Friday, August 16th, 2013

Quote by Mahatma Ghandi "All through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall, always."

 

 

 

No, these pics are not from the set of 'The Walking Dead', this is a local grocery store (just up the road in West Fork), Super Foods and they've gone out of business.  Super Foods was and has been for quite some time, the closest grocery store to us Winslownians. 

 

Another much larger local grocery store chain, Harp's moved in just up the road from them several months ago and I figured it was only a matter of time before the end of Super Foods would be upon us.  Don't get me wrong, I like that Harp's is employee owned and I love that they aren't the big dog that Wal-Mart is, nonetheless, it's sad that Super Foods has closed it doors.

 

It got me to thinking, anyone who's shopped at a Harp's knows that they aren't exactly the cheapest store to shop at and Super Foods couldn't exactly afford to be as cheap as Wal-Mart.  Sure, they have deals sometimes that make the stop worth it and so does Harp's.  So, why choose to put a local grocery out of business?  Of course, Harp's has an inventory that Super Foods wasn't likely to match but they were local and probably just as costly as Harp's. 

 

I guess I just wish they could have found a way to keep the doors open, change their business plan, find a different and cheaper company to purchase their inventory from, something!!

 

Anyway, this is my Friday night.  I went shopping at Super Foods, as they were selling their merchandise all at 50% off, and I couldn't help but take the above pictures.  I've never seen a grocery store that looked like this. It really did feel like it was the zombie apocalypse and I was scrounging around for what little food and supplies I could find.

 

Still, it's sad to see them go.  I don't know the owners or the staff , but I just wanted to give them a shout out.  It was nice having Super Foods just up the road in West Fork and in spite of Harp's taking their customers, they will not take the place of the small town, locally owned, Super Foods!

 
 

Just for fun:
My final Super Foods shopping trip, I bought $75.94 of food and household items, but after their discount: Spent only $37.97 out of pocket.  Thank you Super Foods!  

Friday, August 9th, 2013

Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson "In order to learn the important lessons in life, one must, each day, surmount a fear."

Another Friday night but not in Winslow....

This year was the 115th Annual Tontitown Grape Festival in of course, Tontitown, Arkansas and we decided to check it out.  I was hoping to pay homage to the classic 'I Love Lucy' episode and stomp some grapes but unfortunately, they did that earlier in the week.

So we didn't get to stomp grapes but we did get to ride some relatively nerve-wracking carnival rides.  Things change the older you get, I used to love roller coasters and anything that went fast and made me feel like I could fly......Apparently, I don't have the stomach for it anymore.  No, I didn't puke, though I'm sure if I would have indulged in some awesome carnival food, I may have lost it after riding some of those rides.

I was pretty freaked out that I might go flying right out of one of those rides and that I guess, use to be the fun of it, but now it just left me feeling a little old.  Regardless, we had a lot of fun and I rode the rides even though I was nervous before I got on them.

There were a ton of vendors selling their crafts and other various items, and we were about to read about how Tontitown was founded by the Italian immigrants that settled it was really interesting.  They were selling authentic Italian dinners and even serving wine from an Arkansas winery, though I must admit, I was disappointed they didn't use Tontitown's very own winery to supply the wine. 

Next year, we'll definitely plan on going on the grape stomping day! 
 

Just for fun:
Bought $11.30 worth of food and household items, but after coupons and sales: Spent only $6.31 out of pocket.  

Friday, August 2nd, 2013

Quote by John Calvin "The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul."

So things are getting super busy and of course really stressful at work, so I decided to take the day off today.  I turned the ringer off on my personal and work phones, shut off my work laptop, and slept late this morning.  I ate a mountain of french toast in bed this morning and then spent the rest of day getting caught up on the shows I have recorded on DVR.

I spent the whole day just relaxing and watching TV and not worrying about life or work... and it felt great!  Everyone needs a day to just be lazy and recharge.

Of course, after spending the entire day in bed, my ADHD kicked in and I started thinking about projects I need to work on, research I need to do, etc. I don't know if that makes me ADHD or if it's just because I have a guilty conscience about not getting a damn thing done today.

I generally move around so much, try to do so many things, that I often don't take the time to rest and recharge.  If you know me, you know that when I get into something, I go for it full force.  If there's a problem, I want to fix it, I want to conquer it.  Unfortunately, I far too often want to get involved in so many different things that I always have a to-do list a mile long.  Then I feel guilty if I'm not constantly working to mark items off of it.

So this evening, I attempted to do both; I decided to kick up my feet (we've moved to the couch), put on some reruns of 'Friends', pour a glass of red wine, and work on some low impact projects.  I got a few things done for my mom and I of course realized that I had yet to publish last week's blog, so I got that done too. 

Anyway, I'm glad I took the day off.  I really needed it and I got a few things done too, so I don't have to feel too guilty for being lazy!

Goodnight Winslownians!
 

Just for fun:
Bought $6.70 worth of food and household items, but after coupons and sales: Spent only $2.80 out of pocket.  We didn't need much of anything this week but I still saved over 50% of what I did buy!!

Friday, July 26th, 2013

Quote by Anthony Brandt "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."

So another Friday night in the little town of Winslow.  We don't really have much planned tonight. Some of my family is coming up this weekend to celebrate my sister (Red) and brother (James) birthdays.

So, we basically just cleaned house and prepped food (we're having a "make your own  mini pizza" party when they get here).  We made fresh marinara sauce and fresh pizza dough, and we figured we'd chop veggies and make a nice side salad when they get here.  I'm really looking forward to seeing my fam, we've all been so busy, and we have so many things going on in our personal and professional lives, that we often forget to make time to spend with the ones we love.

After all of that fun, we had a late dinner and curled up on the couch for a movie night. 

Never a dull moment here in Winslow ladies and gentlemen!
 

Just for fun:
Bought $15.60 worth of food and household items, but after coupons and sales: Spent $12.56 out of pocket.  Again, not much savings but several bags worth of stuff!