My email RANT to Ingle's

(this post is an email comment in it's entirety left by ME for the Ingle's company, reference my several different rants and grievances I've had with them lately. I plan to post the response (if I get one). If you get bored easily and don't appreciate a good gripe, skip ahead to next post to find out that Dudley's a girl...)

I just wanted to first commend your corporation for having quality food at competitive prices. Going to Ingles used to be a treat since you offer a wide variety of different type foods HOWEVER my last two shopping experiences in the last two weeks have almost persuaded me to stick to Kroger and other competitors such as our local J&J.

I had received a coupon in the mail from the Purina company inviting me to try a new cat litter. The coupon was for one (1) free bag of Yesterday's News Cat Litter (value up to $6.99). When I went to purchase this (along with lots of other groceries), I was told you don't take "internet coupons" for free items. I explained that it wasn't an internet coupon and that the company had sent it to me in the mail. The cashier called the manager(I think she was the manager) over (Amy) and she said the same thing. I again explained it wasn't an internet coupon (it was on security backed paper and to me did not look like something that would be interpreted as a "fake" or a "printout"). Amy responded with "well it looks like an internet coupon." I just kept my coupon (and redeemed it at J&J) and asked Ingle's to take the litter off my order. There was also a bag of cat food that had rung up a different price than what was marked on the shelf and when I questioned it the manager? (Amy) was very snippy and rude.

I chalked this up to "everyone has a bad day" and tried not to let this experience ruin my opinion about your store.


Last night I was shopping with my mom, baby and friend. I was disappointed because the 9-Lives cat food that had been advertised for two weeks as being on sale, wasn't there. I could see where there had been some on the shelf but they were gone. (This was also the case last week when I went specifically for that cat food...I'm not sure if maybe they just had so few bags or if maybe I just keep going after everyone else cleans them out...).

We all got several things and proceeded to check out. My friend was in a separate line than us and she got done before us. She walked over and told me to check what my Michelina's frozen dinners were ringing up because her's rung up wrong. (They were supposed to be 5/$5 and her's were ringing up $1.25 each-normal price). (There was a large sign on the freezer door). Mine had also rung up wrong. I pointed this out to the cashier and he called Amy. (My friend informed me later that when her cashier had called her over that she had been very rude and wouldn't take her word for it and went to check herself. Okay fine but when she came back she was very hateful and said "those weren't on sale the sign says "assorted varieties" and it doesn't include those. Really? They were the pizza rolls and buffalo chicken variety...So the sale was for the lasagna only? If that was true shouldn't the sign have said "select varieties"? Minor detail but she said she would adjust the price. (Which I'm pretty sure was supposed to be the "sale price" anyway). So when she (Amy), got called to my register she really wasn't happy, slamming my boxes, and muttering things). After that I handed the cashier my coupons. (Not an excessive amount and not to exceed your strict coupon policy). He looked shocked and exclaimed to Amy "she's got coupons too!!!" like maybe I was the cheapest person he had ever met (and I very well might be, lol)! Amy looked confused and told him that was okay. (Again I'm not sure why he was so shocked).

So considering the several different cases of rude customer service, having to figure out exactly how many coupons i am actually allowed to use on a certain order and the fact that a lot of your sales seem to be gone by the time I make it to the store I think Kroger and J&J are a better fit for me. I might not find the exotic choices that I have at Ingles but in my opinion customer service and helpfulness more than make up the difference!

I'm sure this is not the norm for all of your stores, I guess I am just unfortunate that this is the case for the store closest to me, (Dawsonville, Georgia). I am in no way trying to get anyone in trouble and I'm not even saying I'm boycotting your store. It's hard to keep a REAL CHEAPSKATE like me away if there's a super sale but for the most part I'll be frequenting friendlier stores! I sincerely hope that maybe these incidents were isolated and hopefully other people are enjoying the Ingle's Advantage!


Thanks for your time,
Shannon Sexton

DUDLEY'S A GIRL, DUDLEY'S A GIRL!!!

