Walmart, Where Shopping is NOT a Pleasure!

The tag line for Walmart is definitely NOT, “Where shopping is a pleasure!”  The only pleasure you get is in your bank account.  Actually, there is quite a lot of pain and suffering when you shop at Walmart.  To be honest, some days I just can’t bring myself to go there.  It is just so dang cheap compared to Publix and with trying to feed five Wogs, we honestly just don’t have a choice anymore!  There actual tag line is, “Save Money, Live Better”  I think they should add, "Save Money, Live Better after you complete an Anger Management Class after shopping here!” or “Save Money, Live Better, Learn Patience!”  You know what?  Some days you just don’t want a lesson in patience!

I always try to sucker my mom into going with me to grocery shopping at Walmart.  For some bizarre reason, my mom loves to grocery shop and really doesn’t understand my personal loathing of it.  Because I was pregnant or nursing for most of my married life, Dan has done the bulk of the grocery shopping praise the Lord!  Only since Eddie has started school, have I returned to this awful chore.  My mom is so positive about it, I am secretly hoping it rubs off on me one day and I wake up without a sense of dread.

I am not even sure about my mother’s zeal for shopping after our last trip.  I really did not shop for two weeks.  Dan and I had both stopped to pick up things along the way like the 5 gallons of milk we drink a week, so I had a ton of stuff to buy!  My mom and I separated and I went through my long list methodically and got a bunch of random stuff.  The worst thing about Walmart is it’s so big. If you need shampoo, you have to walk a mile to get it.  Of course I forgot something that way and had to trek all the way over there AGAIN!  I always tell myself, that this will be my exercise for the day.

I had an overflowing cart, my mom even had some of my stuff in her basket.  We started looking for a line to get in.  They had 4 lines out of the 30 open. We were fourth in line.  I was in a time crunch too because I needed to get back to the beach to pick up the kids from school.  The longer it took, the more I started stressing.  I finally went up to the customer service to ask if they could send more cashiers out to move all of us along.  The girl looked me up and down with an attitude and said, “Nope, we ain’t got nobody else!”  Awesome customer service….

It started getting really bad when a non-English speaking customer in front of me started checking out.  She had all these WICA certificates in her hand.  We waited 30 minutes while she ran back to get the correct item with her government coupon.  It was pretty unbelievable. We had a spunky lady and her sister pull up behind us and go off the whole time.  She politically ranted and raved.  More people came behind them and it backed up all the way into the clothing area.  I thought we were going to have an angry mob incident.  Several more people went to customer service with no results. People were calling for a boycott and for all of us to walk away from our baskets.  I looked at my hour worth of collected items in my basket and decided I may want to persevere so that the 5 Wogs could have food for dinner but being an activist in my heart, I sure was tempted. The poor cashier was taking the brunt of it but I blame the management who understaffed this massive store and caused the customers to regret ever walking in the door.  I may have to send a copy of my blog to Arkansas (I learned from the spunky lady that you could call and complain there and that she has done it before and will most definitely do it again after our horrific experience!!) 

 

My mother and I hustled to the car at top speed, tossed the two baskets of endless flimsy bags in my truck and drove as fast as we could home to unload the completely defrosted groceries at my house.  I am pretty sure I was still sweating and panting when the kids got in the car.  It was definitely not a pleasure shopping there and I am not sure the discount was worth the trauma and frustration of it all!  I am not sure how long it will take me to recover from this most troubling experience but I certainly hope I can sucker my mother into the next trip to our Walmart adventure! I am too scared to go alone!

Bubba's 12th Birthday Miami Surprise

When I had Bubba on Valentine’s Day, we joked that he was the best gift I would ever get!  That is the truth!  I didn’t really understand boys when I had Bubba and wasn’t particularly excited about having one to be honest.  I was happy for Dan so he could have a sports buddy but I had no idea how much a mom could love a son.  Bubba is very kind to me.  He seems to understand how hard I work and also how much we sacrifice for the kids. Bubba has always made me feel very loved and appreciated since he was a baby.

In the fall, Dan and I were watching a Miami Basketball game.  It was a huge victory for them and we had the brilliant idea to take Bubba to a game for his birthday.  We checked the schedule and were so happy there was a game on a Saturday, the week of his birthday.  Bubba never really asks to do anything major on his birthday like a big party, so this was an easy solution that he would love.  Dan and Bubba have attended a Miami football game for the last several years but this year Bubba’s football season ran extra long and they didn’t make it to a football game.  Bubba was very sad about that.  I knew this would be such an awesome surprise because he has never been to see Miami play basketball.  They have never been very good before but this year they beat the number one team and have made history at Miami.  The other cool thing was that the arena is on campus so it had that college spirit with all the students in attendance!

What I failed to remember in our zeal to purchase the tickets was it was in the middle of our Flag Football season that Dan and I are in charge of.  I felt physically ill when I finally realized it and was so sad that we would probably not be able to go.  Thanks to my dear sweet friends John and Carrie Wyatt and Teresa Rogers, and many others who stepped in to help, we were able to bless Bubba!  They handled all the many details of the game, which is way more than anyone realizes. 

