There's No Place Like Home

I'm home!

Home, for me, is rural small town in Louisiana. It's not a tiny town as some would say, but still small town enough that you see people you know or at least recognize almost anyplace you go.

Our house is in the country, it once belonged to my grandparents. We have no dishwasher, no garbage disposal, not a whole lot of cabinet or countertop space in the kitchen. No cable tv or highspeed internet. We do have satellite for the tv, but we aren't home enough to warrant satellite internet, so it's dial-up for me for the next couple of weeks, unless I take my lap-top to town and find a wi-fi spot. (I think there are two, one at the library and the other at a local coffee shop.) My house tends to be cold in the winter and hot in the summer. None of the floors or the carpet match. It gets a funny smell when we haven't been for a while. My mattress is lumpy. We need to replace the tub surround. I took my best pots to Georgia with me, so I'll be cooking with the leftovers for the next two weeks.

This town has Walmart, and two grocery stores from a regional chain; no national grocery chains. We did get a new Walgreens a year or two ago. No CVS or Rite Aid, or any major retailers to speak of.

But it's home.

I had to make a quick run to the grocery store to get a few things; we haven't been here for awhile so my cupboards were bare. (Almost literally). Prices are higher here. The store doesn't double or triple coupons except on very special occasions. But the gal who checked me out knows me. I went to high school with her younger sister, and we used to go to the same church.

On the way home from the store, I was able to get gumbo for lunch. From the drive-through.

My momma cooked supper for us last night, and invited us for leftovers again tonight.

It's good to be home.

Tomorrow I'm going to take my mom to Walgreens and show her the ropes about stacking coupons and applying for rebates, then we may hit Walmart and see what bargains we can find there. Next week we may venture out to find the closest CVS--I think there's one in a town about 50 miles south of here.

Oh, yeah, that'll be after my sister and one of my nieces comes out and we sort through the bottles of free nail polish I brought home with me from Georgia.

Did I say this already? It's good to be home.

I'll let you know how the bargain shopping goes.


Until next time...
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