Fatniss Goes to Costco

For the past several weeks, I've avoided the mother of all temptations--Costco. Now, it was time. I had a print to pick up at the photo center, so of course my husband and I grabbed a cart to look around.

We started with our usual discussion about whether an 80-inch TV is a need or a want. I still come out on the "want" side of the argument, but he is making headway.

Then we headed to movies and games. That's where I spotted Zumba for Xbox 360. I have become a Zumba devotee--the live version--so I picked it up to try out in our basement. Score one good choice for Fatniss!

We moved along rather quickly, passing all of my old temptations. Cheese. Fancy cheese. Cheese spread. The samplers were out in full force. I was tempted by some yummy looking tuna salad, but I quickly calculated how much it would cost me in Weight Watchers points for the day and kept walking. You go, girl.

We grabbed a large bag of popcorn to have around for a snack, then looked one more time to be sure we hadn't missed any must-haves. We got in line with our nearly empty cart, proud of ourselves for our restraint. To us, Costco is simply known as the $300 Store, so this sparse haul was a victory.

Then I spotted THEM. A woman two customers in front of us was paying for two large jars of Jelly Belly jelly beans. I am not a jelly bean fiend by a long shot, but something came over me, and I just had to have them. I asked my husband if I had time to look a few rows back in the candy aisles. He kind of nodded, and I was off. A quick scan did not reveal the beans. I was becoming desperate.

The lady with the Jelly Belly duo of goodness was nearly done paying. I feared my chance to obtain 49 wonderful flavors was fading quickly. I jumped in front of the next customer with a worried "excuse me!" and reached over and tapped the lady at the register.

In a desperate voice, I pleaded with her to tell me where she found the Jelly Belly jars. With a pitying look, she informed me that they were way in the back by the wine.

The customer in front of us had moved into position. Opportunity was fading. I looked at my husband to see if I had his support in this mission. He shrugged. Good enough for me. I started running to the back of the store. Did you read that? I started RUNNING! And it was easy, too.

I made my way back past the movies, through the wine, and over the baked goods. That's when I spotted their colorful goodness, neatly packed in a jar.

I grabbed the beans, tucked them under my arm, and started running back. I heard them shaking in the container like maracas as I moved my feet. Suddenly I envisioned the viral video that was going to result from Fatniss clutching bulk jelly beans, running through the store like a madwoman.

I slowed down to a fast walk and rushed toward the register. I could see my husband talking to the cashier. Wanting him to know
that I had acquired the beans, I yelled and held them over my head triumphantly. Again, look for that photo on Twitter somewhere.

We paid, and I proudly carried my candy trophy to the car, looking up Jelly Belly recipes on the way. I had already calculated that 10 beans was about one WW point. On the way home, I enjoyed a blueberry muffin (two blueberry beans mixed with a popcorn), a s'more (a chocolate, two marshmallow, and a caramel corn), and French toast (cinnamon, popcorn, and caramel corn).

And I had plenty of points left for dinner.

My sweet, sweet trophy