Kind of reminds me of the episode of Friend's when baby Chandler is supposed to be a boy according to ultrasound and after the birth she's a girl and Frank runs out and yells, "CHANDLER'S A GIRL, CHANDLER'S A GIRL!!!" And Chandler goes "oh kindergarten flashback, kindergarten flashback!!!"

Okay well that was kind of off topic but I took Studley Dudley to the vet for the first time yesterday and guess what? Dudley's a girl!! They asked me if I was going to change her name and I'm like "no...she's been Dudley all her life...that's her name".

I know it makes no sense but for some reason I seem to feel closer to her and favor her more sense I found out she was a girl...for some bizarre reason I must love girl cats more than boy cats...BUT I was overwhelmingly glad that Cooper was a boy so apparently I favor male human babies...

Now watch, the next cat we get will be a boy and I'll find out I'm pregnant with a little girl and I'll totally have to edit this post...

VOMIT & ME

I always throw up outside. Anyone who knows me but at all, knows this. Throwing up inside is gross because there's the whole sticking your head in the toilet (UGH), holding on to the rim (ILLUGH) and then there's usually always spillage...(I'm gagging just thinking about it).

FLASHBACK TO PREGNANCY DAYS: I was so incredibly sick every day that I was pregnant I had to get really creative with methods and places to throw up. One night after we had eaten mexican (why did I even think that was a good idea?) anyway, it was about 3:00 am and I was sick, sick, sick. Cooper apparently did not like tacos...So I'm in the bathroom because as you can imagine with mexican, "throwing up" was not my only symptom...so I know I'll never make it outside but can't bring myself to barf in the toilet so I run to the bathtub and manage to puke like 45 times...now remember I'm pregnant, disoriented, it's the middle of the night and I generally don't have a ton of common sense. I decide to try and wash it down with water...unfortunately our tub was draining slow and the water was just making one giant vomit soup swirling around and around in our tub...*shudder* okay, so being that I was exhausted I just threw a bath towel over the water-vomit and went back to bed. Needless to say by the next morning it had all congealed to the bottom of the tub and Craig was not thrilled to find it there...(at least he didn't not look and just STEP into the tub...that would have been worse...)

BACK TO LAST NIGHT: similar scenario except substitute stomach virus for pregnancy and it was 4:00 am not 3:00 and also I was wearing my glasses that only have one lens so you have to picture it all with me looking like a pirate.

I was sick in the bathroom again and was in no way going to make it to the great outdoors. I held my head over the sink and let it rip. Unfortunately what I had for supper was chicken fetachini (okay I have no idea how to spell that) alfredo and oreos...not pleasant...

Afterwards I started to run water in the sink and of course IT DOESN'T DRAIN. Because plumbing that actually worked correctly would cause my brain to explode...and no one wants that...and keep in mind that I'm actually bent over the sink to get a closer look at what's going on because I am so very blind...

I go to get the magic fix-it, a walmart bag. If I could only scoop it up into the plastic bag and tie it I could forget about it and go back to bed...BUT no good vomit story is complete without some kind of perilous adventure. When I went to get paper towels (for the sopping up) we were out. (Of course we were)! When I got back to the bathroom Mercy (my most curious cat) was trying to see what was in the sink and if she could possibly eat it). GROSS. Getting the cat off the counter was a challenge because she was determined.

I was still stuck. Some of the water had drained but not all of it and of course non of the actual vomit because...well vomit was not meant to go down a drain...this I should have remembered...I worked with what I had. I used diapers (clean ones) to absorb and clean out the sink. Thank God for Luvs...my only other thought was to maybe open up like twenty maxi pads with wings and line the sink with them. I figured eventually they would have soaked it up.

And if nothing else it would have given Craig one more reason to shake his head and make fun of me.

Another One Bites the Dust...

I've done it. I've killed another vehicle. This brings my grand total up to 5. FIVE. I have been legally driving for 10 years so that means I average killing a car every 2 years. These are not good odds.

My mom pointed out that it was in no way my fault. But it is. The vehicle was in MY possession. In MY driveway. In MY protective care.

