Okay, so I know that it is my own dumb fault my eyes are burning so bad it hurts to have them open. It is a rare day when I cry as much as I did today. Sure I cry and get upset and all that—I am an emotional being, but, boy, today I hit pay dirt. Actually it was more like feeling like dirt because I didn’t get paid. I don’t feel like addressing that though because that is not what was REALLY wrong—just my weakness. I am so strong and so able to deal with almost anything, but I don’t handle money situations well. I know God wants that in control just as He does other things, I know that—and so do I—so far, though, I stink!

I did have a nice time during one part of my day though: I went to Wal-Mart. It is a 15 minute or less drive away in Duarte, right off the freeway, so it is easy. As I drove in there, I had a sense that I would be sitting there in that spot many-a-time in months and maybe years to come. It is easy to take a place like Wal-Mart of granted in the South where it is sometimes more like the local mall. But here it is a joy to visit. Not only does every Wal-Mart look alike inside with the big, yellow smiley faces and “rolling down prices,” but it just makes you feel like you are in the South all over again. Okay, so they sold Dodger and Angel mugs, but when I walked in a man was asking a clerk if they had Dallas Cowboy t-shirts. Of course I hate the Cowboys, but it was the spirit of the question I liked!

What bliss to graze the aisles like a content shopper with no hang ups. I think Wal-Mart is the only thing in Los Angeles that is not overpriced. Even the sodas still cost 1.97 for a 12-pack. In the grocery stores, if they are not on sale, they are $5-6 and my $3.85 cereal is 5.19 here (I stopped eating it, of course)! It was pure bliss being there, and no farther than driving from Quitman to Mineola to go to a Wal-Mart so why not Pasadena to Duarte?

In a city where gas price are now approaching $2 a gallon again, Wal-Mart is like water in the desert.