After a ridiculous amount of preparation to leave for one night, the day was finally here.  I had packed for Bubba and tried to be calm so he wouldn’t find out about his birthday surprise.  I was a nervous wreck keeping this big secret from not just Bubba but all the kids who were making all these plans for the weekend.  Finally the day was here!  I barely slept having nightmares about a manner of things and was relieved when the morning came.  We woke Bubba up at 7 AM, brought him downstairs and had him open a present.  The tickets were on top and his face was priceless.  He jumped up and hugged his Dad and hugged me and kept saying, thank you, thank you, thank you!  Under the tickets was a Miami basketball jersey from my mom that he has been begging for.  He was in heaven.  I told him to put the jersey on and get in the car!  He was speechless!  It was worth all the trauma and preparation for that moment!  Bubba is still at the age when he loves hanging out with his parents.  I hope it last forever but it may not, so these times are priceless to me.

Everything was going along nicely until we got close to Miami.  We were scheduled to arrive at least an hour before the game.  We got in terrible slow traffic and Bubba and I were freaked out.  Dan kept telling us to calm down, that we would make it.  Finally we parked and got inside.  The first thing we saw was beautiful Miami dancers and of course I let everyone know it was Bubba’s birthday and got a special picture for him!!

 

The game started and was incredible.  The student section was out of control! Sebastian the Miami mascot was firing everyone up to shout out C A N E S….Canes!!!!  It was bedlam and I was loving every minute of it and feeling a little sorry for UNC!  I leaned over to Bubba and asked him if the football games were like this and his response cracked me up.  He said, “No basketball games are a much more hostile environment!” and he was right!!  They booed and jeered and mocked the UNC team relentlessly. 

It was one of those games where whatever Miami tossed up, swished in.  Whatever UNC tossed up, swirled around and popped out of the basket!  Miami was on fire and took a commanding lead and kept it the whole time, which is my kind of game!  I just got to take in the whole experience and enjoy with no stress about the score.  We heard a little ruckus and couldn’t believe it!  Lebron James and Dwayne Wade walked into the game!  I was so amazed.  We had tried to get Heat tickets for Bubba the night before but the prices were outrageous so we passed.  God gave Bubba such a nice birthday gift and brought the Heat to him at the Miami Hurricanes game!  It was so exciting!! 

I did have a melancholy moment and my eyes filled with tears as I thought of my Dad.  My Dad attended the University of Miami and loved his Canes so much and was such a devoted fan!  I have no doubt that is where Bubba’s gets his passion for Miami from even though he never knew my Dad.  I looked at Bubba’s face during the game and wished with my whole heart that my Dad could be there enjoying his grandson and cheering on the Hurricanes.  I had to quickly push my sadness away and focus on this incredible time with my son.  I felt like I was filling in for my Dad.  What many people didn’t know about him was that he was a champion basketball player and could still swish a ball from anywhere up until the day he died.  What has been incredible to watch is how Bubba plays similar to my Dad according to my mom.  This year Bubba almost became an expert at driving for a basket and drawing a foul.  One game he made 12 points from free throws.  My mom said Dad would do the exact same thing!  DNA is a powerful thing!

After the game, I just knew Bubba would have some great opportunity!  Dan saw the Hall of Fame baseball player, Barry Larkin sitting close to our seats.  Larkin’s son is the point guard on the Miami team and is an excellent player and rarely misses his 3 point shots!  We walked up to them and they all loved Bubba’s new jersey, which had Larkin’s number!  Barry Larkin was doing an interview with a reporter so they told us to go into the tunnel where the players come out of and wait for an autograph.  Bubba got to go down on the court and through the tunnel. He was so pumped!   


A few security guards tried to move us along but Momma wasn’t moving.  Bubba was a little nervous but I told him to not be moved by these security guards with a false sense of power!  I acted like I belonged and ended up having a great chat with Barry Larkin about his son and got an autograph for Bubba!  I love God and how he always does abundantly more than we could ask!  He loves my boy too and looks for ways to bless him!  We strolled through the beautiful campus and let Bubba spend his birthday money in the bookstore.  He was so pumped about getting Miami tube socks!  He looked like a walking billboard for Miami from head to toe!!  LOL! 

Dan had his own surprise for Bubba and for me too!  On the Miracle Mile is a historic hotel called the Colonnade.  Dan used his travel points and got us a phenomenal room with a view!  It was such a huge treat for us!  I loved the beautiful marble floors and woodwork!  The coolest thing was our room had an upstairs with a spiral staircase!  Bubba loved hanging on them!  We took Bubba to California Pizza for Dinner and to his first Denny’s experience for breakfast!  That kid ate a ridiculous amount of food with his Lumberjack Slam!

I am so glad Bubba was surprised, so thankful to God for blessing us and helping us and was glad to come home to my other babies that my mom graciously took care of to make this possible for Bubba!  What I know is that time with your children goes on fast forward and you can’t turn it off.  Even though the trip was a ton of work and at an inconvenient time, I have learned to push through to create a lifelong memory.  I dread the day I take Bubba to Miami and leave him behind for college.  As I walked through the tropical campus my mind kept going there.  I kept telling myself, I have 6 more years and plan on enjoying every moment with my best Valentine gift ever!!!!  Happy 12th Birthday Bubba!!

