A Gobblie Green Kind of Day

Ah, the Winder, Georgia, super store. Seldom have I been that I have not witnessed some sort of bizarre event. I remember the shoplifting lady who had been chased from the store and was being detained in a buggy corral awaiting police, shouting and threatening people with a stick. I remember standing in the self-check line around Christmas and having a little boy no older than four come up and grab my rear end while snickering about my "booty." Like I said...it's always something. Today was no different.

On Charley's days off, I sometimes like to escape my house ALONE and clear my head, even if that means grocery shopping. As most of you know, I do not like grocery shopping. This is because I do not like cooking. The only part of this process that I like is the eating, and thankfully Charley is a wonderful and willing chef. So, an hour or so looking at groceries, while still time away from the grind, is still a little stressful. I finally made it to the checkout with a full buggy and waited in line nearly forever before it was my turn. The cashier, a girl of about 20 I'd guess, didn't greet me or say a word as she started unceremoniously dragging my items over the scanner. She got about halfway through my order when suddenly she looked up at me and said, "I'm not going to be able to finish." Concerned she might be ill, I asked her if she was okay. "I quit," she said. "Pardon me," I asked. "I quit. I'm not working here anymore." She turned around, put the last thing she scanned in a bag, and turned on her assistance light. I guess I should be thankful for that.

Was it something I had purchased? Had she just seen one too many gallons of milk or packs of toilet paper? Perhaps it was the stress of not knowing if it was red lettuce or romaine. I'm not sure. My order didn't have anything that wouldn't scan properly, I never argued a price, and compared to some customers I've seen in there I was probably the nicest she was likely to encounter. But still, she QUIT HER JOB right in the middle of scanning my groceries. So finally a customer service manager came over to investigate the blinking light. She looked at me and asked where the cashier had gone. "Home I guess," I said, "She told me she quit." "Dang!" said the CSM, "That's the second one today!"

Some of you know how much I love nail polish. I keep putting off a professional pedicure because I usually don't have much time without Harry in tow. So, I keep doing them myself and trying to schedule a professional one so that I can be comfortable in my sandals. Yesterday I sat down with my beautiful new Gargantuan Green Grape. This is a FUN color. It looks like mint ice cream with a hint of lime. It's fabulous. I sat in my bedroom floor while my polish dried and Harry ooohed and aaahed over my new toes. Suddenly he jumped up and ran off, coming back with something in his little hand.

Most of you who know Harry well know that he loves him some super heroes. Villains, too. He loves his Hulkie, his Orangie (Thing), his Surfie (Silver Surfer), his Man (Spider), but most of all he loves his Gobblie (Green Goblin). We have all kinds of Gobblie in our house, and his favorite is a Green Goblin stunt motorcycle. He plopped Gobblie down next to my foot and proudly said, "Gobblie Green." It was a perfect match. So, that color will be Gobblie Green from now on, and it inspired me to rewrite an older country song. Something about John Deere green...

Here it is...Gobblie Green!

"Both her girls said that she should've used red

but it looked good to Har-ry...

in Gobblie Green"

Finally, the kindergarten presentations of this week finished, I decided it was time to release some of my baby mantids into the yard. I still have more to hatch and I kept some of this batch to raise inside, but for the most part I let them go on the roses and hydrangeas. The roses are in bad need of a mantis family to come take care of the aphid population, as you'll see from the pictures. Harry was particularly fascinated with the mantis release. He doesn't remember this ceremony from last year. I took the container outside and carefully placed each little baby onto a flower or leaf.

I love this one...they look like little scientists discussing a big discovery.

You people thought I was joking!

"What mantis doing?"

"The mantis is going to eat bad bugs so Mama's flowers can be healthy."

"Oh, good mantis. Mantis eat Harry?"

"No, no, mantis won't eat Harry."

"Good. Mantis need to eat Chance."

So we released the little babies, me hoping they thrive and multiply and that I'll see them as the summer goes on, and Harry hoping they catch Chance outside, alone, unsuspecting...

The upcoming weekend and next week looks to be incredibly busy. I need to sit down with a calendar for May and make sure I don't have any overlapping commitments. Perhaps I'll hit Charley with this when he brings me home his elusive schedule tonight. Have a great Friday, everyone!