Skip to main content

only the insane people went out today...

...and i was one of them.

today had so many thing working against it.

it's saturday.

it's the last weekend before christmas.

we've been buried under snow since wednesday and the roads have been awful.

a very large snow/wind storm is predicted for tonight.

did i mention it's almost christmas?

every lunatic in king county was at the redmond fred meyer today, including us.  i had that panic bug going on, remembering 2 years ago when we were without power for 4 days (that time without snow and below freezing temperatures), and felt a strong need to stock up on things like batteries, candles, soup...  i also had this fear that we wouldn't be able to get out much or that stores would be without power, and so i wanted to have all of the remaining christmas presents taken care of as well.  this was not an original idea.

dave and i decided to divide and conquer... i took micah and did the christmas shopping, he took shane and layla and did the grocery shopping (yeah, i realize he got the short end of the stick).  he finished before me and i wound up waiting in line to check out for at least 15 minutes.  it sucked.

then, already flustered, i decided that i HAD to go across the street to target to exchange shane's boots.  i bought them on wednesday (i think) and they already have ripped at the seams in front.  now, these are just $26.99 target boots and i know they're not the best quality, but even for that i expect them to last longer than half a week!  that's still 27 bucks i spent!  so i ran in and saw that the line at customer service wasn't too long (unlike every other line) so i jumped in and returned them.  then i ran over to shoes to grab some new ones, intending to buy a different style than last time in hopes of getting something that would hold up better. 

what was i thinking?

the boot aisle was EMPTY!

seriously, there were like 4 pairs of hot pink boots, one little kid pair, and THAT WAS IT! 

i almost started to hyperventilate as i ran frantically up and down surrounding aisles, hoping i was looking in the wrong place.  i should have known better...  a snow storm in seattle means 3 things.  no more sleds, no more tire chains, and NO MORE BOOTS! 

i'm practically in tears at this point because i've been shopping for WAY too long, spent way too much money, don't want to have to go to any more stores because they're all crazy, and shane needs to have boots.  i can't just send him out in a foot of snow in beat up tennis shoes.  and you can't tell a 9 year old that he can't go out in the snow!  so i got back in the return line (which was long at this point) to buy back my holey boots. 

i felt like an idiot forking over almost 30 bucks for boots with holes in them, but it's my intention to go back and return them (again) when all this craziness is over and they actually have more boots in stock again.

i was SO frustrated.

we needed gas today too... apparently so did everyone else, and it took 3 gas stations before we finally found one that actually had gas.  i guess i can understand that... large tanker trucks full of highly flammable liquid, driving on extremely icy roads doesn't really strike me as a good idea.  but this fact meant that EVERYONE was at that gas station.  i think we waited about 20 minutes for a pump.

but all in all, i guess we were successful.  we made it all in one piece, we have a full tank, and food, batteries and candles.  there's only a few little christmas things we still need, and it certainly won't be the end of the world if we don't get them.

so we're as ready as we can be... it's been snowing a while now (on top of all the snow we already have), but no wind yet.  we'll see what the night brings.  hopefully not much.

Comments

  1. LindseyDecember 21, 2008 at 1:39 AM

    Oh, Rachel...I think I have a pair of boys winter boots that should fit Shane in my garage if those will work for you, I'll have to check the size, my guess is 3. I will look and let you know if they are still around! Austin won't wear them...so I'll let you know asap if we have them so you can return the holey boots and just take these! I think they are target boots too but "almost" new and holding up well! I will email you tomorrow after I brave the cold garage to look and can get them to you as soon as we can brave the roads!

    I too went out shopping today...it took me at LEAST 30 minutes from 522 to get into downtown woodinville. CRAZY people!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

all comments are moderated. unkind comments will be deleted.

you may like...

someone googled this stuff and found me!

these are as is... spelling errors and all. how to use a bathroom scale seriously? how hard is it? if you want step by step instructions, read this . washing machine doesn't empty bummer dude rachel's restroom i seem to remember someone predicting, when i was in high school, that i would go into the portable restroom business some day... "locks of love" site:blogspot.com because i'm totally the authority on that sort of thing. my hair is still in a ziplock bag waiting to be mailed. http://rambling-rachel.blogspot.com/ i think you typed this in the wrong place does 2 year old talk with imagination is there any other option? SLUDGE IN WORM BIN yummy. diapers to bed well, considering the other option... yes, please! imagination and 2 years old once again. 2 year olds do like to use their imaginations. loose change in my washing machine what priceless wisdom are you looking for here? how to get some? where did it come from? what to do with it? duh! rachel joe
4 comments
read more »

“you should have your head examined!”

