Winco Parking Lot Peril

So last night, as my dear husband and I laid in bed with the laptop open, I thought back to my Dave Ramsey day last Saturday. He exclaimed that their is always a "nerd" and a "free spirit" when it comes to money management. Usually the nerd is the penny pincher though and the free spirit is the spender. This is not the case with Patrick and I. Frugal is my middle name. Without Patrick, I would never have any fun. But I can't stand crunching numbers for endless hours. My attention span is 15 minutes tops. You may ask, why am I blogging about this. Well Monday wouldn't have gone as smoothly if it weren't for that 15 minutes spent scouring over the budget while I went over my to do list for the week. At 10:48 I said no more...by 10:55 I had the covers over my head and wasn't paying attention. I got it. I knew what needed to be paid, how much was left over and I was done I tell you.
So this morning, as I rose with the sun in my face, I knew I could conquer the millions of little things that I needed to do because I had a plan. Part of this plan was going to Winco. I haven't been in months but it was time to stock up on things and no one does this better than Winco. Braving the crowded aisles, getting overwhelmed at the selection of bulk items, bagging 193.00 worth of groceries was quite a chore. My two little helpers were not angels, but the fruit leather I bribe them with always seems to do the trick. As I precariously pushed my cart to the car, the bananas dropped and I rolled over a few. Did I curse under my breath? Maybe, but I am not telling! Picking up mushed banana, corralling 2 kids across a parking lot, loading van that has oodles more space than the Tahoe, were all done in stride with the sun on my face and sporting a Cheryl Tiegs hair cut from the early 80's.(think windswept waves)(this picture is deceiving because there are 2 rows of paper bags, 25lbs of sugar, 20lbs of dog food, and a mammoth amount of kitty litter tucked under the seats.) My hair was even blowing in the wind. After the 10 minutes it took to get 2 anxious boys into the car and the groceries all placed in their proper position so that even the most treacherous corner would not yield smashed bread and broken chips, I started the car. No sooner did I turn my key, than a nice old lady in a brand new Prius drove into the space next to me. She flung her door open, hitting my aging van and hurried away. Granted, my car is old and probably has so many dings in it that this new one would never be noticed. But she could see me. Maybe a mouthed sorry or an oops? NO! Not a word. As I was pulling out, I noticed that her nice new red Prius was parked over the line on my side and their was enough room on the other side to park a large motorcycle....nice. This is what I don't like about Winco. The lure of cheap food makes people driven to search out a bargain. No smiles, no service, just get in, navigate the chaos, and get out...hurry, hurry, hurry! I really like Fred Meyer. Service with a smile. But alas, all that budget talk at 10:30 at night made me rethink and change to Winco to save a dime or two. Sigh...even the Costco lady that checks your receipt gives you a little sharpie smiley face. Never underestimate the power of a smile.