The Great Grocery Store Adventure

May I just say that the word 'grocery' in an interesting-looking word? Because I think it is.

Remarkably, that isn't what my post is about today.

Last night, my church's youth group had a lock-in and I was asked to chaperone, and I managed to stay up all night. That's probably because I had people to play board games with the entire time and board games are like, one of my favorite things ever.

I'm really good at side-tracking today. I've definitely deleted about a billion side-notes in this post already and I've just gotten started.

ANYWAY...

So I leave the church at about 7:30ish this morning, and in the middle of a game of SORRY! I was hungry and decided that Honey Nut Cheerios would be an awesome breakfast, but I didn't have any and I didn't have milk, so I knew to satisfy the craving I'd have to stop at the grocery store. I decided to go to the HEB in the town where my church is, because I was feeling to lazy to go to the HEB by my apartment since that would require having to exit and cross over the interstate---and that just felt far too demanding.

I go in and decide to actually shop. I was still feeling pretty energetic, (just not enough to cross the interstate) and considering that grocery stores at 8am are really quiet, uncrowded and still nice and neat, I wanted to take advantage.

SIDEBAR #1491234: I hate the grocery store when it's busy. I hate when the only loaf of bread left is smushed and the store has managed to run out of toilet paper. I also hate when the cashier is really rude because they hate their jobs since people come in getting upset that their FoodStamps just won't pay for their Bud Light. I can't blame them for hating their job, but I make an effort to be polite, so don't roll your eyes at me when I ask a question, cashier!

I gather my selections and managed to do a full-blown grocery store trip in about 20 minutes and I went to the only check-out lane that was open. There were several people in line, (for it being 8-something-in-morning, anyway) and this guy told me he'd help me on a different lane. The man in front of me holding a watermelon, biscuits and bacon looks over when I was invited to the next lane, so I told him that he could go in front of me since it would take about 30 seconds for him to be finished. By the way, he NEVER said thank you for my kindness

The guy finishes, and the cashier went to begin my checkout, and he looks at me, panicked, back at his computer and says, "My computer just froze." After having an enjoyable evening/early morning, I was in a good mood and told him that if he needed to reboot, I'd wait. I wasn't in a hurry. A look of relief comes across his face and he reboots. It starts back up and it still wasn't working. He called someone over for assistance, and she's telling him what to do to fix it, but he wasn't really comprehending, (in his defense, she told him to plug the computer in, but was pointing to the receipt printer. I'd be confused too). Then she went to plug in the "computer" and it shocked her---so much so that I heard it and she had goosebumps up and down her arm.

That is the point when I'd be like, "Ma'am, let's check you out at a station that isn't about to explode." But no, she kept fiddling with it, and got shocked. AGAIN. Then she was like, "Yeah, ok, I'm not doing that again. Let's move you to the next lane."

She calls her manager over to see what is going on and within about 2 seconds, the employees had moved all of my groceries from one lane to the other, all while I was searching for my Visa.

He looks at it, and he was like, "I bet it was nothing. It's probably like when you plug something in and home and you see the little spark. That just happens some times.' I told him that I could hear the shock, that it was very loud and every time she touched that cord I could hear the electricity, even before she got shocked. He was like, "Yeah, but that happens to me all the time at home."

Seriously, Mr. Manager, maybe you should call your electrician to check that out. I cannot hear the electricity running through my house---to me, that sounds like (pun!!) you're going to have an electrical fire.

HEB did not burst into flames, but Mr. Manager did get a buzz himself from it. I left before everything was figured out, but considering I went to the grocery store just for some Honey Nut Cheerios, to me, this was an eventful trip to the store.

The Honey Nut Cheerios were delicious.

PS: I know this post was probably super-lame, but I've had about 1.5 hours of sleep since yesterday, so to me, it's amusing.

Summer Reading

It seems like just yesterday I was getting ready for middle school by reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and The Giver for summer reading assignments. I remember loving The Giver but loathing A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I don't really remember much about either of the books now--I just remember that it was the beginning of summer reading.

Growing up, I loved reading. I remember reading books over and over like The Summer I Shrank My Grandmother, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Ramona Quimby Age 8, Nothing But the Truth and countless others. Judy Blume was my favorite author. I actually may or may not have read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing a couple of years ago because I found my old copy and wanted a trip down memory lane. I'm a sucker for repetition, whether in movies, music or books, I don't mind putting the song on repeat or occasionally rereading an old favorite.

