First let's start by reminding you all that I live in KANSAS, Land of Nothing and NoWhere... so the two options for shopping are: The PX (the Post Exchange), or (dun dun dun)... WAL*MART.
Anyway, the more time and money I spend keeping my family afloat, the more I notice the quality of stuff going down and the price of things going up simultaneously. At this point I'm no longer "noticing" this trend, it's staring me in the face every time I walk into a store of any kind. I have two major complaints, but really I'm referring to just about EVERY product on the market right now.
COMPLAINT #1: Milk.
Everyone complains about the cost of gas, but seriously, has anyone else noticed that MILK (and cheese) is making us go broke just about as quickly as gas?? This may just be in my home, because we are unusually addicted to milk, but I'm appalled at how much I'm spending on dairy products. My family goes through 5 gallons of milk in a 2-week pay period, if we're very careful. This means turning my kids down when they ask for milk about 1/3 of the times they ask. I have had to switch to skim milk because I can't afford anything else, and this makes me very unhappy. Skim milk = ditch water, if you ask me. Not to mention children should be getting whole milk or at least 2%. But, as it is, we're spending $20 on milk every two weeks. (Oh, and cheese is $7 for a block of cheddar?? Seriously??)
COMPLAINT #2: Jewelry.
Obviously there are more pressing issues in the world, but today I'm feeling sad because it's happened to me again. It seems like no matter where I buy my jewelry, with the exception of really expensive real jewelry, which I obviously can't afford, it breaks the next day. Am I the only one who has this problem? I'm not talking about when my kids pull on it or when I am doing something vigorous... I'm referring to the times I've just been STANDING THERE talking to someone and my earrings fall apart and fall down my shirt.
So there I was, 10 am, in my supercute new outfit from Goody's, unloading groceries. I bend over, and BAM. $18-necklace just falls apart.
I was walking around Wal*Mart this morning thinking over and over, "What?? $3.00 for that?" Like chapstick! One tube of chapstick is $2.79? Am I the only one who thinks this is stupid? Not to mention the fact that they don't even fill the tube up halfway. It's not about chapstick, but do you see what I'm saying? It's everything! Even the plastic bags they put your groceries IN (yes, I'm one of them) are way flimsier than they used to be. Oh geez. I'm starting to sound old.
Speaking of old... I have been meaning to thank everyone for calling/texting/commenting on or around my birthday! I heard a lot of "I'm sorry I'm late"s, but come on people... It's BIRTHDAY WEEK! There is no late. (unless you call me on the 15th. Then you're late.) I'm sorry I didn't respond to everyone who wrote or called, by the way... Besides being busy on that day, I was overwhelmed with people who remembered! I could hardly read the texts before I got another one, so I ended up losing track of who I'd said "thank you" to... which made me feel really superloved!
THANKS GUYS!!!! :)
Also, lots of you have had amazing ideas about what I can do with my time while Steve is gone! I especially liked Ashli's idea about making something for Steve every time the boys start missing him. What a great idea! They are gonna love it. I just wanted to say thanks for all the words of encouragement and ideas for my kids that I've been getting. It really would be a lonely place out here without my friends and family checking in with me this way!
4 comments:
I LOVE YOU AUBREY! LOL. i totally agree with you. geeze you guys drink as much milk as we do.lol...thats why u should get on WIC. the prices are crazy. oh and as far as the jewerly goes. i have ther same exact problem! its usually with earring and it pisses me off to noooo enndd!!! arggggghh!!
We have the same problem with milk!!! It makes me crazy! Brad is addicted to milk and he will drink 4 gallons a WEEK, all by himself. So we spend a crapload of money on milk. So irritating...you're not alone in your frustrations...
Starting to sound old?
:) :) :)
Having responsibilities that you can't just walk away from and struggling to meet them make the best of us into old people . . . faster than any of us can possibly believe.
Pretty soon, you start thinking about the consequences of EVERY decision you make. Eventually you come down to the realization that "Everything in life is a trade off." What am I going to trade for today that will limit my choices tomorrow?
It's so cool to watch you growing up!
I image my dad sits somewhere in the great beyond watching the circus that is my life and smiling as he says, "It's so cool to watch you growing up."
Who knows, pretty soon you'll be passing on words of wisdom to Josh and Asher . . . "Listen up kids! Here's what you do to avoid trouble in life . . . here's what you do to give yourself the best shot at happiness."
. . . and then you truly will be old.
Old isn't so bad. In most of the ways that really count it beats being young.
Love,
Dad
Here's a bit of jewelry advise for you ( I worked in jewelry for 10 yrs so I picked up a thing or two along the way!) I used to have the same problem but if you want to avoid it, or at least have it happen less often, then look at the area of the jewelry that connect to other areas. If it's a split ring (meaning if it looks like a teeny mini keychain) that's holding it together then it will probably break. If it is one solid circular piece of metal, ( or an "O" ring) then you may have more luck with it. Happy shopping!!
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