Slow down!

It is midnight, and I cannot sleep. I fell asleep today at 2:00pm and Martin woke me at 6:00 pm. Sometimes, I just crash. Fortunately, Becky took the boys with her to Little Joe's check-up, so I didn't have to get up. She is good to me like that. Oh, I am sucking on a tootsie pop while I write. I found it in one of the boys candy bags from a Christmas party at school, and it looked so good, I decided to give in and enjoy! It is funny that little things like a tootsie pop can mean so much. I remember as a kid, trying to lick to the tootsie roll center, (like the owl in the commercial) but just giving up and crunching. The fun was all over after that, and you could even get a small cut on your tongue or the inside of your cheek from the sharp candy. These days, I try not to crunch to quickly. What is the hurry anyway? Getting in a hurry can cause you all kinds of grief. For instance, tonight Martin drove me to Walmart to get a bag of caramels to use to make the candy trains with the boys tomorrow. It seems that caramels are hard to find. I have been to several stores, and to no avail. So, knowing that Martin is waiting in the car, I hurry and get a glue gun, some glue sticks and go to find some caramels. Looking meticulously in the candy aisle, I could not find any. I went to the Christmas aisle, and no caramels. Shoot! So, knowing that the little trains just needed some kind of square candy to make the cab of the caboose, I chose starburst squares. I will just glue two of them together and that will be about the size of a caramel. Snatching the starburst, I began to hurry down to the register, and there they were! A bag of caramels in the baking aisle! Whoopie, I threw the starburst on the shelf, and grabbed a bag of the caramels, tossing them into the cart... Hurrying to the checkout, and congratulating myself on a job well done, as well as crowing to myself that I should have gone to Walmart in the first place since they have everything, I try to find a line that is not too long. Good luck with that. I did find a checkout line with only 4 people ahead of me, and most of them had only a few items, so I settled in to wait. The 1st family checked out and left. Then, an elderly gentleman put his 15 itmes on the counter and carefully watched as each item was rung up. The lady gave him his total, and he pulled out his bank card. He took his time. Slowly swiping the bank card, he waited. Nothing happened. The cashier asked him to swipe it again. This time it worked and she asked him if he wanted debit or credit. He said, "Oh credit, for sure! You can't be too careful these days, and don't want anyone to know your debit card number or they could get into your bank account. I never use debit, never. Why, once I heard........." Okay, move it along Grandpa. I have a crabby husband with a mean cold sitting in the car, counting the minutes until I return. Don't want to get him going, I just got him settled down. The cashier is patiently waiting for him to finish his discourse on the dangers of using a debit card, and FINALLY he finishes the checkout and is on his way. The next lady checks out and pays for her two items, and then, it is my turn. I efficiently throw the glue gun and glue sticks up on the counter, lightly joking about the elderly and how they go on. I am proud of my check-out efficiency, I don't hold up the line, no not me! I pick up the bag of caramels and...wait a minute, what's wrong with the bag of caramels? Why aren't they heavier? What the heck? Checking the bag, I see that they are CARAMEL BITS! Oh, please. Caramel bits? Little bitty balls of caramel? Shoot, I can't use these. I say to the cashier, "these are not what I need. Do you mind if I run and get the right candy?" Forcing a smile on her weary lips she says that she doesn't mind. But guess who does mind? The eight people lined up behind me. I see their stony faces, and I can tell they are calculating how long it is going to take a 300 pound woman to "hurry" all the way to the back of the store to get "whatever she needs". Grinning like a fool, I mutter excuse me please, and pardon me as I leave my two little items on the counter and push past their loaded carts. Did you know that the candy aisle of Walmart is probably about a mile and a half from the check out line? Well, that's how far it seemed to me! Where is a handy husband or grandkid when you need them? I did "hurry" and by the time I got back, I noticed that the cashier had dutifully checked out those behind me until I returned. Remember, I have a cold too, and along with "hurrying" I was sweating like a sumo wrestler by the time I got back to the front. There were looks of concern as I pushed past the others in line, not for my red, sweating face or plastered hair, but for the fact that I was going to the front of the line ahead of them. I gave the cashier the bag of starburst and she quickly ran my three items through. She then looked at the debit card I was holding and said, "debit or credit?" "Uhhh, debit I guess" I told her. She winked at me and reminded me of the lecture she had received on using debit instead of credit. I told her that that was nothing compared to hurrying thorough the store, not paying attention to what you are buying. If I had just looked or even felt the bag of caramel bits, I would not have had to endure the looks of the customers in line, the marathon to the back of the store, or the misery of going ahead of the customers when I got back. That's what you get for hurrying, so, I am not going to crunch my tootsie pop. Matter of fact, it is much smaller now anyway. Maybe just a little crunch.... hmmm

By they way, when I got to the car, instead of the crabby, snot filled demon I expected to find waiting for me, I found a perfectly happy hubby! Why? Well because he was sound asleep! I could have taken my time and done a little shopping....