Back to Tuesday

I didn't want to forget about our craziest day yet, so I am going to go back and try to remember it.  Since my brain is fried, I am not sure how well I will do, but I will do my best.  Bullet points might keep it shorter :) (I doubt it - I have a thing with details)

** Disclaimer:  I am usually really, really particular about spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. However, because I have SO much I want to write, I do NOT have time to proof read.  Also, my posts are done late at night so I can't be held accountable.   Thank you :)

• Got up at 6 am to shower and get ready to go for the entire day.  All five of us showering meant the last 2.5 people had no hot water.  Next time some of us will have to shower at night.  
• Kids couldn't eat because of blood work so no breakfast was eaten.  (Oh - except Paige randomly ate a salad with Zesty Italian at 7:00 am...)  
• Packed up all the food and things we needed for the day and were ready by 7:30
• Rental car place picked us up and we went and loaded into our Chevy Silverado. (We rented a truck so we could buy a couple twin mattresses since the borrowed airbed Paige and I had been sharing was WAY less than comfortable.
  
• Drove to the Lab for blood work.  The boys both did great (as I posted before) and Hazel tried to get her blood taken as well...
• Since it was only 9:30 am and we had a car for one day, we decided to head to the City.  We wanted to run all the errands we could while we had the chance!
• Got there in no time and headed to Ikea to get some really cheap kitchen/household essentials.
• Next we ran to Target to get Brody's prize for doing is blood work.  He hadn't stopped talking about it for the last 2 hours so we had to get that part out of the way :)  
• Then Hazel had to go potty so Paige had to run her back in Target while I mapped out how to get to Whole Foods. At this point, Hazel started screaming terribly and didn't stop for the next 3 hours.  Not kidding.  I know she was tired, they were kind of hungry, but it was still just way worse than usual.  She kept saying her back hurt (which I have heard her say before when she is in a car seat.  Have any of your kids complained of that or should I be worried?  She said it again while sitting in the golf cart with no car seat... I guess I need to look into this.
  
• Whole Foods had a TERRIBLE parking lot.  Just wanted to ad that.  Went in looking for organic meats but just could not spend $8 a pound!  I did buy bacon with no nitrates or sugar and we headed out to Costco.  (I had seen organic meat there before and was just hoping it was cheaper) I had to carry Hazel through the store because she was still so whiny.
  
• She cried almost all the way to Costco and Finally fell asleep so I am assuming that was why she was so upset?  Anyways, There was NO way we were waking her up after a 6 minute nap, so I ran into Costco alone to try to get stocked up as fast as possible.  SO glad I waited to get the meat.  Organic ground beef for $4.30 per pound and the chicken breasts were about the same.  Paper towels, TP, water, and other essentials were loaded in.  I went and checked out the mattresses and was torn.  (Dilemma of the day) They were 150 each for twin mattress.  I had called Sam's Club and they had some for $99.00 but I didn't have a membership.  So ad that on and I would still be saving $60 to get them from Sam's.  (Anyone that knows me knows that I am a Costco girl.  It is almost the only store I ever go to - that and Amazon.com.  I love the quality and the selection and the service) So it was hard to decide, but we have to watch every penny these days with all of our extra expenses so I decided to go the Sam's route.  
• Checked out, loaded the truck (hoping the perishables would make it another 2 hours in the insulated bags)  It was now almost 4:00 and no one had  eaten lunch.  The kids had snacked and eaten what we had in the car, but it was not enough.  So we did the only thing we could and went to Chick-fil-a.  (I have loved that place since I was a kid and we had it in the mall..)  Anyways, we can go there in a pinch because they do gluten free grilled chicken pieces for the kids and also have fruit cups.  The kids ate their chicken in about 10 seconds and played on the playground.  We wanted to get out of town fast so we didn't hit traffic and we planned it right and didn't really hit any!  
• I thought Hazel would be better now that she had slept and eaten, but she was still crying and whining most of the way home.  
• Wyatt Sat good the ENTIRE day and didn't try to get out of his seat once.  Hmmm.  I thought maybe he was getting sick because it was so unusual but it is now Saturday and no signs of sickness so it must be Brain Balance!
• Brody was a good boy in the car as usual.  
• Made the mistake earlier in the day of telling the kids we were going to "Jump 2 it" (which most of you know we didn't get to until Thursday) So we literally probably hear "when are we going to Jump 2 it?" about 2000 times.  Seriously.  Paige loved it.  :)
• Decided we could go to Jump 2 it for an hour before they closed, take the kids home and drop them off with the groceries and then I could run to Sam's and get the mattresses before they close.  
• Called to get the address and Jump 2 it said they were closing early for no reason so we couldn't go.  Kids no happy.  So - we had to try and appease them with swimming.  It had been 80 degrees so even though our pool is not heated, that was our only choice.  Problem:  Wyatt was asleep by the time we got home,  so we had to wake him up, unload the groceries get in suits and get the pool.  The water was FREEZING, but Brody jumped right in and didn't seem bothered.  (Strange because he is usually sensitive to temperatures and Wyatt is not).  Wyatt was still half asleep and never really jumped in - just stuck his feet in and having me dip in  fast and then pull him out.  However, at one point, Brody pushed him in :(
• Headed back home so I could head out to Sam's.  Paige was left with 3 kids to shower,  and dinner and medicine to take care of. 
• I took nothing with me besides my wallet and the keys because I was only going to be gone 30 minutes.  (Oh how wrong I was....)
• I drove to the Sam's club and immediately was not impressed.  (I apologize to those of you that like Sam's but I guess I am just a Costco Snob :)  It just looked and seemed like another Walmart but with Bigger shelves.  
• I waited in line for over 30 minutes to get a membership!  They only had 2 people working the counter and the line wasn't even that long!  The representatives were just having problems and were not very well trained and kept having to call managers, etc.  I was SO tired and just wanted my mattresses so I could go home from this crazy day and finally sleep good for the first time in a week.  When It was my turn I got my membership card (but luckily didn't have to pay until I checkout with my merchandise), grabbed a cart and took off towards the mattresses.  When I got there my heart immediately sank.  These $99 mattresses were NOT what I had hoped for.  I had bought a couple $99 ones at Costco before that my boys still sleep on and they were simple, but comfortable and quality.  These were not the same.  They were very thin and very hard.  They were listed as "bunk-bed" mattresses.  I was SO sad.  I had been at a Costco earlier and had wanted to buy their nice, plush, quality mattresses but in trying to save money decided against it.  Since I only had a truck for today and it was 7:49, I was stuck with these ones.  Or was I????
  
