Life is funny because I knew David was going to be off yesterday, The day before I had told him I didn’t have anything to do and we could stay home and deep clean our home which needs it more than you know.
Then I woke up and the LORD reminded me I needed to go pick up a little bit of groceries. I got dressed and waited on David to get dressed. I checked on Charlie to see if he wanted to go with us but he didn’t and neither did Gerald.
Even though yesterday I woke up with a plan. The LORD had other thoughts for David and I. Then life laughed at me as Charlie asked me to do somethings for them and David’s mom needing a couch taken to the trash making yesterday one of those days.
Even though I was up six o’clock in the morning and started thinking about everything I needed to do. David was still sleeping because I had a post to work on, which I was able to go before we left to go purchase groceries.
I walked around the house that needed cleaning, shut the computer down even though there were emails waiting for me, and drafts waiting for me, and plenty of blog work that I was already behind on. I told David I was leaving and going to Walmart.
Well… We did go to Walmart. Eventually. But first, we went to WinCo because I needed to stock up on boxed goods. For once I had plenty of meat but nothing to go with it. Usually its the other way around.
And I’m glad we did because I walked into a grocery deal that was too good to pass up. Hamburger Helper was 99 cents a box. You can’t beat that. So we stocked up and I purchased a couple boxes for David’s mom.
Then hot dogs were 99 cents, so we stocked up on those, too. Because David would eat Hot Dogs 25/7 365 years. And I found four boneless pork chops for Charlie’s dinner for less than four dollars.
That’s what I call grocery shopping with a purpose. And then I did what I always do at WinCo. I went to the Soda Pop ie Coke machine. I cannot shop at WinCo without getting Soda’s from the Coke machine.
At least I can’t. They’re only 50 cents, and I got my Shasta Orange, Tahitian Punch, and Grape. Yes, three. Don’t judge me. They’re Shasta. The Grape was my grandfather’s favorite Grape Drinks from Safeway and it came in a glass bottle he loved.
We finished shopping, came home, dropped off the groceries, picked up Charlie, and headed out to get him a haircut. Except the place where Charlie and David had planned to get their haircuts wasn’t going to be open for an hour or two.
Charlie being Charlie and a teenager young man who worked long hours the day before decided he was hungry. So we changed plans. We decided to go to Blue Mountain Cafe. I thought the Rufe Snow location would be closer, but somehow we ended up going all the way back over into Fort Worth.
That’s just how our day was going. Another laugh from above because if we had gotten to the restaurant on Rufe Snow we would have been across the street from the Tattoo Parlor and the place to get his haircut and had more choices for lunch.
As a mom you pick your battles and since he was driving and using his gas I just kept quit in the backseat because I was just thankful I was able to spend time with both David and Charlie without drama happening.
Since we were already on Belknap, we headed over toward Four Points and Riverside to look for another barbershop. David insisted he knew where it was. Technically, he did. It had just moved. To exactly where I had been trying to tell him it had moved.
By then Charlie didn’t even want a haircut anymore. So we went back to eat, had lunch, ate some good food, and eventually continued on with our day. And yes, I took pictures. Because apparently even when I’m running all over creation, the blogger in me is still thinking, “This could be a post.”
We dropped Charlie off so he could get ready for work and then went over to David’s mom’s house because David needed to move a couch. His brother Mike couldn’t do it because he supposedly fell and hurt his back yesterday.
Meanwhile, David’s leg was hurting, too. But somehow David was still the one moving the couch. Family life. What can I say? Mama’s boy. What can I say other than thank the Lord he still has his mom.
We came home, checked on Charlie, dropped off some things I had gotten from Granny’s house, and then finally headed toward Walmart. Yes. The Walmart I had originally wanted to go to at 6am and now it was after noon.
Before we went inside, we stopped at the little strip shopping center across the street. I went into Ink Tattoo Parlor because Charlie has been talking about getting a nose ring.
Do I personally condone it? No. But he’s nineteen. It’s his money, and sometimes parenting means picking your battles. Then I found Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken. I went inside and talked to the owner, and I found out they could really use some customer reviews.
Well… They found the right woman. David bought Charlie some corn dogs, which will become a review, and took pictures. Then we found a barbershop in the same shopping center. Which was a Godsend as we can get everything Charlie wants done in one place.
I called Charlie and let him know about all the places I found and we I are going back Monday. So apparently our failed haircut adventure wasn’t really a failure. It was research not only for Charlie but knew content for me which again was a Godwink.
Finally, we went into Walmart. I got my new Danielle Steel book, The True Meaning, picked up more groceries and cleaning supplies, and walked around the store for a while. By this point, I had already been on the move most of the day.
On the way home we stopped by QT for Charlie and I a drink. Then we came home. And the house was a mess. Not just a little messy. The dogs had been playing, and there was water all over the floor. Blankets had been dragged around.
So I had to wash blankets because apparently the dogs decided that playing in the floor was more fun than behaving. I was supposed to be cleaning the house today. That didn’t exactly happen.
My dinner was leftover hamburger steak and mashed potatoes from the night before, and they were still delicious. Then I had a Reese’s because sometimes I need a treat to get through the day’s I face. Sometimes that small piece of candy is dinner ie dessert after a day like this.
