#2,600 Grocery Store Surprise.

It was the most regular day. We went to work and had a great conference call. I went to the eye doctor, my vision hasn’t changed in 2 years which is a first (maybe my blindness is leveling off finally!), then I went home and put on my favorite old sweatshirt and we went to the gym where I spent 47 minutes on the treadmill distracted from the misery of that by Parenthood. Then we went to Kroger to pick up some milk and supplies to make spaghetti and meatballs tomorrow. Saw the Dudleys from church, shopping for Mrs. Diane’s mother. Then, in the checkout lane—there it was. The March issue of HGTV Magazine.

It was a regular old day. Eye doctor. Long walk. Favorite old sweatshirt. Kroger. Milk. And then you see the Dudleys from church who are shopping for pork, too. And then on aisle 6, you freak out a little bit. Y'all look for @HGTV Magazine's March issue and you'll see some familiar faces here and there and a fun feature story. #HGTVHomeTown

A post shared by Erin Napier (@erinapier) on Feb 3, 2017 at 2:51pm PST

We knew it would be in stores soon, but didn’t think it would be quite yet. Not today. Not when your day and your life seems so absolutely, positively regular. And after you see this, your face, tiny, smiling on the cover, a full page advertisement of a very handsome bearded man and his wife who is (somehow!) you, you squeal a little bit, and people keep buying canned soup and gluten-free cereal around you. And you grab 3 copies for yourself and your mamas, and you checkout… And you are the same as you were before. And I think I’ve probably idly wondered what that would feel like, to be the people on the magazine and see yourself when you’re just out buying your milk. I wondered how strange it must feel, if you felt like you were in more than one place at one time, and now I know…

That it does feel strange, but you feel exactly the same. And the world keeps turning. And you scan your grocery card club card, pay for your food, and you go home.

I promise, as this becomes part of our new normal, I will stop sharing about all this. But currently, I’ve never experienced anything like it and I’m talking through it as I write. It helps me make sense of this craziness. Do any of you who enjoy writing know what I mean?

P.S.

I should clarify, it became a regular day after waking up to this. Thank you SO very much for the kind words, Southern Living!