Warehouse Clubs and Christmas

Years ago, I belonged to one of those wholesale clubs. You know the ones, where you can buy 147 rolls of paper towels or a package with 1500 napkins? One of those clubs.

I had a really bad experience there when I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter. I wanted to buy something from the jewelry counter. I waited forever (standing on the concrete floor, 8 months pregnant) for someone to help me. When someone finally came over (about 30 minutes later), the person made me walk all the way back to the service counter to actually get the item (about 50 yards). While that may not sound like a huge distance, to an 8-month-pregnant woman with undiagnosed MS, it may as well have been 50 miles. I actually contacted their corporate office, and they gave me a free one-year membership tacked on to the end of my current membership. I stopped going to that location and rarely went to that store at all. When that membership expired, I didn't renew it.

Fast forward from 12 years ago. There was a Groupon or Living Social offer for a membership for $35, and you got a $25 gift card when you joined. So $10 net for the year? Sign me up! I joined in the spring.

It's now nearing the end of October, and I have been there exactly 4 times. Two of those times were shopping for Easter dinner and my son's birthday.

Going to a warehouse club requires planning for me. I have to gear myself up to tackle the extra walking, to explore extra aisles. I don't go there near often enough to learn my way around, so it's always like exploring a new world. There is no “popping in” to the warehouse club like you do a regular store. If I want milk, I need to traverse the entire store (yes, like a regular store, only twice as big). Of course, stores do that with good reason. They hope something catches your eye along the way. Several times. So your trip to get milk turns into $150 at the register.

Part of the reason I joined this year is because they have cool and unusual Christmas decorations. Yes, I'm one of those people who think about Christmas all year long. I bought some really neat stuff there through the years, and I'm looking for something fairly specific.

I have a large garden bay window in my kitchen with a deep ledge. I have things to put in the window, but they are starting to get tired looking. Last winter, I switched things around, but because the window is so large, regular sized decorations look dwarfed.

I am looking for some kind of decorations that are anywhere from 18” to 36” tall, but made for inside.

So today, I've made up my mind that I'm heading to the wholesale club to check out their Christmas decorations. I mean, it's almost Halloween, so the Christmas stuff should be out, right? I was in a store last night that had all their Christmas trees set up and decorated. Let's just hope my body follows the plan. I'm waiting for rush hour to be over and writing today's post before I go.

Oh, if you read yesterday's post regarding buying a new island or just getting a stool, I opted to get an inexpensive stool. Rather than compare and speculate and redesign, I figured that even if I do eventually get a new island, I won't feel bad about getting rid of the stool. I found a basic stool at Target, and it cost less than $15 including tax.