You should have seen me at about 1:20 on Sunday at Walmart. You'd have grabbed my arms and yelled at me "Don't do it! She's not worth it!" So here's how it all started:
First of all, if Walmart were a town, you'd lock your doors when you drove through. But that is neither here nor there. I still choose to shop there from time to time.
I needed three things; cream cheese, a box of printer paper, and glass dessert cups. Where, pray-tell do you think such things could all be obtained? Of course, Walmart. So the two kids and I trudged on over around noon, knowing that I had until 1:15 to pick up Daddy and grandpa from golf (Checking the times, you can begin to see my frustration, right?). As we walked in, one of my little sweethearts suggested we buy flowers for the pot they made me last year for mothers' day and some to share with Nana. Like Costco, you can't just buy what you are looking for in Walmart, you must buy at least 3 extra things, so we went to the garden department and picked a nice 6-pack of pansies to share with Nana. At 12:10 we walked past the clothes section and I remembered we're going to Cabo soon and I noticed a cute pair of shorts that would be perfect to bring along (Yes, I buy some clothes at Walmart, So does Taylor Swift, don't judge me). By 12:30 I had about 5 things in my cart but none of the three I had come in for orignially. We headed over to pick up the cream cheese and Daddy called to say he was about ready. I reminded him I had until 1:15 and he agreed that would be fine. Two isles away I found my dessert cups so all that was left was to buy my box of paper.......
.....by 1:00 I had found the place the paper was supposed to be, asked an associate who informed me I was in the wrong place, been relocated to the wrong place, relocated BACK to my original location and told it wasn't on the shelf (duh), and then led to the "area in the back" where they store the unstocked items. By 1:05 the associate had found me the unstocked item (I couldn't give up at that point, I was pot-committed). I rushed to the front to purchase my items and called Daddy to tell him we were running a little late.
After waiting for what seemed to be an eternity in line, I rang up all of my other items and all that was left was my box of paper. I scanned the barcode and was told "item not recognized" by the obviously-smarter-than-me computer. I deferred my intellect to an associate only to be shown the barcode and told to scan it [sigh]. I showed her what happens when you scan the barcode and she tried it herself (because she thought she was midas, obviously). By 1:20 she decided she would call her manager from the back. All I could imagine was the same worthless individual who led me on the wild goose chase for the box in the first place. She must have seen it in my face when she took a couple steps back. I told her I didn't have the time, left the box, and was 15 minutes late to pick up the guys.
My point here - Is the facillity of Walmart worth the hassle of the experience? Granted, there are some wonderful Walmarts, just not anywhere near me. In Texas they are an almost pleasurable experience. I think, given the option, I shall take Target any day of the week.
We recently had the great pleasure of spending a weekend with Aunt Sarah & Uncle Wally up North and had a fantastic time. We spent the first day out on the river, fishing and soaking up the sun while the kids played in the snow-runoff freezing water. Then we spent the next day on the lake where it was warm enough to make us want to jump into the lake despite it's chilly temperature as well.
We got to do lots of other fun stuff too, like playing jenga (Uncle Chris is a master), cooking up a world-class barbecue and playing in Uncle Wally's empty keg (he works in a brewery, and has no kids, thus no toys so cut him some slack). 
The kids had a wonderful time as did daddy & I, despite our sunburns we both dealt with on Monday morning. As is often the case, dealing with a sunburn is often the sign of a fun weekend.