When I was in 6th grade, our school adopted a new reading program called Accelerated Reader aka AR. AR was designed to get kids to love reading. Books were divided by reading levels, and we were tested to see our base reading level. You could only read books in your reading level and once read, you would take a test over the book and if you passed the test, you'd get points. The higher the reading level, the higher the point value. You could then redeem your points for items in the AR store--mostly the kind of thing you'd see at an arcade, but a little classier, but we had a couple of really special things. I remember for 250 points, (which seemed like 15million) you could be "principal for the day" and you'd get to miss class and although you were at school, it was like the ultimate free day.

It sounds cool, right? In theory, it was a great idea. In reality, it made students like myself hate reading, because it was no longer something you did for pleasure. Your scores on your AR tests were reflected in your six weeks grade for reading, and although I always had an 'A' in reading, I just hated that it became an assignment. I know it was to get us to expand our reading horizons, but I just got to the point where I really hated reading.

I was no longer required to participate in AR once I was in high school, but I still hated reading. The only assigned books I remember reading and enjoying when I was in high school were To Kill a Mockingbird, Julius Caesar, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes and Montana 1948. I probably only liked those because those were the only ones I actually read in their entirety. At the time, I didn't love The Crucible, but I will say it's one of my favorites now.

By college, reading for pleasure was a thing of the past---I had to read so much as it was, so the idea of picking up a book voluntarily and reading it was a joke. There were very few books for pleasure during that time, but I will say, all were books that I couldn't put down that I quickly became enthralled with.

In case you haven't heard, Borders, the bookstore, is closing the entire chain of stores, which means that they've got everything on sale. So far, the sale prices aren't AMAZING, except for with Blu-Rays, (they're 40% off!) but you have to be mindful that Borders prices are higher than what you'd see on Amazon or at Walmart or Target, so compare prices! Anyway, in my typical pattern, I mostly bought books that I've already read that I wanted to have, because I don't like wasting money on books I haven't read. I officially own the entire Jen Lancaster collection, (Bitter is the New Black; Bright Lights, Big Ass; Such a Pretty Fat; Pretty in Plaid; My Fair Lazy; If You Were Here) all are books that I literally didn't want to put down at any point while reading them. I find her to be smart and funny, and I often have actual LOL moments when reading.

I've bragged about these books before, but it's mostly because I just love them and I want everyone to love it too! Now that I've read all of her books so far, I'm onto a new series. Considering Jen Lancaster talks about what a wonderful writer Candace Bushnell is, I've started the Sex and the City series. It's good so far. :)

What are some of your favorite things to read? What's your favorite genre? Author?

 

Maybe I have ADD?

Yesterday, I was thinking about how I haven't cooked in a long time. And by a long time, I mean it was so long ago that I barely remember it. I know that there was an instance not too long ago where I made chicken and rice (Travis' favorite) and the chicken had been in the freezer for a very long time, but we decided to go for it and see if it makes a difference. It does make a difference, in my opinion, because the texture was...rubbery. Anyway, that was a meal we threw away and got take-out instead.

Then there was another day when I had my friends Nick and Sony over for Hamburger Helper. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I only serve fine cuisine around here. But really, Nick asked me to make Hamburger Helper, and I love Hamburger Helper, so how could I say no? The Beef Stroganoff is the best one, and for $1.50ish, I fail to see how you can go wrong, unless you're one of those healthy-types that counts calories and preservatives and saturated fats, etc...

Deliciousness.

Back to the origin of why I'm posting, I was thinking about how I haven't cooked in a long time, and that I wanted to actually have food in my pantry/refrigerator that when combined could create a full meal, because lately, all you can make is a PB&J or like, white rice with lunch meat. Appetizing, right? Notsomuch.

So I begin making a grocery list. I was standing right next to the stove, which is near the pantry, so I could make a quick inventory of what I have, and that's when I was looking at our range light and thought about how the bulb burned out at some point in 2010--it's probably been a year since that happened, and I decided to look at it and see what kind of bulb it takes so I could finally replace it.

Because I know you're this interested.

I go and get the screwdriver and find it's nothing more than what appears to be a night-light bulb. I felt certain I had a stash of those somewhere (I don't) and I went looking for some. When my search ended in failure, I remembered that I have a night-light that we don't use that I could use the bulb from as a test-bulb. I grab it, go to the kitchen and try to take out the burned-out bulb. I messed up somewhere, (you'd think that unscrewing a bulb wouldn't be a difficult task, but apparently it was for me at that moment) and the bulb detached from the metal part and then I couldn't get the whole bulb out. My only solution at this point is to call the maintenance man because I don't want to electrocute myself or break something---I'd much rather have the maintenance guy do it so I can make my grocery trip and I won't have to fiddle with it.

