I live in the grocery store

You know, working in a grocery store can really put life in perspective. Today I went in for my longest shift of this 9-day series—a full eight hours. I prayed for God to give me the grace to face the day with a good attitude, and you know what? He did. It was crazy having seven of us working in a room that has trouble accommodating four, but the morning went by so quickly it shocked me. Then I got to take an extra long lunch break before spending much of the afternoon helping the pizza ladies. That’s right, there were three of us working on fruit pizzas this afternoon. We made a total of sixty pizzas, which I had my doubts about us being able to sell, but when we went back this evening the case was actually looking bare, so there’s hope that we might get rid of the 34 still waiting back in the cooler. And yes, I went back to the store tonight to help my family buy groceries. It seems I can’t be in the store without working, because I found myself instinctively straightening and facing our product case. But the really interesting part of this shopping trip was running into Kody Coull, who I haven’t seen in years. I knew him from band, but he graduated high school with Kevin, so it’s been a few years. Apparently he stopped after two years of college and has just been working at Taco John’s for the past two years. He says he’s still trying to figure out what to do with his life. I’m still working on that question myself, but I think it’s easier to answer by staying in school, not leaving it. I guess the perspective that this encounter offered me is that it’s okay to not know what I’m doing yet as long as I’m still working to figure it out. Oh yeah, and it’s a lot better to work the salad bar in the summer than to work in fast food all year long.

In other news, I got to see the world’s tallest living horse today. That’s right, Goliath graced the fair city of Brookings with his presence. We almost missed seeing him, because we decided to go to the Larson Rec Center and swim, but we made it in time to gaze in awe for several minutes before they loaded him up to move on. I think I got some pretty good pictures which should make for some fun scrapbooking, should I ever get back around to that project again.

This Saturday I finally got to check out the new waterslide. With Elizabeth, who I haven’t seen in ages. We had fun, and I managed not to get sunburned. The lines actually weren’t all that long, considering it was Saturday afternoon. Definitely worth the three dollar entry fee. The weird thing was that we saw two different groups of people we graduated with, and were actually right behind them in the line for the slide. They were all excited to see each other, but barely gave Liz and I a second glance. John actually gave me a wave, but that was pretty much the extent of it. Now, we really didn’t hang out with these people even during high school, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, but it would have been nice to be acknowledged. Oh well. The day was fun regardless.

Tomorrow we’re finally going to go check out Kevin’s lake house. We figure it’s the best way to spend the Fourth of July: grilling brats, paddleboating on Round Lake (apparently somewhere between Lake Madison and Lake Brandt), being with family. Hmm, perhaps I should see if our friend Chris will be at his lake house at the lake that’s decent for swimming in. At any rate, it will be a fun holiday that I will certainly have to blog about afterward. If I’m awake enough to type, that is.

Well, as the family is playing Scrabble, I suppose I should pay attention and join the game.

-Kim