We got up early and went to Wal-Mart. I don’t enjoy shopping at Wal-Mart, but as I’ve already established...it’s close and I’m lazy. I took Olivia with me, as she wanted to purchase Polly Pockets. She has decided she is only 8 years old and that it is ok if she plays with such a toy. I also took Ella…that way Hudson only had to watch Griffin while Randy went to the gym. I should go to the gym too, but then when would I do the grocery shopping? Anyway, while there Olivia made the comment, “there isn’t anyone here. “ To which I replied, “that’s why I come so early in the morning. I don’t like shopping with other people.” See, this is something Randy doesn’t get. It really annoys him that I’m in a hurry to get to Wal-Mart on grocery store days. If it were up to him, we would shop in the evenings, on Saturdays, on Sundays…good grief! Has he no idea what a difference it makes to shop in the early mornings? It’s a silly little battle that he and I have over and over and over again. I’m a woman with routine…it’s hard for me to think outside of that.


On to the rest of my day, packing and unpacking has become a way of life. I think we are getting better at it. Faster anyway… and usually we forget very little. Oh wait, the reason I started with my Wal-Mart story. On my way out the door, Hudson said he needed shower gel. I’m so torn on the whole shower gel. The smell is quite strong…which makes me think it’s loaded with chemicals. We all know where I stand on that. Plus, it gives me such a headache! These things make no sense to him…and so now I sit here, typing, able to smell him from downstairs as he showers in the upstairs bathroom. *sigh*

Back to our packing and unpacking, as a general rule of thumb, I am prone to leaving suitcases partially unpacked for months. It’s not a job that I enjoy…unpacking that is. But with our new life, which consists a great deal of dealing with suitcases, it’s become something that I have to get better at doing. And so I press on.

It’s always hard coming home after a few days. It would seem as though all of us forget what our daily duties are here on the home front. And I’m not sure, but I think some of us, and by us I mean Hudson, get slower at our chores when we’ve had a break. I’m not lying when I say the dishes took him over an hour. And there just weren’t that many of them…. Anyway, the laundry is done, the living room put back together, the van is cleaned out, and thanks to Hudson and his perseverance…the kitchen is clean. Well, clean for a 12 year old boy.

Olivia, by the way, did not purchase any Polly Pockets…upon further review...she decided she wouldn’t really play with such things…