Basic Training.

I've never been a huge fan of grocery shopping. It probably dates back to having two babies a year apart, and having to put the kids in one cart and the food in another.  I would push two carts through the store, in an attempt to keep Thomas from launching cans of green beans at other customers.  Grocery shopping was hard work in those days.

But these days, Jim and I shop at the Commissary at the fort.  Great deals, great service, and it has lots of interesting things that you can't find anywhere else, like octopus and different kinds of kimchi.  Jim said that no one likes to grocery shop with him because he browses forever, but I actually think it's pretty fun.

That being said, I tend to throw things in the cart willy nilly.  If' I'm packing the groceries at the checkout, I am organized about it, but I don't care about the cart.  Jim, however, is a little different when it comes to the cart.

My way:

The Marine way:

CWO4, I salute you.

So.............

Well, it's been almost two weeks "jobless" now, and boy am I having fun. I hadn't realized how much I was missing by drowning in the cesspool of corporate America, but I'm starting to get a little bit caught up.

Our dining room table, however, does not reflect this. It's a modgepodge of folded pattern repros, awaiting their envelopes and labels, original patterns waiting to be filed, a pair of boxer shorts that need a quick repair (I'm not asking questions there, folks, so don't you do it either), fish supplies (more on that later), and a potpourri of other stuff. Yes, that table is my project for tomorrow (which is now today, so technically, I'm already behind).

I have, however, had plenty of time to list fun patterns on the website, including some of the 682 I bought during an overnight trip to Chicago last week. Yes, I drove 3 1/2 hours one way to buy 682 patterns. And yes, they were REALLY good ones. These are the things you can do when you are sans job.

Thomas' bff came and spent part of spring break with us, so I put him to work. Mell is 6'3", and was quite comfy on my couch, so I had him bring in the printer, tossed some pattern boxes at him, and he scanned roughly 400 patterns while watching one of the weirdest mixes of movies I've ever seen -- I wish I could remember what they were, but I've slept since then. I know that one involved vampires, and one was Next Friday, but other than that.......just take my word, it was a weird mix. But hey, he saved me tons of time on the scanning.

Best thing that happened that week was that my buddy Jen, of momspatterns came to visit. We spent enough time working on patterns that I ended up on major asthma meds the next week, but the pattern rescue is richer for it. Not to mention the fine Estevez (seen above) that she found whilst we were trolling around. Sorry folks, it's already sold, but take a gander of it at Dorothea's Closet. It really is a sight to behold. And yeah, there's a whole shopping story behind it. Not to mention Jen's experience with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Oh yeah, we don't do anything small, folks.

So this week is dedicated to organization, now that the fish have been freed and the Modes Royale are listed. More about Jen and hostage fish later.