the Walmarts post

MM: I insisted that we give some sort of update on life even though Ginny just wanted to release some apparent, pent-up anger. I am glad she is writing. I am currently happy about all things that occupy her while simultaneously involving little to no movement.

Read the post prior to this one if you did not know that Ginny has been placed on bed rest. She is doing well- although the most difficult part by far, for her, has been the mandatory hands-off approach to parenting Hazel. I am tired, but smiling. Yes, we’ve bonded. Hazel always loves the hand that feeds her. Yes, I have had lots of help from great friends & family.

We go to the Dr. in order to check on everything on Wednesday. Until then, tell them what you think about it, Gin…
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GM: So most posts on here are quite… well…they’re sort of serious. We like to talk about all that Eliot’s life taught us & continues to teach us & for both of us there is a lot of healing & processing in the midst of that.
When I was entertaining the idea of starting a little blog, Matt would have none of it. He said, “Why would you do that when we can blog together?!” I explained that I wasn’t exactly a “writer” like him & I wanted to just post about the mundane & silly & everyday mom stuff & not worry about how it’s written. He said that was perfectly fine & even encouraged it. Well, I have yet to do that…til now…

I don’t really like Walmart. That statement may seem like no big deal to most of you, but you see, we live in Walartland. We are very close to Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, AR.
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The point is we live in Walmartland. Which is why, upon moving here, I quickly discovered that my days of shopping at a nice little Kroger or Albertsons or Harris Teeter were over. I remember this stark realization well. I needed asiago cheese for a delicious & easy zucchini casserole. Walmart #1: no asiago. Walmart #2: no asiago.
Not long after this experience & others similar, I decided I had to put an end to the frustration & learn to deal with this current predicament. So, now, out of the goodness of my heart, I share my tips for dealing with the megamart.

1. Always park close to the cart return. It doesn’t matter how far way you park. I my estimation, 9 out of 10 times, you are GOING to park far away at Walmart. Don’t fight it, just go with it. But if you park close to the cart return, you simply load your groceries & essentially you’re done.
2. Park near the entrance where you will end up, rather than where you start, which requires you to…
3. Have some semblance of a plan. Ok, ask anyone who knows me & they will testify that I am one of the furthest people from type A that you’ll ever meet. But, ya’ll this seriously helps me survive walmart. I organize my list into 5 categories:
a. household (all non grocery, like toothpaste, batteries, the things that take forever to find)
b. dry groceries
c. dairy
d. meat/freezer
e. produce/bread
I go in that order & don’t judge, just try it & tell me if you don’t spend WAY less time in Walmart than you used to.
4. When deciding a check-out, don’t just go by the shortest line, look at the actual checker. Sweet grandma Pearline may have the shortest line, but you’ll be in that line all day. Just make your best guess on who is fast & it won’t matter how long the line is. In my doing this, I have made a great friend. I’ve now known her about a year, we’ve actually grabbed lunch together. I could write a whole post on how great she is, but that’s for another time. She told me to...
5. Go to Walmart on Tuesday or Wednesday morning. My friend said this is a great time to go because everything is re-stocked from the weekend & is at it’s freshest. I’ve also discovered that there are very few people there at that time! If you can’t go then, whatever you do, just don’t go on Saturday or Sunday people, it’s just frustration waiting to happen.

So there ya go. And it’s not even Christmas.