A Tale of Two Trips

Recently, it has occurred to me that grocery shopping ain't what it used to be for this ol' mama.  Observe the before and after scenarios:

Thoughts on the way home:

Before--Can't anyone control their kids anymore?

After--Did anyone see me almost cry in produce?

Items in cart:

Before--champagne, fat-free milk, Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches,  margarita mix, People magazine, anything labeled "spicy", and the latest snack seen on Oprah

After--champagne, whole milk, string cheese, frozen pizza, Capri Sun, anything labeled "microwavable", and the latest snack seen on Nickelodeon 

Mode of Transportation:

Before--a short half-block walk to the hip neighborhood market

After--curdled milk-smelling SUV to suburban Kroger

Biggest Indulgence:

Before--Caribbean Lobster

After--Brand name diapers

(Cutest thing ever, right??  Yep, I'm not spending hard-earned money on "Designer Diapers" unless I have a coupon and they are on sale!)

Conversations with fellow shoppers:

Before--"Aren't you my pharmacist?  Thanks for the advice on my foot fungus.  It has cleared up."

After--"Does this bottle belong to you?  Your kid dropped it by the Campbells Soup."  

Wallet is found in:

Before--Latest designer purse found at the Galleria

After--Nylon diaper bag found at Babies 'R Us


Biggest Pet Peeve:
Before-Grocery bagger crushes some of my Baked Lays bagging them with heavier items.

After-No novelty "car" carts available.

Total time spent:
Before--10 minutes to throw on a cute outfit and makeup + 25 minutes shopping from the list made in my head + 5 minutes checking out in the express lane = less than an hour

After--30 minutes getting shoes, clothes, bottles, diapers, and snacks for mom kids ready to go + 90 minutes shopping and backtracking to get everything on my detailed list and cleaning up the messes made by the mom kids + 30 minutes checking out with coupons, frequent shopper card, ID for champagne, debit card covered in slobber, and constant monitoring for foreign items that "randomly" appeared in our cart + 30 minutes loading and unloading kids and groceries = THREE hours of pure chaos

Everything I Know, I Learned in Home Ec.

My latest obsession has been my new sewing machine.  We are just getting know each other, so my creations have been amusing at best.  I bought Sewing For Dummies (For Dummies (Sports & Hobbies)) just to get back in the swing of things, since it had been 22 years (ouch!), my Freshman Home Ec class at ol' SHS.  The book inspired me to make a marker holder for all of Shelby's markers.  It was just 6 straight lines stitched on a ready-made cloth napkin.  Fun!

A great blog has kept my inspiration going.  The gals at Sew, Mama, Sew led me to Joel Dewberry's Sewn Spaces: Fresh and Modern Projects for Your Life and Home, and I can't wait to make these cute little birds for everyone I know (act surprised if you get one for Christmas)!

Searching amazon led me to Sewing for Children: 35 Step-by-step Projects to Help Kids Aged 3 and Up Learn to Sew.  I can NOT wait to get Shelby involved.  She's already helped me make a bobbin and loved working the foot peddle.  

Okay, time to get to the point.  Because I've become a little obsessed with my new creative outlet, I now want a serger.  I've only used one once in Home Ec and was banned from using it again by Mrs. Engle.  My failure to use it properly only fueled my curiosity. 

More projects I have big plans to do:

octopus costume

doll clothes

I-spy quilt

A serger machine would speed up these projects, once I figured it all out!

My Potty Girl-in-Training

For the past few weeks, I've had big plans to potty train Shelby.  But, then I get antsy to leave the house and just throw a diaper on her.  Well, this week is it.  Starting Wednesday Thursday Friday (yep, Friday, for sure.  Maybe.  Hopefully.), I'm going to following the instructions from this book on Amazon:















My friend Rita used www.askthepottytrainer.com with success.  If anyone else has any suggestions, feel free to drop by to watch a little of this all day:

Staying Cool

Because of this:

We've been doing a lot of this:

And this:

I've learned the Shops at Willowbend in Frisco has the best kids' play area.  A little closer to home is The Tubes at Irving Bible Church.  Who wants to join us?