Today's Shopping Adventures

Oh goodness.

I was going to go coupon shopping yesterday, but Richard ended up taking my car because he hadn't had time yet to empty the firewood out of the truck. It was okay though, we went to the park instead :D But today was to be the make up day for missing yesterday. I even made a big deal about Richard getting the wood out so I could go shopping today because if I didn't go today it wasn't going to happen.

I forced myself out of bed at a somewhat decent our so we could get going before 10. As Murphy would have it, Reuben woke up right after I got out of the shower and right before Rachel was done with breakfast, so I wasn't able to run around and make preparations like I was going to. Instead he had breakfast right then. And directly afterwards it was time to go, so I'd have enough time to shop before he got hungry again. The bad news here is that I'm not really the most level-headed under pressure like that, and I had a lot of things that I could possibly forget to grab on my way out the door. At least Rachel was dressed and had shoes on :D I even brushed her teeth.

In a last ditch effort to zoom out the door, I put Reuben in his carseat so I could go do my hair and get Rachel's shoes on. Then I grabbed my diaper bag and the dutch oven I was planning to take back to Walmart and ran outside to start the car (so the A/C would cool it down before the babies went in). Unfortunately Rachel has not yet gotten used to this process and she thought I was leaving her, so she started screaming. I ran back down and assured her all was well, then grabbed my coupon binder and Reuben and led Rachel outside. I usually let her walk up the stairs while I put Reuben in the car, so by the time I'm done she's made it to the top. I counted on her being slow today, because I had to run in and get my shoes. So after I put Reuben in I ran around to a different door where my shoes were and put them on. This was when I realized I didn't have the receipt for the dutch oven, so I zoomed downstairs to grab it and came out the door where Rachel was. She had made it to the top of the stairs by then and was crying again because she couldn't find me. I'm such a mean mom :(

So I got Rachel into the car and set my binder on top so I could put on my moby wrap in preparation for the shopping trip. I'm sure I looked goofy to the neighbors, standing there with my car running wrapping this huge green turban around myself, but oh well. I got it on and got in and off we went.

We made it to Smith's in record time, and I thought it would be smart to look at my list so I could navigate the store as efficiently as possible. I turned to grab my list, and lo and behold it was not there. My binder was not on the front seat like I thought it was. I looked in the backseat, under the dutch oven, under my diaper bag, everywhere, and then realized I had left it on top of the car when I was putting on my wrap!! Oh well, I guess we're not going to Smith's today. I figured it probably just fell off in the driveway, and made a new plan for the day.

Since I was already in Provo we went to IFA to get the replacement dutch oven. This was to be a quick in-and-out trip, which is never going to be quick with two babies. I think we were there for half an hour. But I got the dutch oven! Then it was off to Walmart. That trip was fairly uneventful. I returned the dutch oven, bought inner tubes for my stroller, and then spent the remainder of the trip buying bear food. I got to the checkout and realized all I was buying was nuts and berries. Whatever, my breakfast beats your breakfast any day :D

On the way home from Walmart I was scanning the road looking for my binder the whole way. I didn't think it would be hard to spot, as it is bright orange, but I didn't see it anywhere. Then I thought it would be a good idea to go home a different way than the way I left town. This might sound weird, but I always come home a different way than I leave home. I just shouldn't have today since I was looking for something that fell off my car. But I never claimed to be a genius. When I pulled into the driveway expecting to see it on the ground, possibly slightly flattened by my running it over, and DIDN'T, I started getting scared. I figured if I lost my coupon binder I'd just give up couponing because of how many coupons were in there. I pulled back out of the driveway and drove back toward the highway the way I had gone the first time, scouring ditches and sidewalks the whole way thinking maybe someone had pulled it out of the road or something.

I got all the way to the highway before getting REALLY nervous. I had turned about 6 times by now, and figured the turning would have knocked it off the car, but I guess not. Right after turning onto the highway, though, I saw it. It was leaning up against a pole. This was fortuitous either because it had magically landed that way, making it easy for me to find, or because someone had found it, pulled it out of the road, and set it up that way so it would be easy for me to find. Either way, I'm very grateful :D

I got it home and looked through it to see what kind of damage had been done. It doesn't look like anyone ran it over, but it does look like someone must have gone through it, at least to figure out what it was. My shopping list had moved, and my envelope of today's coupons was tucked away in a pocket which I KNOW I didn't have time to do before I left. Also several of the pages had come off the three rings, which I assume happened as it flew through the air and landed on the highway. I am very grateful to whoever found it and left it for me to find :D I'm sure they looked inside and said "Oh man, someone is having a bad day" and did their best to fix it. So thanks, whoever you are :D Now I can go coupon shopping tomorrow :)