When we left off with my adventures with A and E, I was just beginning to see my blogging voice return. It feels like I blinked and 5 days went past. #momlife in a nutshell but also why this day out with A and E had been so important to me. Our first mission had been a success.  The valet pulled the car around and we began fumbling with the GPS app. Which way? How far? Where should we go next? At this point, the resin coaster class had not occurred. We needed supplies and so, our next mission became a supply run.

In the grand scheme of things, I feel pretty lucky. I have lived for many years in a place lacking in creative supplies. In my last expat posting, I had access to one shop with about an aisle of everything crammed into one spot and a second shop with mostly fabric and overpriced items. I would often feel I was missing out on materials but now, I am pretty spoiled. In my current location, I have a decently stocked art supply shop almost literally attached to the lobby of my building ( My husband is thrilled. Note hinted at sarcasm). Plus, there are shops in several nearby malls and tons of online shopping options. Supplies are generally not an issue but there is sometimes an elusive item…a supply  that is difficult to find or to find in large amounts. Today’s item was resin. We had plans for it and several of us needed quite a large amount.

I had driven past this store many times, always making a note to stop but never doing so. Either there had been no real need for me to stop ( I have plenty of art supplies) or the people I was with had no desire to. The shop was enormous! Rows and rows of shelves filled with every imaginable art medium. Stacks of scrapbook paper and baskets of punches. Bolts of cloth. Markers and paint tubes lined up by color and type.I had a pure expat moment. The kind of moment when you walk into the “home feeling”. Not the ” home sweet home” feeling but the other. Both are similar but subtly different. ” Home Sweet Home” is safety, love and family( emphasis on the family) mixed with belonging.The “home feeling” is comfort and warmth and the realization you can appreciate something simple. It is all about place and not about family.  You move into the feeling kind of like  walking into gentle rain or the warmth of the sunshine. It wakes your mind up with a gentle jolt of energy and suddenly you think, ” wow, this is so nice. So familiar.” You forgot but now you realize it is there. Everyone experiences it to an extent but, at least for me, becoming an expat has made it all the more noticeable. I walked into that home feeling and I know I must have stopped a moment, hesitated just to allow the awareness of it. We all might have stopped or maybe it was just time hiccuping for me.I briefly wondered if E and A noticed anything but then, we were off to find the resin they needed. E and I each grabbed a shopping cart and we headed into the store. 

With the aide of a store clerk, we located the resin almost immediately. Then the deliberations began. How much do we need? Which size is the best value? And so on. There was an attempt to trade texts with the ladies who couldn’t make it on our outing. Some needed resin too. The best decision for the creative collective needed to be made. I made notes of the costs and had a few mental deliberations of my own while quietly listening to the  comfortable chatter.

I knew they could handle things and I was anxious to start exploring the store. I was anxious for two reasons. One, being the obvious time limit. We still had more destinations on our list. Two, the excitement over the resin was aggravating my pet projects. Walking into that store, they had been so well behaved. I had resin at home. Enough for my pet projects and a small bit to share. Now, with the temptation of more supplies, the pet projects had started to hum and buzz. They danced around in my head, wanting to grow and straining hard on the leash. I said something to the effect that I would be looking around and I slipped off down the aisle with the pet projects in tow. 

I enjoy the convenience of shopping online but there is also something to be said about wandering the aisles. I enjoyed the orderliness of neatly arranged bottles of paint and of items sorted by color.  I scoured the shelves for anything that might be rare or difficult for me to get. Nothing specific but maybe something would jump out at me. Meanwhile, more pet projects were waking up. The sight of all those wonderful supplies had them smelling blood in the water like little sharks. They would eat up all my time and money if I let them.Each pet project is suggesting a new idea or something for me to add to my creative todo list. They circle inside my head, lazily swimming and whispering. They began to marvel at the supplies on the shelves. As I strolled the aisles,the humming and the buzzing got louder. They asked for paint. They asked for pretty paper. They asked for pens and markers. So many colors! I always wanted to try THAT brand. Maybe a brush would be nice. Supplies hopped into the cart. At this point, E and A had settled the matter of resin. As I wove back and forth through the store, I would encounter them. The excitement of art things and their potential was palpable. We were all a bit heady with it. E kept finding deals. A glided back and forth between our carts placing items in whichever buggy was closest to her at the moment. 

Sometime around viewing the artistic display of spray paint cans, Common Sense showed up. She picked up all the supplies in the buggy, turning each over one by one, tallying the total. ” 50, 75,100,250…Do you really need all of this?” she asked. Gently, she started calming the pet projects, assuring them they would all be eventually freed and fed. For now, patience was needed. Common Sense reminded me that I was only buying what I truly needed and that in reality, I didn’t need much. Once again, she and I sorted the supplies. I showed Common Sense my small pile and she approved. I began a reverse shopping of sorts, winding back up and down the aisles putting things back. After working retail, I can’t just randomly dump unwanted items on the nearest shelf. I feel guilty if I don’t at least try to put everything back in its proper place. 

Suddenly, time turns back on, or at least the awareness of it. We regroup for one last sweep of the store. I think Common Sense might be whispering with each of us a little but I can’t be sure. Temptation is still trying to rile up the pet projects. For me at least, Common Sense prevails. It helps to think of all the stuff available in that shop right off my building lobby.  I  manage to keep my purchase just shy of 100 and slightly north of 50. There is nothing really exciting in my supply run haul but there are a few items my local store is currently out of ( and of which I could actually use). A is surprised by how little I got and so am I. Common Sense was a strong lady today. At least for the moment. Common Sense pipes up one more time to let us know our time is limited and we need to really consider our itinerary. We nix the idea of stopping by the furniture store. Instead,we head onward to our last stop, Global Village and a post for another day…

Be sure to pop over to Effy Wild’s blog. She is the host of this blogging challenge. Her day 4 post is right here.