So Much Random, So Little Time

I must begin with a couple explanations from yesterday.

At the beginning of my post, I used the word “dialogue”. I knew at the time it wasn’t the word I intended to use, but my feeble brain was having trouble pulling up the correct one.

So, of course, in typical fashion, it randomly popped into my head this morning while I was running errands: diatribe.

Which may or may not be the CORRECT word, but I am quite certain it is the one for which my brain was searching.

The other thing I need to address: if you read my post yesterday, you were unintentionally left twisting in the wind regarding the story about my 11yo’s doctor appointment.

If you have read that post at a later date, it included the outcome of the visit.

So for those of you who may have missed it: My 11yo is hanging in there at 10th percentile in both weight and height. Hard to imagine that there are boys his age which are smaller than him, but God made us all different...that's what I tell him too.

Now…I feel better to have gotten all that off my chest and I can move on.

Today I sent the PBA off to the Indiana State Fair with my parents. Because the best part of the Fair is the horrible-for-you food.

I will totally own that. Because it is true.

And in case you were unaware, the food vendors there are somewhat light on plain baked chicken, quinoa, yogurt, eggs, black beans, berries and spinach.

For obvious reasons...because they aren't good friend. Except for the chicken and the egg...they are delicious fried.

But are also outside the boundaries of my list when fried.

But I digress.

When they arrived at the fair, I received this text from my dad:

Waited until 10:10 - first food of the day...

(This display of restraint may or may not have been because they went out to breakfast before going to the Fair.)

With this photo attached:

Yes, that, my friends, is a Red Velvet funnel cake.

I told them that it didn’t even look good. (I may be a bit of a liar.)

But I am not here to solely talk about food. It’s going to be a big part of things for another 2.5 weeks (but who’s counting?), but it won’t be ALL I talk about.

I’m certain you were wondering what I did while the PBA were at the Fair. Well, because I love that you cared enough to ask, I shall tell you.

I ran errands.

And it was relatively fast.

And I didn’t have to stop what I was doing and tell someone to “knock it off!”…because I do that sometimes to other people’s children. Not mine…I hope you didn’t think I was talking about MINE!

And the whole experience was lovely.

I won’t tell you all the places, because some of them aren’t that exciting; I’ll stick mostly to the deals.

First off: Marsh Supermarket. Not my first pick but last week when I bought frozen yogurt there (only because it was on the way home from my son’s soccer practice), at the register I received 2 coupons: one for a head of iceburg lettuce, and one for $1.50 off a box of cereal.

So I went and got my free head of lettuce (not on my list, but the PBA will probably be thankful for a break from spinach). And a large box of Chex (also for the PBA)…which only ended up costing me $1.

Woot, woot!

AND at the register, I got a couple more coupons: one for a free dozen eggs (which, ironically the fridge is stocked with eggs at the moment, but that won’t last long) and one for $1.50 off a ground beef purchase (also something which I cannot currently eat but can always freeze for later.)

Look at Marsh, sucking me in.

Not really…their strawberries were $2.99/pound. Really? No way would I shop there regularly.

But I digress.

My next bargain seeking place was Earth Fare. I had a coupon (shocker) for a free pound of ground chuck with a $5 purchase.

If you’ve ever been to a grocery with all-organic stuff, you know prices are super-high…I figured that it would be no big whoop to spend $5.

The problem was: I had trouble spending the $5…because of how little I would get for my money.

So I left there without spending a dime. And also had nothing to show for it.

And my last bargain shopping locale of the day: Kohl’s. But ONLY because I had received another one of their glorious $10 coupons in the mail.

You may recall that I love to play this game with these Kohl's coupons: how much can I get for as little out of pocket as possible?

Well, the first thing I found was this pair of shoes.

Now before you say anything…I replace my workout shoes every 6 months. They never look bad on the outside but the inside it always worn down…which doesn’t give the support I should have, especially for my back, blah, blah, blah.

And no, I don’t need new ones yet, but I will…especially when you see the price:

Oh yeah, Baby! You read that right…$5.99!

So yeah…it was probably best that I go ahead and buy them b/c they probably wouldn’t be there in a couple months.

And because you can’t spend LESS than the $10, I really had to search to find something close to $4.01 but without going over.

I wandered aimlessly around that whole store. Twice, actually…scouring every clearance rack I could find.

Nothing was speaking to me…until I found a pair of men’s black Goldtoe socks which had somehow been lost from their packaging. They were marked $4.10.

These were obviously for Mr. AR...not me. Or the PBA. Although one PBA member COULD wear them if he so desired...but that is highly unlikely.

For those of you who are math-impaired, that’s a total of $0.09 cents before tax, ladies and gentlemen! A personal best!

Boo-yah!

Yes, I like to cheer like a spectator at a football game when I score good deals.

Don’t judge.

So…I ambled on up to the register.

Actually, I high-tailed it b/c I was sick of being in Kohl’s, especially since I was by myself.

Sometimes shopping alone isn’t all that fun.

I said SOMETIMES.

And because I am “that woman”, I was very attentive to ensure my items rang up at the correct price.

Shoes? $5.99…check!

Socks? $3.82.

I’m sorry what?

Me: How much were the socks?

Cashier: $3.82.

Me: But the tag said they were $4.10!

I’m certain this is the first time that someone paid less than the tag read and the person argued about it.

Me: But can I still use this? (holding up my $10 coupon)

Cashier: Sure...(seeming slightly confused that I would ask...I opted not to push it)

For the record, they have NEVER EVER let me spend less than the certificate.

Never.

Ever.

But today she did.

AND I still have 19 cents left on the coupon to use at a later date.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some old running shoes to wear out.

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