The Johnson Journal, online: shopping

So, I don't know if I've ever blogged about this, but yesterday was another grand trip "into town" that got me thinking about it. "Into town"--something that people might say who live way in the country and take few trips to the closest town to buy things, right? I never thought that that would be me, but that has been the case for the last year living in Chalmette. Yes, we do live outside of New Orleans, in more of a small town than the suburbs. There used to be a Super Walmart and K-mart here, even a Sears I do believe. A movie theater, clothing store, and so forth. But now, we have a Walgreens, Winn Dixie, and that's about it! Oh wait, we have like 7 dollar stores in the Parish- ridiculous! So, whenever there is something we need, I try to make a list and make one shopping trip every so often. I mean, the nearest Walmart takes at least 30 minutes to get to, depending on traffic.

So, like I said, yesterday was one of those trips. Aaron found a truck tool box on Craigslist that was in the same area of a Walmart, and we were needing new window shades for Everly because her color-changing ones decided to stop changing colors, weird. Anyway, whenever we get to Walmart I like to walk around and try to think of anything we might need. I'm always feeling a little frustrated with the pressure of not fogetting something and with Everly getting squirly. It was nice having Aaron with me yesterday and we didn't really need too much. We also got to eat dinner out since it takes so long to drive into town--we weren't sure where we were going to go, but we were in the Uptown area which is a place with lots of cool little cafes and shops. And then, there it was--Whole Foods! Ahh, one of my favorite places. You walk in and there are tons of flowers and fruits and vegetables, all brightly colored and all screaming--"Buy me!" Well, we didn't because they're expensive, but we did find some coupons for some granola bars (ones for serious hiking trips so now we must plan to go!) and bought some yummy dinner.

Now, as we were sitting eating our healthy and very reasonably priced dinner, I am thinking about how I miss living in a place where you can walk places, see people out jogging, where there are trees lining the sidewalks, etc. Sometimes I wish I could be an Uptown person--they're kinda artsy, thinkers, health nuts, and pay a pretty penny to live where they do and buy the stuff that they do. I have to admit, I like that culture, but there are things I like about Chalmette, too. I mean, people here aren't as worried about being healthy--our restaurants serve some fatty foods and are proud of it! And, most people here are blue-collared, hard working people, at either oil refineries, sugar plant, in construction, fisherman, etc. And people are quite fine with blue jeans and t-shirts here. But, people are friendly for the most part and take care of each other.

...well, i din't mean to go on and on like that! here are some pictures because I hate leaving a post without any pictures! :)