Sam's

Today I went to Sam's Club.  That is comparable to a trip to the spa for me.  The super saver club spa.  I don't know why it delights me to the core to buy applesauce in bulk, but it does.  There is something oddly reassuring about knowing that I don't need to buy macaroni and cheese or gogurts again for another six months.  Unless, of course, we eat it daily, which is a possibility with frightening odds during this busy season of the year.

It is a foregone conclusion that there will be at least one impulse buy per Sam's trip.  I always, always scan the book and magazine table, because that is impulse utopia.  Then, I hit the clothing area, where I routinely bring home clothes that don't fit because there is no dressing room there.  I like to get the impulse shopping out of the way FIRST so I can see how much money I have left for the necessities I've actually gone to buy.  Like the half palette container of granola bars or the five gallon drum of maple syrup.  

With proper planning, I can wipe out a meal for my children during our Sam's spree.  If I hit it during sample hour we're good to go.  I've found if you chat up the old ladies handing out the free samples they are extra generous with the portions.  Having a cute baby in the cart is also an ace in the hole when it comes to free food.  Everyone loves to feed a baby.  And the mooching mother typically fares okay too.  Today there were no samples, which was a bummer, but on such occasions I always have the snack counter as a fall back.  A buck fifty gets you the huge hotdog / massive soft drink combo, so while I shop the boys can beef up (literally) on nitrates and high fructose corn syrup.  Strictly economically speaking, it's a dreamy little deal.  You just have to turn a blind eye to proper nutrition and portion control to fully appreciate the benefits of the bargain.

Today Emma wasn't feeling so good in Sam's.  She refused to sit in the cart and had a very runny nose.  So, I held her with one arm, shoveled frozen yogurt into her mouth to silence her crying with my other arm, and drug the cart through the store with my elbows.   Today's impulse purchase was a beautiful hibiscus tree with a braided trunk and dozens of blooms on it in the color "Strawberry Sunset".  Lovely.

A Sam's addiction is a difficult road to tow for a woman who has two square feet of pantry space in her kitchen.  I've had to get creative in my storage solutions.  I have groceries under my washing machine and in my linen closet.  I regularly forget where I stash things and am pleasantly surprised when I go searching for something like a light bulb and find a three month supply of Rice-a-roni.  In the end, I do what I have to do, because there is no way I'm passing up the hundred ounce KC Masterpiece two pack. 

So, to recap, I own a new plant and enough graham crackers to build a two story graham cracker house.  Emma is under the weather, but the boys' cast iron stomachs seem to have survived lunch just fine.  In all, a daisy of a day.

How 'bout you?  A Sam's fan?