Ramblings

I love cheap finds. That's all there is to it. I love to find something that fits so perfectly and at a great price. It's just the best high. Okay, so huffing at the gas station is so much better, but this is a close second.

JUST KIDDING. I don't really huff. It just smells good. :)

I'm at Winco the other day for the weekly grocery trip. There are so many reasons I love Winco, and not least of all the price of food, but because once in a while I come across a fantastic find. And they are usually in obscure places that I just happen to happen upon. Like that play on words?

This lovely little glass Snack jar was just waiting for me to pluck it off the shelf. I instantly fell in love with it, cause that's what I do to inanimate objects, and then I looked at the price tag.

ONLY $7.98.

$7.98?!?

Sold!



I settled it all gently in my cart. I don't care about the chips, but I care about my new snack jar! I brought that baby home, loaded it up with apples and oranges, and waited to see if anybody would notice.

They did. The kids thought it was so cool. Well, the younger three did. My oldest doesn't show as much emotion for my new finds as I do. I got a, "Cute snack jar mom." I'll take it:)

So here's what's interesting. My kids have always liked fruit, but it seems that since the snack jar showed up, the fruit has been disappearing faster. It's almost like it's a cookie jar, just with fruit. There must be something about jars with lids. Maybe it's the anticipation of lifting a lid off a jar, reaching in, and grabbing your prize. Whatever.. it works:)

Now I just hope that it won't get knocked off the island by stray balls. I know..I'm taking a risk. Oh, and just a side note, the pitcher next to said snack jar is another Winco find. It's tin, cost me something like $5, and has been knocked off the counter a few times. But since it's tin, it's been a victim but not a casualty. I think because it's so tall and that's why it gets hit by stray objects hurtling through the air. At least that's what I'm telling myself so that I can go on believing that my beloved snack jar will be safe. Time will tell. Maybe I oughta by another one just in case.



On another note, this is what I find as I am climbing the stairs. One minute there was nothing there, the next.... Wa-La! I find this little gem.





And there's really only one culprit for it.

But I won't name names:)

Quest With A Camera

I went treasure hunting with Zak.

Part of me wanted to say no, that I didn't have the time. There were other pressing things to be taken care of... like the piles of laundry that needed to be sorted, deciding on what's for dinner so something could be thawing on the counter, his homework page that still needed to be done...but nothing that wasn't more pressing than playing pirates and going treasure hunting with my son. The pleading look in his eyes was all the convincing I needed.

"Mommy, please come play with me."

He got himself dressed in his pirate costume. We found a box from the recycling in the garage, and he made himself a treasure map.





We consulted said treasure map before we set off into the fields.



Said Pirate Zak, "This is the path we need to follow." And so we did.





"Is this the spot?"



I surely did hope so, because the map was leading us into muckier and muckier terrain. But Pirate Zak assured me that we needed to move on. So I rolled up my pants, thanked my foresight for putting on flip flops, and trudged on.



At last we came across treasure. As Pirate Zak showed me what he found, the mommy instinct of "Put that down! It's got germs!" or "you're going to cut yourself and get all kind of infections!"... I decided in that nanosecond of fleeting thought that it really was okay. How could I squish the sparkle in the eye of a new discovery?





I just told him to hurry and throw it in the box before any other pirates could come and take it. That way the handling was a lot less. Mother of the Year award I would not win, but sometimes it's okay:)

After treasures were stowed away into the "treasure box," I as the lackey, got to lug said treasure box onto new sites. I was happy to hold onto the box of wonders.



Treasure hunting was not on my list of to do items that day. At first I didn't deem it to be all that important until I realized that it was on my son's to do list. Walking through jungles...imagining sharks in the small pools of water in the mud...running away from other pirates who would take our treasure...my imagination found takeoff too. I forgot that I could find joy in playing. I remembered how fun it is to be someone else even for just a little while. I caught a fleeting memory of childhood pretending and it was so amazing.

Thanks Zak for taking me on a treasure hunt. Thank you for reminding me that I need to stop and play and count my blessings.

I was blessed to be able to drop everything and play with my son.