No Meat for You!

Well, what a day!  I was kind of proud of myself for thinking ahead and planning what I was going to make for dinner.  I defrosted a pound of ground sirloin before the kids were out of school and planned on making meat pies and yellow rice!  Bonnie and Maggie asked if they could fry the meat, which they love to do.  I ran upstairs to do a quick chore and they called up and said the meat was done and I told them to make sure to turn off the burner, which they did.  I came down a few minutes later ready to whip out some meat pies and the frying pan was empty on the stove.  I thought to myself that they must have moved it into a bowl somewhere.  After looking around and seeing as how there was no residue in the frying pan whatsoever, I figured out that our dog, KC must have helped herself to a pound of meat.  My only hope is that she burned herself eating the hot meat.  I was so mad at her.  

  

I had to leave to take Annie to swimming and when I got back my girls had improvised and had a nice dinner spread out on the counter of fruit salad they cut up, leftover KFC, carrots and ranch and spaghetti O’s!  I was really touched that they were trying to make a bad situation better for me.  This was a day that I had dinner food for one more night until grocery day tomorrow so I was really impressed at what they scrounged up!  I was very proud of them and blessed!  Later after we got Eddie to bed, I was printing pictures for Maggie’s report and Maggie gave me a wild makeover!  All and all, KC did save me some work making dinner so I guess I can’t be too mad at her!! 

24 Hours in Wog World

Wow I miss blogging so much!  I used to blog several times a week and now it’s just become a luxury to me.  This weekend was so ridiculously jammed packed with goodness my head is spinning!!!  I want to post a warning about the forthcoming ADD blog!  I am hoping to declutter my brain!

It started off with Bubba having a Pop Warner banquet at Dave and Busters.  I couldn’t go because Bonnie had YouthQuake Live….I’ll talk about that in a minute!!!  Bubba was so overwhelmingly blessed its mind blowing!!! I run organizations with kids so I am so appreciative at all the effort and generosity that was bestowed on him and the other 30 kids on the team!  He got a hoodie, t-shirt, bag, trophy, trading cars, Jaguar M&M’s, playing cards, cups, Video highlights, memories books and probably more stuff that I have forgotten.  I was in total shock and awe at how much his coaches did for him!!!  These boys will never forget the love, encouragement and kindness shown to them and will have keepsakes forever to keep the memories alive!!!

Now onto YQL!!  Eighteen years ago, a stranger youth pastor called me and invited Dan and I to be interviewed about our Young Life involvement at this new thing called YouthQuake Live.  Little did I know that by saying yes to that invitation I would be hooked for life.  I can still tell you what Sean preached on that first show!  He made the biggest impression on me and the youth group kids I brought to the show!  He gave me hope in ministry and lit a fire in me that had waned.  My youth group kids were forever changed as well by this passionate, sincere, open youth pastor sharing his heart to all!  Eighteen years later not much has changed except that now thousands of kids come to show versus the 50 that were there the first time we went.  Or that we have almost 200 cast members versus the 15 original members.  The impact is still the same but reaching so many more lives!  I was so blessed last night to watch my daughter Bonnie perform at a meeting that truly changed my life and my families life, oh so many years ago!!!!  I am so grateful that YQL is still thriving and will foster and train my kids for their futures.

With little sleep, I rushed to the 5^th Annual 5K Race at Beaches Chapel.  I am so blessed that this event is also continuing and laughed to myself that probably no one knows the whole thing was Dan’s idea years ago.  It was such a great day with Dan running the 5K again, Maggie and Annie running the 1-mile and Eddie running and WINNING the100 yard dash!  It was a special moment for me!  Eddie has been in leg braces for over 6 months!  It has been a lot of work with home exercises, putting the braces on day and night and taking him to therapy to help correct the way he walks.  His therapist, Ms Jenn, really loves Ed and has encouraged and pushed my ornery boy and he has made miraculous progress.  To see him run without the braces so free and fast, almost made me cry!!!  The crowd was chanting, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie…..and we have watched the video over 20 times today!  He is beyond proud and keeps talking about it while he carries his medal around!!!!  I also got to visit and be interviewed by Theresa Ross, the DJ from the Promise!  We had a wonderful time talking about Alexandra and Jordan and all the people in common that we love!  It was a highlight of the day for me!

We left the race and rushed to the football field to set up for our games.  We hauled sound systems, tables, concessions and more to the field.  It warmed up and we had another beautiful day of football, fun and families enjoying the touchdowns and highlight moments of the day!  Jersey Mike’s brought leftover subs and cookies from the race and we sold out of subs, hot dogs and had a great day!!  I limped home and climbed in my bed to start downloading my full phone of pictures and videos from the day!

I ended the day on a good note!  The Miami Hurricanes won their basketball game by 1 point in the last second!   My boys who have been very disappointed by the Canes for the last few years, rejoiced, hugged and screamed and I may or may not have cried!!  My heart is full and satisfied and I am blessed and also praying for a good nights sleep!