Friday, April 1, 2011

Shopping spree


One of the perks (or quirks) of living in this corner of Zion is the grocery store case lot sale. Twice a year (April and October, by coincidence), the stores encourage you to stock up on wheat, canned tomatoes, and brownie mix by selling them by the case. Saves you from having to carry cans into the house one at a time; saves the employees from having to open and dispose of a lot of cardboard boxes.

Friday morning, Tyler and I planned to go do our part, but the day got away from us, and it was 7:00pm with all four kids in tow when we finally marched into the store. We even let Carden commandeer his own cart, instantly loading it with 45 pounds of wheat to prevent him from pushing it too fast. Actually, the result was that it prevented him from stopping fast enough, and he took out a couple of mid-aisle displays before getting the hang of it.

Into our three carts we load 50 pounds of beans, 100 pounds of wheat, 3 sacks of flour, and 2 cases of diced tomatoes. We pass the graham cracker display. I signal to Tyler from across the bulk-candy bins where I am looking for candy legos to decorate cupcakes for Seth's Lego Club party. "How many do you want?" he mouths. The crackers are on sale, 2 boxes for $7. I hold up 2 fingers.

We finish our shopping adventure: Each child gets to pick his or her own cereal, interrupted by Charlotte, never one to pass up the chance to use a public bathroom.

We fold down the back seats of the van and start loading our stash. It is at this point I notice the 12 bright-yellow boxes of graham crackers. Not 2 boxes, 12. Filled with case-lot euphoria, Tyler thought I meant 2 cases.

So when the world ends in fire, I'll be looking for someone with marshmallows and someone with chocolate bars, and we can all make s'mores over the ashes of civilization.

10 comments:

Kristin said...

It could have been worse. Could have been green beans.

Marianne said...

I just cleaned out the pantry on the lake where we have smores at least once a week. I found two cases of chocolate and two boxes of marshmallows. Come on over.

Melanie said...

I'm still stuck on the fact that your grocery store sells wheat!

Heidi said...

I'm so jealous of your case lot sale! It's just not the same, carrying can by can! Oh and we will totally be over for the big s'more fest:)

Julia said...

I'm sure you'll still have plenty in July, we'll help you munch down a few! :)

Emily said...

I just learned that Graham crackers were originally invented to curb women's sex drive... Food for thought right?

Kristen Crockett said...

Oh, that's too funny! Having a newborn does that, too, right? Frankly, I think I'd rather eat a cracker...

Jenny said...

My 7 year old could clear you out of those crackers in two weeks flat. Sometimes I think that's all she'll eat.

sarah e. said...

That's so funny! I could use a case-lot sale here. And I like the mental picture of Carden with his own cart.

Deborah A. said...

Takes me back to the good old days of splitting grocery bills with you. You know, you were the one who taught me to price check. By ounce. I use those skills all the time! Worth every cent I ever spent on tuition, just so I could learn to price check with you in the aisles of Food 4 Less. Ah, the days of finding grape juice on sale for Jenny juice!