All in a Day...

This morning Kris and I had a mental moment! We decided that we needed to run to the store for chicken. We really tried to be organized and get all of our Christmas shopping done earlier this week, but the store we had shopped at earlier had no boneless, skinless chicken. Most stores here do not open till 10 am, so we decided that if we went earlier there should be less people in the stores, right? WRONG!!! We got to the mall--almost all the grocery stores are in malls here--and we waited in line to get into the parking garage for ten minutes! Cars were backed up all the way outside the mall. That should have been a sign to us to just head home, but no, we were in the midst of mental moment and common sense had been thrown out the window because we wanted to have grilled chicken...only the second time to have grilled food this year. We got in, parked, and headed to the store. I grabbed a grocery cart...what was I thinking? The aisles were jammed with people. Kris stayed with the cart, and I tried to get what I needed. In the spirit of Christmas, people were ramming me with their carts to get down the aisle.  I had only been in the store, five minutes and already could feel a foul mood coming on. Of the six things on our list, only three were actually in the store. We headed to the cash register. I thought I was standing in line...in fact, I am sure, I was standing in line, but obviously I had become invisible. A guy with a cart pushed his way right in front of me. I noticed that the basket lanes were open, so Kris and I quickly added all our items from our cart to a basket and got in that line. You cannot go through the cart lanes with a basket or a basket lane with a cart. That is too outside of the box, and the throws a loop in the whole system! We made it out of the store. Next stop the gas station to get a propane tank. Of course, they were not selling propane tanks today. On to the drug store to pick up some singulair. Although there was a wait that was sucessful. We decided to try another gas station down the street to see if they had the propane tanks which they also did not have. Since we were near the bread store, we decided to pick up some rolls for lunch. This particular store has a promotion on week days. Buy 12 rolls get 3 free. Kris told them that he need the promotion deal of 15 rolls. He honestly thought he was speaking English, but obviously not. The clerics started packing 15 bags of 15 rolls! Kris kept trying to tell them that he only wanted one bag, but it wasn't until they had already made up 9 bags that they actually heard what he was trying to communicate. On we went up the hill to yet a third gas station where we were finally able to get the propane tank. The journey home was filled with a couple near misses as several trikes tried to drive through our van. Yes, we arrived home all in one piece. However, as I am writing this, our neighbors have decided that having peace is not necessary this afternoon. They are throwing a children's birthday party complete with loud speakers, clowns and of course choice music like Angel of the Morning, Too Late to Appologize, and some dirty rap songs. This, after late night Karaoke, till 2 am by our neighbors down the hill. Midway through the party, the clowns took a smoking break in front of the group of kids. While they were smoking, they put on a Christmas ditty of a tune. When we were leaving the house, the song was on it sixth time around. What else will this day hold?