a time to repent.

Not until I moved down here have I had such a deep loathing for Wal*Mart. Down here, the store is completely different. Matter of fact, every time I go back to my hometown and I visit the Wal*Mart there (because Target is too far away), I notice the difference. Believe it or not, there is a difference. Up north, the cashiers are friendly. They converse with you. The lines are basically bare... EVEN at Christmas time. Down here, not so much. I dread the Wal*Mart down here. The cashiers are rude, the stores are messy and down right dirty. One time, I went to get some things and spent more time waiting in line than I did actually shopping. One of the items I purchased was a 6 pack of beer that I contemplated opening while in line. Apparently, in the town I live in, there is an unwritten rule that if you consume a product while in the store, it is not considered stealing. Sure, I have opened a soda while at the store, but at least I still have the cashier scan the empty bottle. But really, folks, nothing makes me want to throw up more than when I'm looking at accessories for my bathroom and I come across an eaten apple core that is all brown and mushy sitting on the shelf next to the display of bath rugs. Ew. I have made a silent resolution to not shop at Wal* Mart anymore. The kicker is, if I drive on the right road, I can find 3 Wal*Marts within MILES of each other. And they are all the same. I have come to peace with the fact that I am willing to spend the extra dollar and drive the extra miles to go to Target where the store is clean, the quality of the product is better, and well, they have a Starbucks. Sunday, I thought would be a quiet day at home. New Mr. Tia was sick with some bug that he is convinced his mother passed to him via the telephone. I was tidying up the house and putting off vacuuming until he woke up. He asked what we were going to do and I told him I thought he could use the rest so I didn't want to plan anything. He decided to act on my recent nagging of rearranging our bedroom. Yes, I just admitted that I nagged my husband. You see, we have a television in our bedroom. It sits against the side wall on his side of the bed. Since New Mr. Tia usually falls asleep before I do... and he snores, I like to watch tv to fall asleep. However, when he rolls over, I can't see the tv. I can't really bring myself to push him over. Because when he rolls over, he usually stops snoring. Can you feel my double edged sword? I just think we should move the tv to a more neutral place where we can both see it equally. Rearranging the room should be cake right? And cheap, right? Have you ever met New Mr. Tia? We spent our Sunday afternoon driving from store to store to store looking for a lingerie type dresser/chest to match our bedroom furniture since our bedroom furniture is discontinued. We also were out pricing flat panel tvs that we could hang on the wall. All I wanted was to move a few things in the room. Our tv is fine. But now, different plans have been made. After visiting Best Buy, Target, Costco, and a few other stores, we didn't have any luck. Afterall, we were just pricing things. Not buying them. We were pleased that all we spent was money to fill up on gas. Then yesterday, I got the text message... "Wal*Mart has a 26" flat panel with a built in dvd player for $..." So we went. I could feel my shoulders tensing as we walked in the store. As we made our way towards electronics to look at the merchandise, we passed the furniture. And guess what we found? For a good price. And it was good quality. Real wood. Not laminate. We both were in awe that we found what we were looking for and more for a cheaper price and a better financing deal at this place. We wasted our Sunday afternoon looking for something that was right in our backyard the entire time. Sorry, Wal*Mart. (side note: while we were looking at the tvs, I heard the loud speaker... "attention Wal*Mart shoppers, registers 23 and 25 are now open with NO LINES. I couldn't believe it myself)