Costco ... You've Gotta LOVE It

 Morning found me sucking up all the cool I possibly could on the 63 degree patio because 105 is coming by next Friday.  Time to dig out my spaghetti strap tops that I would never EVER wear in public!!  I don't know about you, but around the house with no one around, I wear stuff that should probably be in the goodwill bin.

Cooper was his normal play-with-me self as I got in my morning stretches retrieving his ball from under the patio table.  I don't get why he likes to roll it under things.  Then he gets a morning snack.  Every dog owner probably has a lineup like this.  Sometimes I'm even lucky enough to pick his flavor of the day first.  Usually I have to put one back and try another.  

There was not much play time however as I wanted to hit Costco the moment they opened.  I'm not one for standing in line for an hour waiting to reach the checkout counter.  As soon as I pulled in the parking lot, I saw this.  Security?  Are you kidding me?  I'd like to see this in a high speed chase after the guys that just stole some computers!!  Maybe it's the alarm system guys.  I mean really, who could even fit in the driver's seat??  Where's the engine??

Here's what I love most about Costco.  They know service!!  Even if I'm early, I rarely stand at the door waiting for it to open.  On this day I decided to be different.  They open at 9:00 ... what's fifteen minutes standing up ... it's more exercise than sitting down.  

At 8:45 they opened the door!  Can you believe it?  Fifteen minutes early?  That's unheard of!!  I wandered the store, surprised at the stock of fresh fruit they have.  Apricots, peaches, tomatoes ... just about everything you could ask for.  There are no shortages of anything here.

SURPRISE!!  I completely passed up the pastry department, a shock even to myself.  Instead, I grabbed a box of strawberries ... YUM ... and headed to the meat department.  Honestly, I didn't want to be shocked at the price of beef, so I didn't even look.  I went straight to the end for baby back ribs at $17 a package.  That was THREE ribs for $17 versus the ONE I got at Save Mart for the same price.  CORRECTION:  Those baby backs were $34 ... still three for the price of two!!

$225 later, I was out the door.  It's always a shock to my system when I shop there, even though I know this stuff will last me well over a year.  Things like the zip lock bags, two kinds of foil for barbecuing and a package of fajita meat $5 off the regular price.  

The problem came when I tried to get these huge boxes they gave me into the side door of my truck.  It doesn't help when the guy parks next to you about 24 inches away.  To say I struggled is an understatement.  The boxes were too big and too heavy.  I finally unloaded everything, then threw the boxes on top.  SUCCESS!!

THIS is what I went to Costco for.  The most wonderful roasted chicken in the land.  I actually had to wander around the store for a bit because they weren't quite done when I got there.  Every one of these is five pounds of rotisserie goodness for $4.99.  Can you believe it?  That last raw chicken I saw was $15!!!  Luckily I only had to beat off two little old guys trying to snag my prize.

Back home, after letting them cool a tad, I packaged them up with my handy dandy food saver and put them in the freezer.  I swear, I'm not buying any other kind of chicken ever again!!

I did a little more sewing in the afternoon and tried to come up with a pattern for another quilt.  Not mine.  I made the mistake of making that one for the gal's son (red white and blue) and word got out like wildfire.  Pretty soon, in spite of my protestations, I had people throwing fabric at me.  

Just a ton of fabric ... no patterns, not the fabric they need ... and no idea of how much work it is to make a quilt.  Big sigh ... so I will spend today trying to come up with a small pattern that will work with ONE PANEL.  I'm only going to do ONE!!!

As for now, I'm having fresh roasted chicken for breakfast while I make up my next Costco list!