Today was a day of groceries and tangled strings of Christmas lights. No porch sitting or inspirational pondering. I was too busy cussing the skinny Christmas in the breakfast room.

Today was social security day for me, too. Thank goodness because our pantry was really bare. I made my month’s grocery list, planning on cooking every other day. We were out of lots of staples like coffee and sugar and that ran the bill up. The bill was really outrageous but I got what we needed. I chose one o’clock on the grocery pickup at Wally World and started to work on undecorating the skinny Christmas tree.

The tree hasn’t been taken apart in years but it’s hiding spot is no longer bare so I’m squeezing it in one of the Christmas closets. The tree is covered in small wooden ornaments and some stuffed reindeer. The tree was a hand-me-down from an older friend. All the beautiful little wooden ornaments belonged to her mother. I love it. I got all the ornaments off without any trouble and put them in a basket with the tree skirt. Then I started on the lights. Pulled so hard the top of the tree came off. I cussed and hollered at those strings of lights. Some idiot (me) had put them around the tree and up and down the tree. Maybe some of them had burned out and in a moment of stupidity I just put more on the tree. I don’t know.

Honestly I was about ready to cut them off with scissors till I calmed down and relaxed. Stew said, “Don’t have a heart attack. Just cut them off.” They were so tangled up and wrapped around each other it took me an hour to get them off. I don’t know how they got like that. Soon as I finished with the lights it was time to pick up the groceries.

I realized while I was cussing the lights, I had left ketchup off the grocery list. That is a sin for a McMurray! Anyway, I picked up the groceries, made a pit stop at Dollar G for ketchup and another pit stop at WM for meat. Broke and exhausted I make it home and Stew and I unload the groceries and start putting them up. It was now 2 o’clock so we decided to put up the refrigerator stuff and leave the other till after we ate some lunch. I was starving. He cooks a pizza for his lunch while I put up more stuff.

I decided to have a salad for lunch and there’s no lettuce. Ok, I’ll eat a bowl of cereal with strawberries. Ok, but there are no strawberries in the refrigerator. Well, I’ll just get the Smithfield tenderloin ready to cook for supper but there is no tenderloin. I quiz Stew about putting up the cold stuff and then we realize we’re missing some things from our pickup grocery list…lots of things actually.

I call Wally World and a phone person tells me how to get on the internet and ask for a refund. I act like I understand but I don’t but I say thanks and hang up. Now I’m cussing my stupidity that I can’t find the correct place for a refund. Stew comes back again and asks, “What on earth is wrong with you?” I should have said I was packing for Shady Oaks, signing myself in myself.

So before I call Wally World a second time, we start checking the list and write everything down that’s missing and I realize it’s all cold stuff so it’s probably just sitting in a tote in the cooler with my name on it so I call Wally World, again. This time they send my call to the pick up grocery department and I talked to the nicest lady named Allison, who asked me what was missing. She went to the cooler to check and calls me back immediately and says the tote just got left in the cooler when my other groceries were picked up.

So off I go to Wally World again. And now all is right with my world. Well, if I can fit all three parts of the 6 foot skinny Christmas tree in the closet it will be!