Once I come to that decision, I scan my apartment and decide I need to load the dishwasher and run it as well as clean up some things that have cluttered the table and counters--because obviously the maintenance man cares about how clean my apartment is. I'm sure that he keeps tabs on that type of thing.

I start cleaning everything, throw out a few things from my refrigerator, and once the table is clean, I remembered how I haven't had the nice placemats and napkins, (that I use pretty much solely for decorative purposes) out in a long time because they were dirty, so I go into the laudry room to get those started in the washer. Then I get obsessive about making sure I have all of them, (there still may or may not be a missing napkin, I finally just gave up) and I ended up in the closet of our spare bedroom (aka, "the man cave") and I find myself looking for a smaller sized gift bag appropriate for a wedding gift. Several minutes later, I decide to just add it to the list because I didn't have one, so I go back to the kitchen, but first look up and notice a dusty air vent. I grabbed the Swiffer 360 (get one if you don't have it already, it's life-changing), make the vent dust-free, add the gift bag to the list and return to the laundry room and get the napkins/placemats started. Then I came back to the kitchen and started making the list again. It doesn't last long, because I then noticed that I didn't put the candlesticks back on the table, so I wipe them and put them out.

Then it hits me that the following tasks were never accomplished:
1. Starting the dishwasher.
2. I originally began the pantry-inventory to see if I had cream of chicken. I never even looked.
3. I never called the maintenance man.
4. I'm still walking around the apartment, with an incomplete grocery list and I'm still not dressed for the day and it's about 3pm.

Why am I all over the place?! I get so scatterbrained in instances like this, and the likelihood of me coming full circle in instances like this is about 50/50. Sometimes I do remember to finish all of the small tasks I started, but there are plenty of times when I never even remember.

Moral of the story? I hope I'm not alone in being this ADD with home-related tasks.

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Am I a Cyber Hipster?

Probably not, but I feel like one because in about a week's time, I got a coveted Google+ account as well as a Spotify account. ZOMGFTWLOLBBQXOXO!!

In reality, I'm not near as excited as the above fake acronym. I keep forgetting to check my Google+ and I literally just downloaded Spotify, but I think it's a love-at-first-sight situation. I don't think you download anything, but it's kind of like Pandora, but not. You have access to tons of songs, but unlike Pandora, you get to choose specifically what you want to hear. What an excellent way to find new music!

Are you a nerd like myself and want to know the songs from Grey's Anatomy, since they probably have one of the best tv-soundtracks around? Got you covered.

Just type "Grey's Anatomy" into the search box:



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And voila! You get an assortment of music! It's pretty legit, yo.

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As you can see, I was listening to "Where Does the Good Go" by Tegan and Sara.

As far as Google+ goes, I just like that it makes it easier to sort people. Let's be frank, if you're like me, back in college you added like, everyone you ever met ever because it was nice to have them to hit up for notes and homework, etc for those sleepy days where you skipped class. Was that just me?

Anyway, here I am, many years later and I have about eleventymillion FB friends and I am way too lazy to begin going through those people. There have been times where I thought, "wouldn't be nice to make my friends easier to sort on FB?!" but I can't seem to change the privacy settings and so forth, but I'm pretty sure that you can do that on Google+, and I can be more selective now in who I add. So, props to Google+.

The only dissatisfaction I've experienced thus far with Google+ is that when typing, "Google+" I almost always type, "Google_" because I never have to hit the =/+ key and I don't have my fingers trained to go that far over just yet.

Social Etiquette?

Yesterday, my husband and I met my friend, Kim at Cracker Barrel for dinner. ---For anyone who is thinking "Cracker Barrel?! Seriously?!"  ...you obviously don't share my affinity for their macaroni and cheese.

Anyway, we were seated and our server was one of my least favorites at this store, (yes, we go there frequently enough to know the good servers from the bad ones) and we go about our business. She's the type of server that brings you the plate of bread, forgets to make note that you need a refill and walks away. Then when she returns several minutes later to bring you the silverware that you asked for 15 minutes ago, you have to ask her for the refill. When I waited tables (ironically, at Cracker Barrel) I would always check for refills if I even passed the table. That's what makes a server a good one. They're attentive. I don't really have anything else to note about this particular server, except that she made me miss, (yes, miss) our regular server, who doesn't even have to take our drink order because he knows what we want.

