My life is so weird. There is no other word for it when you find yourself standing in the Produce dept. at Kroger licking your hair. Wait a minute, maybe I should back up just a little...
Yesterday I sold 4 of the 4 new skeins of yarn I just listed, and the Twilight yarn from my Autumn series. Two of the skeins sold before they were even all the way dry! I am really thankful for the traffic and the sales. Now I have to get my butt in gear and put more yarn up, but I didn't get any done yesterday. --sigh--
It was Shopping Day. For over 20 years, my dh has gotten paid every two weeks. So the night before, I make a tentative menu for 2 weeks. Then I loosely inventory the cupboards, fridge and freezer to see how much of what we want to eat that we own already. As I go, I make a grocery list from the menu, of ingredients I am lacking. Add staples like cereal, flour, baking powder (how often do you run out of baking powder? At my house it is about every 6 weeks! I bake a LOT!), and I have a working plan.
My BIL had one of my kids overnight, and my sister wanted to trade him for my 2nd dd Diantha, so today Diantha could help her pack some more (they are moving the end of the month). With the oldest-left-at-home at work, and the next one involved in the trade, and Diantha going... I had to bring the 3 youngest with me too. So off we go to Walmart, 6 of us in a pack. We got stuff for Josiah's birthday and stuff for Secret Pals and stuff, and more stuff. About the time we had to wait 8 extra minutes for BBQ chicken pieces, the kids' patience wore out, and so did mine.
Then it was on to Party City to get plates, napkins, etc. for the birthday party next Friday. Then on to the pet store, where Artemas' aquarium water checked out and we bought some fish to restock it. Despite the fact I have had aquariums for 30 years, the cheeky clerk (that I have kids older than), wanted to tell me I couldn't put that fish in there, couldn't put this fish in there... they were too big. I said, they are 2" long. She says, well they can grow to 6". I told her I intended to overcrowd them and stunt their growth, and if they have the nerve to grow that big I will take them to her competitor and get credit for them to resell. LoL.
My BIL and niece met me there and gave me #2 son and took Diantha. Out 3.5 hours so far and still have to get food.
On to Kroger. Now this is not just ANY Kroger. It is the newly-opened, largest-Kroger-ever in Farragut, TN. It is a wonder. It has a jeweler's store in it! A bedding department! Furniture! Toys! A Bistro, with actual chefs, so you can buy a Gourmet dinner and take it home and plate it, so your dh thinks you can actually cook! An Imported Cheese dept! And SAMPLES everywhere!!! You could EAT from this place. Grocery shopping with 5 kids in tow is not my idea of a good time. I can't tell you the number of times I have ended up with a Mystery Item at the checkout. So I am already tired, and not having fun, no matter how wondrous the store is.
First stop, after everyone used the bathroom, is the Produce dept, where my oldest son happens to work. They had samples of sweet cheese, pineapple, and apple slices with caramel dip. The dip was runny. The baby decided her apple-with-dip was too messy, and handed it, dripping, to Mommy. My first reaction was to stick it quickly in my mouth before I would get to wear it.
Too late. I look down and there is a long glop of caramel sauce down the front of my (formerly clean) t shirt. Then I look and AARRRRGGGGHHHH! there is caramel sauce in my long, newly washed HAIR!!! My first thought was, stick it in my mouth to get that GUNK our of my hair immediately!! Then I realized that here I was, standing in the produce dept. of probably the most upscale grocery in the world, licking my hair like someone with Tourette's. My life is so weird.
My oldest son came up about then and ducked in the back room.
He came out with a tub of alcohol wipes so I could wipe my shirt, my hair, my fingers, the baby, etc. He isn't usually a hero, but I am sure he was thinking his crazy, caramel-stained mother was about to wander around the store and meet up with his co-workers and tell Every One of them that My Son is Allen Who Works In Produce. So he rescued me. There hs is at work. He is SINGLE girls!
You don't even want to know about having to sit in the furniture dept, with a blanket over me, nursing the baby who didn't get a decent nap all day and couldn't wait another minute. No, that is probably another Weirdness best left untold.
When I got home, I decided that there wasn't ONE peaceful place in my house to rest my eyes so we were gonna CLEAN. So from 8 PM til Midnight we cleaned house and actually made a dent. DH got home to all the kids still up, all the lights still on, and only half a mess. I hope your day was better.
My eldest Darling Daughter Desiree (a great mommy and an artist in her own right) is hostessing a Giveaway on her blog
3 AM Feedings. She is giving away a Little Hippy Bag, a darling free-pieced quilted bag suitable for knitting. Go see!
Over 100 people voted in my Tam or Wrap? venture into ambivalence. And, the winner is, the wrap! Both projects are beautiful, but 74% of the vote went to the wrap. I do want to knit that beautiful tam sometime, but for now I will make the wrap out of this wonderful, fuzzy yellow yarn. And Diantha has decided to knit the tam out of the other UFO sock yarn we got, so that pattern won't feel left out. 
Shanda N. from Utah!