I have spent all morning thanking God that no one was hurt. Thank God Cooper wasn't in the van. Thank God I wasn't in the van. Thank God Craig wasn't in between the van and the truck. I am thankful but I still find the situation ironic...

Do you even know anyone else who has had a GARBAGE TRUCK'S emergency brake fail and the truck go barrelling backwards down a hill and crash into their vehicle and mash it in and push it down the driveway breaking the windows and the wheels? Do you? Oh, you don't? So I guess I'm the only one who can profess DEATH TO THE VAN BY RUNAWAY GARBAGE TRUCK.

SOFT ~n~ NASTY...

"Soft n Nasty" a quote from my husband yesterday.

He stayed home with our sick Coopasaurus and like a good house husband he did a few chores. When I got home all the clothes were gone out of the bathroom floor. I walked in the laundry room and commented on how good it smelled.

"Yumm it smells so...good in here...what did you do?" "It's just the detergent you bought, it smells really good!" At this point I'm thinking to myself "really? the purex I got for $1.99 on clearance? hmmmm. I didn't know it smelled that good..." Then Craig picked up the bottle of liquid he had ACTUALLY been using to "wash" the clothes. "Craig, that is Snuggle Bear (or whatever that cuddly little bear product is called). It's fabric softener...not detergent..." He shrugged, "Oh...well I guess our clothes will be SOFT ~n~ NASTY."

And that, right there, that's why I did it, that's why I married him, because of moments like that.

YOU NEED TO CHECK IT OUT

CHECK HER OUT --------------> http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/

i just discovered her blog today so im not that familiar with, but apparently she documents every shopping trip and tells about her purchases and blogs about her savings. she also had some awesome recipies most of which are made to cook in bulk and freeze for later...AWESOME.

love,
shannon

COOPER-5 MONTHS OLD!!!

Cooper,


You reached a milestone yesterday...while I was at work...you rolled over! Yay for mobility! Your Gran was afraid to tell me, afraid that I would be upset because I wasn't there but who could be upset about something as wonderful as motor skills?! I mean I only work at the dipper's one night a week so from now on if it's not too much trouble maybe you could save the really cute stuff for me, okay? But if you must manifest your new found knowledge somewhere else Gran and Grandpa Frosty's house is a good place! (I must admit though if you dare say "Aunt Bec" as your first words, pretty much, you'll be disowned...)


Wow. Five months old. Amazing. You still take my breath away. Every single morning when I look at you waking up in your crib and smiling at me and looking so happy to be alive I hate myself because I didn't get up thirty minutes earlier just so I could hold you and talk to you and be with you. Dropping you off at Ms. Karen's is hard because I miss you but I know that she loves you and you love her...and that helps.

Next week is halloween and you are going to be...A DINOSAUR!!! You have this absolutely adorable costume and you make the prettiest dinosaur ever! We're going to a halloween party this Saturday and you'll get to meet your great aunt glenda and great uncle phillip. Most of daddy's family will be there so we'll have a great time. You, of course will be the star! A green dinosaur star!

I love you so much. I just can't say it enough. I am SO thankful to God that He gave us you. I couldn't imagine our life without you. It would be so boring and drab and wouldn't contain any kind of "jungle themed" toys...you bring us laughter...you bring us life...

All day long I count down the hours until I get to be with you again. Right now there's seven...which is a lot...but we'll make it. One more day until the weekend then we get two whole days off together, yay!

I can't wait until Christmas, I have so many things swirling around in my mind that I want to get you. This time next year you'll be walking...and talking...and such a little man...I wish we could live in slow motion so that I could savour every single minute...except the occasional 2:30 feeding (to which I can't complain, there haven't been too many) but those I could fast forward through...no, not really...even at 2:30 am I love you unconditionally and I still love to wrap my arms around you. I'd not trade a minute for anything...

I don't know why I'm so sentimental today. I guess a combination of things. So I better wrap this up before I start crying at my desk, because it's one of those days that I'm going to cry at random things...commercials, songs, your smile, and under NO circumstances will I let your daddy watch Extreme Home Makeover because that will send me right over the edge...

I love you and in just a few short hours I'll be there to hold you again.

Love,
mama