Donuts, Bourbon, Bread, & Doritos

We can't let this happen again.  It has been too long since I last posted, and while it'd be easy to blame the holiday season, I could have chained myself to the couch and laptop and made myself type.

Before we go any further, I have two more confessions to make- bringing my cheating total up to 4, I think. I'm not sure how many transgressions I get before I'm taken and flogged publicly, but so far no one's showed up, so...

We have had a Christmas tradition for the past four years where in the few days leading up to the 25th, my husband and I and the kids all go to Krispy Kreme one evening and get at least two donuts each and coffee or hot chocolate, and then go out to look at all the light displays.  I tried my hardest to convince my 9 and 6 year old that it needn't be Krispy Kreme;  we could go to, say, Honey Creme  during the day, save the donuts until later (they're not open in the evenings), and then go look at the lights, but that resulted in shrieking "NO!  It is a TRADITION!  We cannot change TRADITION!" from the kids.  I explained that I was going to have to blog and explain that I cheated again, but that had no effect.  They weren't budging on this one.

So, a friend tried to help me with a way around it:  She gave me four free glazed donut coupons.  That would have been perfect- except that we couldn't use them all at once, and everyone wanted two.

In the end, we got a dozen and between that night and the next morning, they were history.  I can't say they didn't taste good, because they were warm, glazey, gooey, and melty...though, someone ate my custard filled one and if I find out who (youngest boy, cough cough)- they ow me big time.

My second cheat was Christmas Eve.  Remember how there was to be quite the snowstorm somewhere within about forty miles of here?  Remember that there was going to be a line that either meant thirty feet of snow or rain, and depending on which side of the line you ended up on , you could be in for a real mess?  Well, after the kids' presentation at church was over, I was convinced we needed bread (we did), and bourbon (I could make a good argument that we needed that, too).

Unfortunately, the only place that was open was Rite Aid, so I stopped in.  Like any good snopacalypse preparer, I also picked up doritos. Of course, we got approximately one inch of snow and that was being generous, but better safe than without the essentials.

But that's it- you know all of the cheats now.

Santa?  Santa respected my wishes and sourced locally.  I hear he hit quite the jackpot at Ben Franklin in New Albany for the items he couldn't make, and I'm not sure the kids could have been any happier with toys they didn't need from stores that make good money convincing them they do.

All in all, it was a wonderful holiday month.

Next post will bring you the items I'm missing or having a hard time finding, in hopes that maybe someone can help.  Until then, live local.

School Days...And The Local Suppliers

Two weeks ago, I got the list.  Lists plural, because they were two:  one for each kid.

It seemed awfully early for school supply shopping- and there's a reason for that.  Our school district is slowly transitioning to a balanced calendar year that will eventually have only a six week summer break and several two week breaks throughout the school year.  Apparently, the amount of days attended are the same as before, when I was growing up, but the spacing is different. Where we used to go back to school at the end of August or beginning of September, the start date this year was August 6th.

Off I went, armed with my lists, determined to find everything I'd need for both kids in both grades, and to find it at either an independent or local venue.  Anyone who's done this before knows that you have eleventy seven of each item to buy:  multiple pencils, notebooks, folders, composition notebooks, eraser caps, and all sorts of other various needs and wants (in multiples of ten), presumably to balance out the children who aren't able to or won't get school supplies.  I take no issue with this at all from a financial standpoint.  I want every kid to have what he or she is going to need to succeed.

However, let's look at the reality of our independent businesses.  Quite simply, they just can't keep the kind of stock in hand to support that kind of demand.

My first stop was our local, indie parent teacher supply store...which was more geared towards the teachers and not the parents.  Mind you, I don't expect the vast quantity of supplies that say, WalMart or Target would carry;  but, I was slightly disappointed to find at most three or four of each kind of notebook, and absolutely no loose leaf paper.  None.  But, hey, ok, maybe their supplies were running a bit late- I'll give them that, and I'd go back there because they have so much darn FUN stuff.

I got somewhere around 50%-60% of my lists covered there.

You know the parts in cartoons where people get the light bulb over their head?  I had that happen as I was walking out of the parent teacher store.  I was determined that Ben Franklin would have further supplies.

Ben Franklin is an interesting locally owned business.  At one time, they were a franchise; but a bit of an odd one in that some of their locations were and are craft stores, while others were five and dimes, and even pharmacies.  The parent company that owned the franchise went bankrupt in 1997, which left another company to pick up the pieces, but stores retained local ownership.  After talking with the owner here, I found out that they're wholly independent.

At Ben Franklin, I got the random idea of getting blank pencil boxes and letting the kids choose their own scrapbook supplies to decorate them as they wanted.  I rarely have a flash of brilliance, so I'm going to have to call this one out as genius.  They loved the idea, and it channeled their inner creative spirit...or something.

Anyway, I visited two or three independent drug stores and an independent grocer about fifteen minutes away, and secured all but two composition books and 30 pencils.  All in all, it was a win.

Believe it or not, I spent less than in past years- and I think it all comes down to the fact that there is not the same opportunity to impulse buy.  I said early and often that I'm a huge impulse buyer (as most of us are)- so this was a nice surprise, despite the epic quest of securing all items.

The stuff I couldn't find I talked with the teachers and explained my mission, and that as all of the places restocked I'd hit them again throughout the year to bring in the missing items.  Both were supportive and enthusiastic, and had no problem with that.

I'm extremely proud of the fact that I still haven't had to break the rules yet, though I know the day is coming.    I do find myself wondering what that item will be.