Ridenour Ranch: Where We Are

Oh my...I guess I haven't been very faithful to my blog as of late. I have sort of made a pact with myself recently that I will try to update at least once a week. Probably on Mondays since Gil always works late those nights. But then Monday happened. And here I am at 10:25 when I would way rather, and probably should be, in bed. But I just had to make it happen! The sink is full of dishes that aren't done and I have a meeting at 7:30 am, but here I am!

This weekend I went shopping. That is kinda a big deal around here because it only happens once in about 6-8 weeks. I don't even go to the grocery store more than once a month usually (Gil gets the pleasure since he works in a town with civilization). Why is it that this girl who loves to shop never does it?!? Well, that is where we are these days. We live 45 minutes away from a store. I work full time. I come home from work and work full time (aka: I have kids). On the weeknights I can't justify a trip to the store. On the weekends I usually can't either. When I work all week I feel like my weekends should be fully devoted to spending time with my family. Shopping means 45 minutes there, who knows how long there, and 45 minutes home. Just too much!

But Saturday I did it. We had our normal weekend morning routine of sleeping in, eating cinnamon rolls, and staying in pajamas. But by 10:00 am I was out the door. Mission: Cora winter coat. It turned into winter overnight around here! I do have the luxury of online shopping, so I'd been looking around and just haven't seen anything I really liked. But I decided to head to Target. Can't go wrong there! And besides after spending two hours in the store and then heading home again I decided that is where we are right now. I don't have time to "shop around." In the past I would go to the mall plus Target and check out all the options before I made a decision on what to buy. Not anymore! Now it is Target and home. That is where we are.

Now two hours may be a little much for one store, and some (or most) people could probably do it quicker. But this is me we are talking about. I need my time. Now can you imagine if I had gone to all the stores I wanted??? I would've been home at midnight. As it was I went to Target, spent my two long, nice hours of alone time contemplating the right moisturizer, getting the winter coat for under $30, getting some stuff for me on clearance (because saving money is another part of where we are; $10 now seems like a significant amount for a top!), getting a wedding gift for Alissa and Tyler (because getting things done on time is NOT where we are!), plus getting a few groceries! One stop shopping. That is where we are.

I really wanted to go to Hobby Lobby and get some material to make our new baby BOY a quilt (not that I know when that would happen before February), but I got out of the store at about 1pm and was hungry so I went home to eat. I could've gotten drive-thru, but that is NOT where we are.

We eat at home. Period. That is where we are. Ok, there are a few rare exceptions. If we are in a big hurry and all hungry we do the occasional McDonald's drive-thru. We all know what to order there. And we rarely go in. We are on the go. That is where we are.

Sunday we did something totally out of our norm. We took the kids to the Olive Garden. That said, we were only there because Gil got a gift card for his birthday (Thanks John and Carolyn, it was delicious!). And why we brought the kids is a question I cannot answer, but they did do really really well. I always feel like couples that go out to eat with there kids must be rich. Because they must go out to eat a lot. Because why else would they bring the kids! But there we were feeling mighty rich because we were eating out with our kids at a restaurant where you sit down to order instead of driving thru (only we knew we had a gift card!). Jude and Cora seemed in awe of the place and all the people. They don't get out much! We should do that more often...but that is NOT where we are!

So this weekend I realized that we are Target and McDonald's people for now. It won't last forever, but that is where we are!

Here are some photos of the last two months I've been on hiatus:

We celebrated Grandpa Gilbert's 90th birthday!

Cora and Sarai got to hang out both on two feet.

Cora and Jude still love each other, but have definitely entered the need for a referee stage. It is comical to see Cora try to get what she wants. And she is not always innocent!