Grocery Store judgment

Do you look at people in the line at the grocery store? I do. I check out what they are buying and make assumptions based on my observations. Example: You have 15 cases of pop and a bunch of hot dog buns and hot dogs at Sam's. Clearly, you're not here shopping for your family. Some activity is going on. Example #2: You have yogurt and 20 lean cuisines- you have no kids and probably live alone.

Last week I went on a crazy grocery shopping spree. 5 stores in one day (Sam's, WalMart, HyVee, Aldi, and WonderBread outlet.) I almost never do all of this in one week. I try to stagger the stores. But I hadn't been shopping in a long time and we were out of everything!!! Sooooo, off I was. I realized at the end of the day that, depending on what store you saw me at, you would have very different opinions of me. I buy my junk at Aldi; cereal bars, fruit snacks, granola bars, etc... Sam's I buy a ton of stuff, definitely a hodgepodge of items. Maybe I would get judged on my 5 gallons of milk or the 12 pack of mac-n-cheese? But at HyVee I look GOOD. HyVee is my fresh produce stop. I buy a bunch of produce and like 14 quarts of soy milk. No junk, no red meat. People who see me there get a totally wrong idea of who I am. I am not an earthy crunchy health food fanatic. I'm a busy mom who has a kid that's allergic to milk.

Anyway, I just think it's funny how we can get ideas about people and they can be totally wrong. I'm trying to avoid this in my life. I want people to see me the same at school and work as they do at church, but I think a lot of times church is my HyVee, and my life can be more Aldi's.

Winding Down

I survived last week, which was very crazy. My angelic squirrel had her play all week, and that took up most of my time. I did manage to squeeze in an algebra test. Tuesday night my cousin called and told me that he and his wife were coming to KC for 24 hours. I haven't seen him in a couple of years and it was great to have him here. We had a family dinner on Sunday, which was a great way to end the week. (I know, Sunday is supposed to begin the week, but not for me!)

Miss Squirrel's play went great. It was such a fun experience for her. I just got home from IHop where I've been studying for hours. I'm trying to wind down and I just keep going over all of the nerves and parts of the brain. (I keep thinking about Crazy and Chia because I'm learning the parts that control speech. I can't escape you people!) Anyway, blogging's not working so I'm going back to studying. Here are a few pictures from the show. Thanks again to everyone who came!

Christmas

I Love Christmas! It's almost time for snow, and decorations, and holiday music, and incredible food. Once Halloween is over, I'm ready for Christmas. Growing up, my family's holiday traditions were:

Christmas Eve: dinner at my house with just mom and dad. We had oyster stew and really gross potato soup. I got to open one gift before bed. I spent weeks deciding what gift I would choose. It stunk when I guessed wrong and picked one that had clothes for that special gift.

Christmas Day: Wake up and discover, once again, that Santa does exist. Open presents and go to gma and gpas. Sometimes my cousins would be there, but often they would be at their other gmas and wouldn't make it over until much later. A few times my brothercousin & sistercousin would come from Kansas. That made Christmas really cool. (And sometimes meant no oyster stew!)

Our traditions now are:

Day after Thanksgiving: Early morning shopping. Late afternoon-Cut down the tree and decorate it
Christmas Eve: The whole clan celebrates. We get to eat good food. Oyster stew is gone FOREVER! I love Christmas Eve
Christmas Day: My children realize once more that Santa does exist. Cinnamon rolls and naps for mom and dad while the kids play with the new toys. Last year we had people over Christmas night and it was fun. I want to do this every year as well.

My point is, I love the holidays and I love traditions. I want to start new traditions that my kids will remember fondly. One of my friends told me they are doing Advent this year. I don't really know what that means, but I'm going to check into it? Any other fun traditions that I can steal?

Halloween pics part 2

Oops, they didn't all post the first time...

Halloween Pictures

Here are some pictures from Halloween. Nate was playing with my camera a few days ago and now my pictures keep turning out blurry. I know he changed some settings, but I can't figure out which ones. The other pictures are of Laina in her Squirrel costume. They performed her scene at Lenexa's Enchanted Forrest last Wed and Thurs night. The girl in the dress and crown is Veruca Salt.