Yesterday my friend Iliana and I took a road trip up to Stuttgart for a little American-style shopping. It was going to be a quick trip there and back, but due to several unforeseen circumstances, turned into an all day long adventure. The first problem occurred when I discovered that Sarah had eaten half of the piece of paper I had written the address on where we needed to meet someone to pick up my Stampin' Up stamps. Since that was the main reason I was going, it was a little worrisome. Of course, she only fessed up to eating it after I had wasted half an hour looking all over the house for it. 🙁
I looked at the half of the paper I still had, and used it to deduce the rest of the address, relying on my memory. In the past this may have been a foolproof method, but after five children, this can no longer be considered an option. I remembered the last half of the street, thinking that was the whole name, but it was not. I did have the man's cell phone number, on my computer at home, but not with me anywhere in the car. Tried to call Chris to have him give me the number, only to discover that my phone only works in Switzerland. Iliana's phone was also having trouble, and thus we were lost and with no way to communicate with anyone who could help us.
By sheer dumb luck, we saw some signs pointing to the military base where we were supposed to be meeting some Elders who could sign us on. They met us at the gate with bad/good news. Yes, they could help us get on, but the grocery store on that particular base was closed. There was another base just down the street, and interestingly, enough, also very close to where I needed to meet the man who had my stamps. But what took us 15 minutes to drive in the car, took them an hour on the bus. Aw, good times, good times.
We finally got on base, and got to the grocery store, which had everything I was hoping to purchase. We are now well stocked again with maple syrup, corn syrup, cheddar cheese, green chilies, brown sugar, graham crackers and dried cranberries. You know, the essentials. haha.
Today I had to go back to the store for a few items. This time, however, I just drove down the hill to Migros, our local grocery store. Before I left, I made sure I had my wallet in my purse. Oops, no wallet. I then remembered taking it out to let Alexandra chew on it during the ride home. But since I got back after the missionaries had already arrived expecting dinner (yeah, didn't expect to be gone quite so long), I forgot all about it. Fortunately, there was some cash sitting on the counter, which almost never happens. So I took some of it, knowing that I only needed a couple of things, and this would definitely cover it.
Remember that faulty memory I spoke of earlier? Well, it came into play as soon as we entered the store. I remembered the items I needed to purchase, didn't remember that I only had a certain amount of cash with me. So I see some things on sale and throw them in the cart. Ooh, that fruit looks good, into the cart it goes. Cervelats are half price, we can always freeze them and use them for grilling later, into the cart it goes. Sophie wanted Schnitzel, these turkey breasts are on sale, into the cart it goes. We go through the checkout line, I am happily bagging up everything. The kids are already drinking their fruit flavored buttermilks, and then she tells me the total, 100.56 Swiss francs. And it is at that moment that I finally remember I only brought 50 Swiss francs with me.
She kindly offers to keep the items to the side while I go grab more cash from the atm, which would be great if I had my bank card, but I don't. It's in my wallet which is in Iliana's car. No, the only thing left to do is to put back some of the stuff I had already bought. She helpfully suggests returning the toilet paper, since it is a big ticket item. No, that would be the main reason I came to the store. Well, how about the contact solution? No, that would be the other reason I came to the store. Sigh. We finally got the total down to 56 Swiss francs, and by rummaging around in the dark bowels of my purse I found a few coins and came up with enough to pay for it. Then I scurried out of the store with my tail between my legs, burning this cashier's face in my memory so that hopefully, I can avoid her lane for the rest of my life.