Then we had to leave again to go to the Dollar Tree for bleach and other cleaning supplies. While I was looking at decoration’s David grabbed not only one gallon of bleach but three because he knows I like to keep cleaning supplies upstairs and downstairs. Finally he is learning after 20 years. Thank the LORD.
And I have to admit something. I am adamant about one holiday at a time. I’m not ready for Halloween. I don’t want Halloween taking over before we’ve even gotten through the current season.
Except… Dollar Tree had some AMAZING Halloween decorations. I wanted them. I really wanted them. David said I could get them and you are lucky I didn’t come home with bags and bags and bags of Halloween decor.
Instead, I told David we’d come back in a couple of weeks. We need to save our money. Plus I have at least one tote of Halloween decor so there wasn’t any need to buy more because with Gerald here there isn’t anyway for me to decorate inside the way I like to.
We paid some toward rent, and sometimes being responsible means walking away from something you really want. Even when it’s Halloween. Even when it’s Dollar Tree. Even when it’s really, really cute.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, I met a woman on Facebook who has a clothing shelf in our neighborhood. It’s kind of like a Little Free Library, except it’s for clothing. I’ve been talking with her, and I’m going to feature her eventually.
Tomorrow I’m picking up clothes and other things from David’s mom to take to her donation shelf. Because sometimes the best stories aren’t found in a store. They’re found right in our own neighborhood.
And then there was the blog. Oh, the blog. I have about 30 posts sitting at the top of my page waiting for me. I haven’t touched my emails. I haven’t touched all the drafts we brought over from the old blog.
Renee made a new planner that we can sell on the website, and I haven’t even had enough time to sit down and think about it. I have new emails waiting for me about review opportunities.
I still need to do Swagbucks. My QT app still isn’t working and I need to call them and get it fixed because I’m spending more money not having it. I didn’t get to Aldi’s. I didn’t finish the shopping post I wanted to finish.
And yet somehow, I wasn’t sitting still. I was living. And then, just when I thought the day couldn’t possibly get any crazier, Charlie’s car wouldn’t start. He came outside to leave for work, got into his car, started it, and nothing.
He tried again. Nothing. Again. Nothing. Finally, David got it started. Thank the Lord. Charlie asked me what he should do. He thought maybe he should call in to work. I said, “Nope.”
Mama was not having it. While David was looking at the car I called Bradley, who was actually off that day, and he was willing to help if we needed him. But Charlie’s car started, so Charlie went to work.
He told me his phone might die because he hadn’t charged it. And I thought, well, that’s another lesson in being an adult. You have to think ahead. You have to be prepared. You have to figure things out. And sometimes Mama isn’t going to fix it for you.
While we were eating lunch, Charlie had also been shopping online. He bought two necklaces, one for himself and one for David, which I thought was sweet. He bought stickers for all of us to put on our credit cards.
And he’s learning about money. He made about $900 this week. He bought a $100 game he’d been waiting for. He paid his rent and the nice part was he paid more than David asked for which was a unexpected Godsend for David and I.
David asked him for two, and Charlie paid three showing me he is growing up and becoming more mature. He’s bought a couple of things for himself which he needed to do. And after all that, he still had money for gas, his haircut, and the nose ring he wants to get Monday which is wonderful because he didn’t need to ask me for money which is a Godsend.
He’s learning how quickly money disappears. Because $900 sounds like a lot of money until you start spending it. Next week he might make more. He might make less. We don’t know. That’s in the Lord’s hands, too.
But what I do know is that Charlie is working. He’s learning. He’s becoming an adult. And when I ask him if he thinks he’s made it through his probation period, he doesn’t seem particularly interested in asking.
He’s just going to work. He says he wants to work, make his money, and come home. That’s it. And honestly, that sounds like something my dad would have said. And his dad. And his grandpa.
Some things apparently travel through generations. Work. Do your job. Make your money. Respect and help your elders when you can and come home. Keep going. Maybe that’s not such a bad philosophy.
By the end of the day, I discovered I had walked 56 minutes, 5,091 steps, 2.38 miles, and burned 158 active calories. My goal was 2,500 steps. So I more than doubled it without even planning to.
Water? Let’s not talk about water. I don’t even know what water was today. But you know what? I’m okay. Because I learned something. I didn’t get everything done. I didn’t get to Aldi’s.
I didn’t finish the shopping post. I didn’t answer all my emails. I didn’t work through the drafts. I didn’t clean the house the way I wanted to. But the day wasn’t wasted. It was full.
And there is a difference. New things keep showing up. New people. New businesses. New products. New stories. New opportunities. New doors. And I believe the Lord is putting these things in front of me for a reason.
So I’m learning not to panic when my plans don’t go according to plan. Sometimes the plan is simply to keep moving. Sometimes the work isn’t sitting at the computer. Sometimes the work is living the life that gives you something to write about later.
And sometimes, after a day like this, you just have to laugh. Because tomorrow is another day. The emails will still be there. The drafts will still be there. The messy house will still be there.
The Halloween decorations will still be at Dollar Tree. And the Lord will still be there, too. For tonight, that’s enough. Because I didn’t even touch on how David had to fix Gerald’s tv and even though I was trying to work I had to stop because he kept yelling at me for things I didn’t know how to do but that’s life a little bit crazy, a little bit hectic but it’s why the circle remains unbroken.
Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates