I have conquered the grocery store.

I have been putting this off for weeks now. Sure, I made quick trips here and there for the essentials (milk, apples and Lean Cuisines) but I was resisting the big trip to the big store with the oversized cart and even bigger pile of coupons.

Melody and I ventured forth at about 11:45 today to arrive home right at 2:00. Her determination to not step on the cracks, push the basket and dance through the somewhat crowded aisles slowed things considerably.

I totally rawked the store. My total (before sales) was 157.92. Sales saved me 8.33 and 30 coupons brought my total down to 87.51. That's right--I saved 70.41, or 44.6%.

It took forever to scan all those coupons. While they were going through them, Melody and the bagger had quite the lengthy conversation. Melody gave a detailed explanation as to why she doesn't want to eat dogs and cats, starting with how furry they are.

At the store, I bought a new toothbrush for each girl. Melody was so excited that she carried them throughout the trip. When we got home, she couldn't wait to show Dixie, who shared in her ecstasy. Dixie had a surprise for Melody as well. While we were gone, she had found a beetle, named it Natasha, and made it her pet.

Dixie, being Dixie, found neither singular event to be quite awesome enough, so she wanted to combine the two events to make her day even better. That's right, she decided to brush the beetle's teeth, starting, naturally, with Melody's toothbrush.