… i just did! yup, yesterday i had the thrilling experience of sitting in a hospital waiting room for 2 hours, followed by another in a trauma room.  no, i don’t think i had suffered any sort of major trauma – i think that’s just what room they had left to stick me in.  i mused about where we would go if they had to kick us out because a ‘real’ trauma situation arose.  thankfully, we didn’t have to learn the answer to that.  i guess i was a traumatic as it got during that window of time. backing up, i wound up in the hospital yesterday because micah threw some clothes on the ground.  the night before i had been folding laundry in the living room.  i had a couple of stacks of ‘hang up’ clothes that were draped over the baby gate in front of the fireplace.                         yes, it’s a christmas picture, but i knew i had it in my stash.  at any rate, there’s the ugly baby gate that the clothes were hanging on.  also notice the wood mantle above it that the nativity set is on. 
2 comments
read more »

light n’ crisp waffles recipe - everyone's favorite!

i got this recipe from my dad. i have no idea where he got it, but these are the waffles i’ve been eating as long as i can remember. they are so delicious, easy, and HEALTHY! OHMYGOODNESS, i cannot help but go on and on about them because they are so incredibly fabulous! if you want to see my picky eaters eat, come on waffle night! i think last time I made these, layla (all 33 pounds of her) put away 4 quarters of a waffle. that’s one WHOLE 10 square inch waffle. (and yes, i did just pull out my waffle iron and measured it!) anyway, here it is, without further ado… 1 cup flour (I usually do 1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat) 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal 1 cup rolled oats 2 tbsp baking powder* 1/2 tsp salt 2 eggs 1/2 cup oil 3 cups buttermilk put all dry ingredients into a bowl, break in the eggs, add oil, then stir in the buttermilk. *t he amount of baking powder is not an error, but is the secret of the crisp, tender result! let the batter stand for a short time (15-30 minutes) to allow t
Post a Comment
read more »

beef stew recipe

another taken from the betty crocker cookbook, but i mess with this one so refer to the disclaimer … 1 tbsp olive oil 1 clove of garlic, pressed (or some good shakes of garlic powder) 1 lb. stew beef 3 cups of hot water (I probably use closer to 3.5 or 4) 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper 3 medium carrots, cut in thick coins 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 1-2 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces 1 small onion, chopped 1/4 tsp salt 1 bay leaf *optional: 1/2 bell pepper of your choice; 1 turnip; 1/2 tsp browning sauce (whatever that is) 1/2 cup cold water 2 tbsp all-purpose flour heat oil in large pot. cook beef and garlic in oil about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown. add hot water, 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper. heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. cover and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until beef is almost tender. stir in remaining ingredients except cold water and flour. cover and simmer
Post a Comment
read more »

white chicken chili recipe

was just chatting about recipes w/ a friend and realized that i have talked about this recipe, even photographed a bowl of it, but haven’t ever posted it on here. what a shame, because it’s one of my family’s absolute favorites! i got the recipe from my betty crocker cookbook, and it’s one of the first things i ever made for dave and i after we were married. i even have the date written down next to the recipe and a smiley face, indicating we liked it. =) i actually don’t mess with this recipe too much, so here goes… i usually make a double batch so i can freeze some and still have leftovers. it freezes really well, so it’s a nice thing to have on hand. 1/4 cup butter 1 large onion, chopped 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped (or pressed) 4 cups of cooked chicken (chopped, cubed, shredded, whatever – sometimes i just throw in a couple of the cans of chicken they sell in a 6 pack at costco, if i have them on hand and don’t have any cooked chicken handy) you could also use turkey 3 cup
Post a Comment
read more »