing this time. My cousin Benjamin is having his official engagement party. I’m looking forward to braving some cold weather for a change. I’ll have to dig out my coat from a box that I have it buried in! This will also be the first time I’ll be wearing Indian garb in five months! I’ll have to dig that out as well. What to wear…what to wear…tis the question!

And now for your viewing pleasure....

Matt took me to see the Blue Man Group as a pre-birthday birthday celebration! It was insanely fun! I sorta think Matt would fit right it in with the Blue Men if he were only blue!

Me and my Moussey...She's all ready for Halloween!

Welp, that’s all for now…maybe more later!