One Stop Shopping

I took the day off work yesterday (whoohoo, random vacation days!) so I could make treats for Olivia’s class and then deliver them to the school in time for snack time. Olivia’s birthday is today but they only have half day of school so we did the birthday treat thing yesterday.

I originally planned cupcakes but then it hit me…kindergarteners + cupcakes = big mess. Even with the napkins I planned to send, I decided cupcakes wouldn’t necessarily put me on the teachers’ favorite list. And I do so love the thought of being the teachers’ favorite.

So Rice Krispy treats it was. But…Olivia asked if they could please be pink. I mean, come on, you gotta have pink Rice Krispy treats, right? So I did what any doting mother would do. I put red food coloring in the melting marshmallows and made them pink. Olivia was ecstatic. That was good enough for me.

Because I had the day off, Tom had something that needed to be shipped UPS. Obviously.

So instead of a leisurely day at home melting marshmallows and then drowning Rice Krispies in the sweet goodness that is melted marshmallows, I hurried through the treat preparation while working around Tom who was packing the ax that needed to be shipped. Then while the treats chilled in the fridge, I stripped the beds, started laundry, vacuumed the living room and family room because neither room has been vacuumed in like three weeks (don’t judge, we’ve been away a lot this month. Okay, judge away, I feel no guilt.)

I showered then cut up the treats for O’s class, carefully placing waxed paper between the layers so they wouldn’t stick to each other. Then I put the napkins on the top layer under the lid of the disposable container and taping a note to the top letting the teachers know that there were enough treats for them to share among the class and themselves and that they could throw the container away rather than send it home with Olivia.

All was ready. I grabbed the treats, Tom had already put the packed ax in my car and off I went. My first stop was, duh, the school. Then I made the 20 mile drive to work, which is where I ship Tom’s UPS packages.

Then I headed to Walmart where I inquired about purchasing tires for the front of my car. I was told it would be forty-five minutes before they got the car in the garage, then about twenty minutes to actually put the tires on.

Okay!! Let’s do this.

From the tire and lube part of Walmart I made my way to the front of the store where the hair ‘salon’ is. I asked about a trim. I was informed that it would be about a half hour before that could happen.

I left my name and when to pick up a few things in the store.

Finally over an hour later and over $200 poorer, I drove away with newly trimmed hair and new tires on my car.

Yes, I just admitted that I get my hair trimmed at Walmart for under $20. What of it? We live in frugal times. I simply cannot justify paying more than that on my hair. I don’t get manicures…like ever. I don’t get massages; I cover my own gray roots with a $7 color system from a box, also purchased at Walmart. It’s just how we live.

From Walmart, my one-stop-shopping place, I headed to our local China Garden where I got to giant containers of hot & sour soup to go. The soup was Tom’s way of bribing me to go all the way to town to ship his stupid package even though it was my day off.

Obviously, it worked.