Adventures in Grocery Shopping....The Rest of the Story

I always have a plan. Today the plan was to be at the grocery at 9 am sharp, home by 11:30 for lunch and then off to pre-school at 12:30. Somehow I was going to fit in the baby's nap and be back for my daughter's class Valentine party at 2:00. Then the day started behind schedule. Everyone (including me) slept in until 8, for the first time since...well, I don't know when. So after feeding the kids breakfast and finalizing my shopping list, at 10:30 am (90 minutes behind schedule) I somehow found myself crazy gluing a magnet onto a discarded sweat pant drawstring for the "Fishing for Valentines" game that I created for the party. Sure, I could've accomplished this task last night, but my test dummy for the game was fast asleep by the time I got around to it. I needed to cut the string based on pre-schooler height. After all teeth were brushed and shoes were tied and kids were bundled against the elements, it was nearly 11! So glad I had a plan.
Here's the "Fishing for Valentines" game. Cute, right. It was a hit with the kiddos.


So give up the shopping, right? Me? Give up? Nope. Why not do the shopping tomorrow? Because this lady is going to the Home and Garden Show and preparing a lovely Valentine's dinner tomorrow. That's why. I reversed out of the driveway. I cruised through the McDonald's at 11:05. Pulled into the store parking lot at 11:10. Now I know that it generally takes me 2 hours to do 2 weeks of shopping with 2 kids in tow. According to the time on my cell, I have an hour and twenty minutes until pre-school drop off. Whatever. I can do this. I just have to hustle. Then I had to search for the ginger root in produce and wait in line at the deli. Next, of course, there was the emergency bathroom break. "I have to go! I have to go! I reeeallly have to go!" Not me. My daughter. Finally, as I listened to the closing statement to a compelling argument for why Trix are so much health"see"er than Cheerios, I rounded the corner of aisle 9. Just 4 more aisles to go! Woo hoo!

I glanced down at my cell...12:30 pm.

NOoooo! Time to leave for preschool. Are you kidding?! A full cart of groceries and 4 aisles to go. Important aisles. Paper goods, freezer section, dairy. By the time I wait in the check out and then load the car, we are still going to be late. As my eyes sweep upward in exasperation, I see the answer to my dilemma right there in front of me, like an oasis shimmering in the sun: the walk-in beer cooler.(No, I am not going to stop and drink away my troubles.) The grocery stores in Indiana and Georgia did not possess such a wonderful resource. I quickly walk all of us into the cooler and scratch down a note on my legal pad: "Please do not move this cart. I'll be back in 10 minutes. Thanks!" Then I drew and nice little smiley face to illustrate my good intent. I grabbed the kids and ran for the mini van. We made it to school just in the nick of time. Turned right back around, returned to the store and my untouched cart full of groceries, strapped my baby into the seat and finished out my list! We made it back to the school just in time to chaperone the Valentine's Day party. Luckily, it was cold enough to leave our groceries in the car for an hour while I assisted the pre-schoolers in fishing for Valentines.

That's pretty much a day in my life. You see...I'm SO organized. I've totally got it together.