I should be packing but…

I just discovered something that I have to share with everyone. One of the lessons that I learned in my one and only cross country military move is that there are certain things the packers won’t pack. For example, you have to take the batteries and light bulbs out of everything which is annoying because you don’t want to break the light bulbs and who keeps the packages that they come in and how many things have batteries in them?!? Another thing they won’t pack is bathroom items such as lotions, liquid soaps, and shower gels. Apparently anything liquid they can’t pack. Who knew! Well, this time I am one step ahead of the movers. I went to Target (thanks, Brent!) and purchased some trusty Rubbermaid totes (purple of course) to load up with all of the extra bath items I have accumulated over the years. I have now realized one of the few things I got out of my 4 years as a military spouse. Apparently my trips to the various case lot* sales at the commissary have afford me a vast supply of items that I couldn’t possibly use all by myself. For example, I purchased a case of 12 bottles of dishwashing detergent at my first case lot sale two years ago. I still am using the detergent I bought. I am just now down to my last bottle. I also have 3 boxes of the trash bags I bought at the same sale left. However, the realization I came to today was that I now own enough liquid hand soap to last me for probably the next four years. (Did I ever mention that my ex-husband was a compulsive hand washer?) On top of the frequent purchasing of the foaming hand soap from Bath & Body Works that Shawn loved (and I hated), I also purchased a case of 12 bottles of soft soap last year at the sale but I have yet to use a single bottle of the soft soap (see the above comment about foaming hand soap). I would also purchase the foaming soap in bulk when it was on sale 3 for $10. I should have sent the foaming soap with Shawn since I am not a fan of anything anti-bacterial. Oh and please do not let me buy any lotion or body wash for at least the next year. I don’t use the stuff that much. Did I mention that I have already filled the two totes I bought yesterday and I still have lotion and body wash to pack? That’s right…I could keep a small country clean for the next year and not once have to visit Walmart to stock up on supplies. So…what do I want for Christmas this year? How about someone to come take all this stuff off of my hands!

*The suppliers will sell cases of various products at a discounted price which factored with the no tax status at the commissary makes things really cheap. These sales are held twice a year and look much like the release of the new Xbox last year.