I HATE WALMART!

We got Brandon settled in Manhattan yesterday - in his new apartment (and yes, it's only 1 year old). It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO frickin' hot! His appointment for check-in was 1:15, and we got to town about 12:15. He stopped at Dillons to check his schedule for the coming week, and we grabbed some Sammies at Quizno's first. His roommate, Brady, and his family were running about 2 hours behind us, so we went ahead and signed in - got the key card, mailbox key and key to his bedroom. Yes, they each can lock their bedroom! Probably a good thing especially if you're living with someone you don't really know. Anyway, we got everything in to the apartment and had just about everything unpacked before Brady got there. We intended to grocery shop at Dillons, since Brandon gets a discount and they had a good sale, and pick up the other things we needed at Walmart. I don't know if I've ever mentioned my intense dislike for Walmart, but there it is. I HATE IT! There are some times you must go there, but for the most part we avoid it. I wish we had avoided it yesterday! Picture the day after Thanksgiving! Obviously there were a lot of college students hitting town this weekend, probably because they have to pay for a full month rent for August, so why not? Not only was everything picked over and shelves not re-stocked, but the lines were horrendous! We stood in line for a good 30-40 minutes. You would have thought the store would have been expecting the crowds and hired accordingly. NOPE! Not this store. They had about 10 regulars lanes open (with a total of 25 regular lanes available), and about 6 self-service lanes open. Anyway, we ended up just getting Brandon some groceries there since we were already well into the evening by this time. We bought him a few necessities, and then I gave him money to go to Dillons today. He should have enough food, snacks, etc. for a while. Anyway - we didn't need a 2 hour trip to a crowded, HOT, crabby Walmart in our already long day! It will be a long time before I shop there again! And just so you know, normally I refuse to buy groceries at Walmart. I would rather support our local supermarkets!

I forgot my camera yesterday, so I don't have any pictures of the boys apartment. It is not too big, but Brandon latched onto the biggest bedroom since he was there first. They probably should have drawn straws, but the utilities, etc. are going to be in his name and he will pay the bills, so I think he should get something a little "extra" out of that! (Do ya think I'm prejudiced a bit?). When Brady's dad, Randy was taking out some trash, he saw some people putting a love seat by the trash bin. They were dumping it! Since we only had 2 chairs, a recliner and a leather chair with rollers, the boys went out and grabbed the love seat. It's dark green, and actually matches the recliner that Brady brought. It was missing the back cushions, so Brady's mom bought one of those extra long body pillows for them to use. Hey, they're college students, they don't need the fancy stuff! Anyway, I'm sure we'll be going up to Manhattan sometime in the next few months. I'll be sure to take my camera and take pictures to post then.

My current book read is DAMAGE CONTROL by J.A. Jance - one of my favorite suspense/mystery authors. She is actually going to be at Watermark books tomorrow, but I don't think I'll be able to go. We are now in the process of clearing out the boys' bedroom (completely!) and painting. We haven't done anything in there since we've lived here - just over 8 years now - so it's time!

What kind of neighbors do you all have? We have some absolutely wonderful ones across the street, but our next-door neighbors leave a lot to be desired. The house to the north of us has been a rental until about a year ago. It was full of mold and in great disrepair, until an older couple bought it (from foreclosure) - totally cleaned it up, including the mold, did a lot of remodeling, and turned around and sold it. Basically, they flipped it! The people who bought it keep almost totally to themselves, to the point of being rude. They are probably in their 40's and have several teenagers - not sure how many since we rarely see them. We did actually talk to the guy a couple of weeks ago - he came over when I was outside to ask if I had seen the police at their house the previous Sunday (we hadn't). Anyway, his 15 year old son apparently got into an altercation with the 9 year old son of the neighbors on our south. This 9 year old is a spoiled rotten brat. Apparently the 9 year old sprayed the 15 year old with the water hose as he was walking down the street, and the 15 year old grabbed the 9 year old to pull the hose away from him. I ended up getting 2 different versions of the incident by the mom of the 9 year old and the dad of the 15 year old. Anyway, during this whole 3 minute conversation with the dad he commented "I'm so tired of crap like this that I think we're going to just sell the house and move". A weird statement over one neighborhood incident, but like I said, they're weird. Well, lo and behold, when we got home around 11 last night, there was a for sale sign in their yard, along with a sign for an open house today from 2-4. I think the house is destined to be a pain. We have often discussed with our friends and neighbors across the street - Paul and Tokeah - that we should go together, buy the lot, tear down the house, build a garage for the guys to work in, and a pool out back for all of us. Maybe someday this will become reality! If you have good neighbors, enjoy them!

And a "leaving for college" quote from Dr. Seuss in honor of Brandon:

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go."