Important life lesson are afoot at the 99 cent store.

The day started well. I woke earlier than everyone else in the house , which is pretty typical. I made eggs bacon and avocado toast for the kid and i ate the same minus the toast . I really am going to make some sort of real attempt at limiting carbs (insert fingers crossed). From there the day rolled on and i packaged the ebay goods and depop and poshmark goods to be mailed . Went with my oldest son to a dental appointment and finally in the evening took daughter #2 to a band practice at the church. This last stop gave me and 1 1/2 hours of roaming , or sitting while i waited. Due to covid everything closes early except i found a light still on and it was at the .99 cents store. 

     I made it inside and was glad because the weather has actually turned chilly . I no more strolled into the first aisle and was already experiencing the ridiculous impulse buys coming over me. All of a sudden from somewhere off my left I hear a voice say do you think he answers if you light a candle while you say the prayer? Umm excuse me? I look at a man who appears to be in his 50s looking at the religious candle selection. These are normal candles but have the effigy of Jesus or Mary production line plastered to the front. He says "What do you think"  ? I said, I think the prayer is probably enough but there's something very satisfying about lighting candles .So if you like candles go for it. He looks at me half squinting and says yeah your right and I can buy extra pop tarts if I pass on the candle. I wait for a laugh to go with that but there isn't one. He turns the opposite way down the aisle and leaves. 

   I then make it into the Christmas aisle because lets face it fall is over, at least at the 99 cent store and Christmas is in full swing. I pick up 6 new pretty white stockings with sequin snowflake designs and cant believe my good fortune that they are only $1.99 a piece!  A lady standing near me looks at me and says "you shouldn't get white it gets dirty very quickly" . I nod and throw them into the cart and move on. pretty sure she was shaking her head .  I mean for that price ehh if they last 2 years ill be happy. 

    So now I start to look for the things I actually came for . Green onions, eggs, iced coffee and gum . Weird combo but hey I need small bits of things to fill in around the edges between grocery shopping trips. As i am getting the green onions I see a man picking up lots of veggies and smiling. I guess I looked too long because he looks at me and says "I love shopping here I eat like a king for so little. (He smiles some more) .You should get the eggplant there's only a few left" . Indeed I should as I am reminded I wont be eating pasta anytime soon. Eggplant parm here I come. 

   I finally get to the checkout lane and throw 3 things of gum onto the belt. My husband thinks he needs to chew gum while working out for some reason and goes through a lot. As the cashier loads my stuff into bags she looks at me and says how's your night going? I say pretty ok how's yours? She says my night is going great yesterday I was unemployed today I am working here . She tells me she used to work at a larger chain store but was let go due to conflict of scheduling and her needing to be home with her child during the day for online learning. I ask her how she likes it here . She quickly says "Doesn't matter I'm employed".  Amen Amen ! Hard to argue that. 

 On my way out a homeless man asks for a dollar which I don't have but I scrounge up all the change I can and its probably more than a dollar. I hand it to him and ask him how he's holding up. He says I am doing ok its cold but hey at least its not raining . So true sir so true. 

Moral of the 99 cent trip is that life is what we make it. Like the man with the candle you come to see that we don't always need the extras sometimes the prayer itself really is enough. And sometimes we do need the extras, if $2 white stockings that will eventually get dirty make you happy go for it. We could feel like we are not able to afford the best or shop higher end stores or like the man in the produce aisle we can feel like we have it all if we are just willing to adjust where we shop and be happy with what we come across. We can complain about our jobs or we can be grateful we have one (Amen to that) . And no matter how cold it gets its true things could be worse, it could also be raining . 

I realize that the average trip to the 99 cent store does not always result in such eye openers but when God is trying to tell you something he will use anyone and anything in the path. I need to be a lot more grateful. I need to be happy despite circumstances . Because lets face it , things can always be worse . 

I pick up daughter #2 and she is bursting at the seams to tell me she learned the bass for the song so quickly. She is excited as we just bought her a new addition , a bass guitar . And I feel instantly flooded with gratitude for the effort of the man who runs the teen program at the church  and his effort to teach the kids guitar ,bass, and other musical stuffs . I am so grateful that I seem to keep producing these children who are ridiculously talented . I feel very grateful that I am able to adjust my schedule at work so I can make sure I get her here to practice. 

Gratitude , Humbleness , its very contagious. Thanks 99 for the odd yet good interaction tonight. I have been a bit blah while detoxing off social media and this was exactly what i needed . 

“Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.”