It’s posts like this where my blog name comes to fruition. Sheer Bedlam!

Last week, I starred in the latest episode of I Love Lucy. I know some of you think it’s been off the air for over fifty years, but truly, Lucy and Ethel came to life in the form of my friends and me. For those of you who have never seen a rerun of this classic show, in each episode these best friends lie somewhere between sense, nonsense and absurdity.

I had what can only be called a “you had to be there” kind of morning, but sometimes it’s fun to peek into others’ moments and think, “Do things like that really happen to other people?” They do…to me, and it was quite surreal.

It’s no secret that I love to save money, and the number one way I think many can save money is on their food budget. I even shared easy, yet odd ways to save money in the kitchen, but this “I Love Lucy” experience takes the cake.

With food prices on the rise, I’ve really been brainstorming unique ways to continue slashing our food budget, and when I heard of a local storehouse where I could purchase some dried items in bulk at substantial savings, I was thrilled. Needing to stock up on wheat berries, beans, oats, and a few other bulk food storage items, my sister in love (who had the great hutch re-do) and I drove to pick up our order, assuring our children we’d be back in an hour to get going on our school day.

We were meeting two other girl friends there and I knew something was quite array when we sauntered in a tad bit late to find then dressed in hygienic garb, eyebrows raised with smirks on their faces .

Without any introductions, an elderly gentleman insisted we wash up to our elbows and proceeded to lead us through the specific steps needed for sanitation. When I quietly inquired of my friend what was going on, I was chastised for whispering, and told to pay attention. Instantly, the little “rule follower” girl was scared of this man and just kept quiet. 😉 But trust me, it only got worse. I now remember why my elementary teachers use to write on my progress report that “Jenny enjoys chatting.”

Remember,  I thought I was coming to a “store” to pick up a few food items, and now I was stuck in the middle of a TV episode, not quite sure of what I was doing. After getting in trouble numerous times for reasons I still can not figure out,  I started getting that deep down giggle feeling. You remember the kind where you know it would be so inappropriate, but you can barely contain yourself?

Oh ladies, it was all too surreal, and I kept thinking, “if they could see me now” they just wouldn’t believe it.

So here is living proof…and those are some dear friends that allowed me to post this. Well, they didn’t really allow me, but I told them right then and there that they knew what they were getting into accompanying me with something like this. Pure bedlam blog fodder.

If you’re all completely confused as to what I was actually doing here to save money on my food budget, well, join the club.  No, in actuality, we were roped into canning hundreds of dried goods into long term storage cans. ( I have since found out our experience was NOT typical, so it makes the story even funnier to us.) Yes, some of my oats (pictured above with oxygen absorber packets) are now sealed so well they are guaranteed for thirty years. I think I’ll be using them a bit sooner than that, but just in case…. 😉 (ha ha)

In all seriousness, it was a uniquely memorable experience.

A day which I will tell my grandchildren about, yet one in which I learned more about food storage, food preservation and stock piling (even though that wasn’t part of my plan). Besides the fact that I never did get home for a full school day, (we called it a teacher work day because the teacher worked incredibly hard) it was incredibly eye-opening. Plus, I came home with a van full of wonderful deals on my whole foods and grains. You definitely can not beat $0.48/pound on oats, that’s for sure.

After I stop chuckling about posting these pictures of my friends and debating the ramifications of our friendship, I’ll write another post answering the “whys” behind the questions you are all asking –  Why would I want dried foods for bulk storage, and why am I actually going to go back and put myself through that again…this time, by choice.

But now I’m curious?

When’s the last time you’ve had one of those deep down, can barely hold it in kind of giggles? I realize just how much I miss those.