'Twas The Monday Before Christmas

Our shopping resources are very limited in these parts.  I can honestly say that is the one thing that I like the least about living in a remote area.  Last Monday was a grocery shopping day and because I dislike immensely the WalMart in Mountain Home, Randy and I decided to drive all the way to Flippin to test the WalMart store there.

I was told by my friend, Tammy, that the selection was better at that store.  Really, I am just hoping for a few less older people racing each other with their shopping carts and a few more items on the store shelves.


Flippin WalMart ... how many times to I mumble that under my breath as I leave Randy and the cart behind and try to make it to the peanut butter in one piece?

Flippin is a tiny town about 15 miles southwest of us.  It has a population of less than 1500.  Even so, Sam Walton found it suitable to build a SuperStore there in 2005.  Ranger boats are built in Flippin and Micro Plastics, Inc has been making "quality plastic fasteners" in Flippin for over fifty years.

I have a small problem with Micro Plastics as they took away my Abby, the very lovely young lady that helped me with my housework.  Abby was very happy to finally land a full-time job at Micro Plastics.  She tried to work the graveyard shift there, raise three youngin's on her own, sleep, have a life and clean houses on the side, but something had to give.  That something apparently was me.

I miss you, Abby.

Arriving from Kentucky, Thomas J. Flippin and his family settled in what is now known as Flippin in 1821.  At first the community was called 'Goatville' by a travelling salesmen.  The residents, however, felt that it more appropriate for the town to be named after Mr. Flippin and they called it 'Flippin Barrens'.  'Barrens' was added due to the lack of trees.

Really?  Lack of trees in the Ozark Mountains?

I can't find any information on when the 'barrens' was dropped from the name.  It must have been when the trees in the Ozark Mountains grew to over six feet tall.

Anyway ~

First on the our list was the car wash to get a layer of mud off my car.  We live on a mud road when it rains and a dust road when it's dry.  There is no such thing as keeping a car clean for any length of time. At least it was all bright and shiny until we got home.

Thank goodness our hot mess of neurotic, obsessive-compulsive dog handles the car wash better than she did when she was younger.  There was a time when I had to sit in the back seat and hold her while she shook.

Next up was Medi-Save to pick up our prescriptions.  I was very pleased to see the Medi-Save is going to be closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.  As I conversed with the young lady taking my money in exchange for drugs, I told her so.  I mentioned to her that Dollar General was going to be open on Christmas Day.

Really?  In my day, everything was closed on Christmas Day.  And Thanksgiving.  

Ah, the olden days.

Anyway ~

We followed this truck on the way to the pharmacy, hoping that whomever put the strap on the outhouse cared enough about their job on a Monday morning to do it well.

Two minor errands done and we continued on to our final destination.

The store is an older and smaller store, but at least the shelves were completely stocked.  While there didn't seem to be any shopping cart races, I did end up helping two elderly people in finding stuffing cubes (plain, not seasoned) and canned jellied cranberry sauce.  I told Randy that if one more person asked me if I worked there, I was going to request an application for employment.

Since there were no real selling points to the Flippin Walmart, Randy and I made a family decision to stick with the Mountain Home store.

In our travels through Mountain Home, we came across this sign.  I hope it was meant to be funny, because I found a whole lot of humor in it.


Have the BEST day ever!
~ Dorothy