...now that I think about it, we may dine at the ol' CB a little too often.

The three of us are enjoying ourselves when we see two people that went to our high school walk in. We discussed if it was who we thought it was and so forth, and established that it was who we thought. Then, of course, comes the part when you decide if you're going to say anything. It's not like any of us were close to these two former classmates, and while I think one of them may have been in my grade, I don't even remember. Considering when they walked in, they were sat two tables away from us, you'd think if they recognized us that they would have initiated some sort of greeting, but they didn't, which is fine.

When it was time for us to get up, I couldn't decide what to do---

Do I:

A) say hello
B) just walk away and pretend like I don't know who they are
C) just wait to see if they greet me first

I opted for D, walk away briskly and be sure to be engaged in conversation with my group in the hope that they don't interrupt because that is always the best choice.

What is it about moments like that? Saying hello wouldn't have hurt me, but I just never know what to say after "Hey." I hate getting sucked into pretend conversations where all parties are pretending like they are so excited to see one another, when in fact, all parties are thinking, "Is it rude to walk away while they're still talking?" At the same time, I always feel strange doing the typical smile-nod act of acknowledgement, because to me, that screams, "Hi, I'm incapable of engaging in conversation" or "Wow, I really hope you don't say hello as I walk by because I definitely don't want to talk to you for more than 5 seconds."

I know, my problems are like, really intense these days.  ;)

What? It's July Already?! A clustered recap.

So I remember being a kid and daydreaming about being a teacher and always thinking, "Having summers off is going to be AMAZING!!!"

Guess what? I think I have been just as busy this summer as I was during the school year. I was really hoping it'd be a sleep late, take care of loose ends kind of a situation, and I barely have time to do anything.

However, everything I've been doing has been voluntary, so I guess I can't be too disappointed.

We went to Washington DC for the 4th of July with 3 of my friends from college and it was a lot of fun. We did your typical tourist-y type activities such as touring the nation's capitol, the Smithsonians, the Washington Monument, etc. The best part was probably some of the places that we ate.

Things are about to get fat:

My friends are pretty genius and they decided to check out local places that had been given praise from shows like Man vs Food, Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives, $40 a Day, etc. All of the places recommended from the Food Network were delicious. There was a place that we ate at that wasn't based on a tv-recommendation called Harry's or Harriet's, or maybe it was both---and let me tell you---it was not good. Don't eat there, mkay, kids?

We did, however, enjoy one of the MOST amazing burgers I've ever eaten at Good Stuff Eatery, which is owned and operated by Top Chef's contestant, Spike Mendolsohn, and it was spectacular. Go there and don't forget the milkshake.

...how typical of an American to be more excited about the food than the sights. Shame, shame. To make up for my gluttony, here's a picture of something that I did on the trip:



Campaigning for the 2012 Election

 Not to change the topic entirely, but I'm going to. SO BIG BROTHER IS BACK, Y'ALL!! This is big and very exciting. Today is the elimination, and I can't decide who I dislike more out of the two on the block (Keith and Porshe) but I'm thinking that Keith is going home. Maybe Porshe will stop being so obnoxious if she gets to stay.

The last thing I would like to touch on, is a topic that often drives me nuts--and that's Facebook-related behavior. When did people forget that it's THE INTERNET. Yes, it's a way to be social and all of that, but everyone is aware that it's CTHYBERSTHPACE, right?

People get way too worked up on Facebook. Bob posts an update, Bill disagrees with it. Mutual friends of Bob and Bill start taking sides and five minutes later, Bill has deleted Bob from Facebook as well as any of the mutual friends that the two share and a comment about the dryer eating socks has turned into a full-blown Facebook feud. What is wrong with us that we let it get that big? It's Bob's Facebook, Bob can say what he wants, right?

It just really frustrates me. Then I see people updating that they've just gotten their period or they have an ingrown toenail or that their baby's daddy is now cheating on them with the babysitter. Seriously, people. Let's be adults. Let's not put all of our personal and private information on Facebook, where although your profile may be private, it isn't private to your 200 closest aquaintences. I just need people to stop and realize that it's Facebook---the place where everything is written or read and you can't always sense tone or sarcasm, so instead of being adult and saying, "Hey...did you literally mean that my mom eats toilet paper, or was that a joke?" they just delete each other and ignore the inital moment of frustration.

Oh, Facebook. It's a love-hate relationship.