The tale of the lost Grocery List

Despite the fact that Ada was oh so fussy, and despite the fact that we have both been under the weather the past two days, I decided to take our normal afternoon trip to Kroger. Bad, bad decision.

Before we went to Kroger we had to drive to Fresh Express to give something to Scott. I had to fax my in-home tutoring hours in before Midnight today, and we certainly don't have a fax machine here. On our way there, we decided to run through the McDonald's drive through for a little Friday afternoon treat. Regular Hamburger for me, chicken nuggets for Ada, fries to share--good, right? Wrong. I handed Ada her first nugget, and she promptly tossed it as hard as she could over the side of her car seat. Okay, I thought, we'll try this again. I handed her another one, really talking up the chicken nugget, and again, over the side of the car seat it goes. And she is fussing and pointing, and I know what she wants, my hamburger. Ya'll, I don't like chicken mcnuggets. I never have. And I know she likes them because I have seen her eat them, and I wanted to bring myself down to her level and refuse to give her my hamburger. But, I didn't. My hamburger she got. And I ate a lunch of french fries.

So, off we go, in a car that smells like vomit despite all of my scrubbing, to Fresh Express. And she fusses the whole way, and the back seat is now full of chicken mcnuggets, but we get the hours to Scott. And, really, wisdom would say that I should drive us straight home at this point. But, I dug my heels in, already frustrated that I didn't get my hamburger, and I drove us to Kroger. And we get in the store, and she immediately wants my grocery list to play with. And ya'll, that list is sacred. I spend a lot of time figuring it out based on sales and coupons and what The Grocery Game tells me to do. I am lost without it. But, again, I am stupid, and I give her my list. And next thing I know, that list is no where to be found. No where. We hadn't gone far, just to the vegetable section, and we circled that section at least five times because I was desperate for my list. Lost without my list. And the frustration was getting the best of me at this point. I am saying things like, "why did you lose my list, Ada?" Really, she's 15 months old, and I am the adult that gave it to her. But it felt like it was her fault. But we did make it through the store, and I only forgot one thing that was on my list--pretty good, I think. And, drum roll please....

my total was 37.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yes, you are reading that right. And I planned more meals than usual this week. So despite everything working against us, Ada and I still shared a frugal Friday moment. 37 stinking dollars. Moral of the story--Kroger and coupons and The Grocery Game came through even when everything else was working against us.