• I just could not stand the thought of spending money on these things when I truly felt that they would be no better than the air mattress we currently had.  So - I quickly Googled the nearest Costco (not the same one I had been at earlier in the day) and "luckily" got the manager.  I informed him of my dilemma of desperately needing mattresses today because I had rented a truck for the day and that I could just NOT invest in the ones at Sam's.  I informed him that I would probably not get there until the minute he closed (although my map said I would be there 10 minutes after - but I drive fast)  He told me not to worry and that if I got there late, that I could just come in the Exit door and they would take care of me. 
• I was ECSTATIC!  However, I had NO idea how to get there so I had to use my GPS on my phone.  This should be no problem except for the fact that I did not bring my car charger and my phone was at 20 percent!  I figured I would be ok and headed out.  Since I don't know the area at all, I didn't realize that I wasn't going to be on a freeway, but rather small highways with stop lights and only one lane at times!  So it definitely took longer than I had expected.
• In my frantic craziness, I had forgotten that I had told Paige I would be back in 30 and it had already been way past that and I still had a long night ahead of me.  No problem - I just call her right?  Wrong.  Still no phone at the house and her Cell doesn't work AT ALL.  No texting, no calling, nothing.  I had to let her know what was going on, so I decided to call the woman who lives above us.  I can't remember if I already mentioned this but the woman upstairs just "happens" to work at Brain Balance and just "happens" to be Brody AND Wyatt's Sensory Motor Coach.  :)  Problem:  I don't have her number with me because it is on the paper in my backpack which I don't have with me.  So - I figure, why not call Brain Balance?  It is only 8:00 pm and they are closed so why not give it a try right?  Well guess what?  Someone answered and gladly gave me the phone number I was requesting.  So I called my neighbor and she gladly ran her phone downstairs so I could talk to Paige and check on the kids and let her know what was going on. 
• I roll into the Costco parking lot at exactly 8:29.  The woman at the door didn't want to let me in, but I informed her that my buddy Gus had made arrangements for me to enter past closing time :)  I found Gus right away and he escorted me to my mattresses which were already pulled and stacked nicely on a cart.  They were as beautiful as I had hoped they would be.  Gus asked me if there was anything else I needed and I told him that I had forgotten a few things when I was at Costco earlier that day but that I knew that they were closed.  He said it was no problem at all and walked me to the cordless telephones.  On the way there I mentioned that my phone was going to die soon and that if I didn't have it to map myself home then I was in big trouble.  He quickly radioed an employee and within 2 minutes I had my phone plugged into an employee's personal iPhone charger.  He then had an employee escort me to the microwaves,  and the freezer section.  He then helped me through the checkout, pushed my cart outside and loaded everything into my truck.  If that isn't AMAZING customer service, then I don't know what is.  It would have been SO easy for that manager to  tell me that they had to close on time (which I have had happen to me at other stores before) and not let me in.   But instead they stayed open, personally escorted me through the store, charged my phone and did it all without making me feel rushed or feel bad for making them stay late.  I LOVE COSTCO!  
• Then, I got gas for the third time that day ( I kept putting only a couple gallons in because it was a rental)  and headed back on my 40 minute drive home.  
• I walked in the door at precisley 9:49 and was exhausted!  However, the last things on my list for the day were a microwave and a vacuum.  I could have probably gotten them into my golf cart at some point, but I just wanted to be DONE with errands!  So......
• We quickly unloaded the mattresses and I was off to Target - (not the same one I was at earlier in the day)  Luckily it took me literally 30 seconds to get there - (not kidding) because they closed at 10:00!   I ran in and got the cheapest vacuum and the cheapest microwave they had and checked out.  
• I ran outside, tossed them in the back seat and jumped in the truck.  As I did, I heard a sound.  I looked down to find that I had ripped a big hole right in the crotch of my pants!  (They were about 10 years old, but still....)  I thought I would die laughing and wished there was someone there to laugh with me. 
• I drove home, walked in the door and realized that there was NO way I could make this post!  So I did a short paragraph and went to bed - or at least I think that is what happened.
  

 Here are a few photos:

I was so Happy when I left Costco that I had to take a picture!

My battery status when I arrived home.  Please see top right corner.

The hole in my pants :)

Oh how I would LOVE to stay up all night and get caught up on all of my posts,  but I have to get up at 6:00 am and shower myself and 3 children, do breakfast and medicine and then drive 45 minutes in a golf cart (in the rain) and try to make it to church by 9:00!   

This just in:  I just checked weather.com and their home page lists "severe weather warnings" in my area.  We are also on alert for severe thunderstorms and our County is on Tornado Watch.  Not sure how a golf cart would hold up in a tornado, so we might just have to stay indoors tomorrow. 

Night night!