Is anyone else out there playing the Safeway Monopoly game?

Holy crap- I tell you what – it can feel a little overwhelming. I got all serious about it for a minute (see?) and now I can’t really stop… can I?

I literally have the game board taped to the kitchen wall now, and I have upwards of 50 little game slips (unopened) waiting to be dealt with… Uggghhhhh.

Part of me doesn’t care. Another part of me, the part that wants to be Indiana Jones, is out for the treasure hunt! This grocery store Monopoly is as close as I can get to being out in the wild world of awesome archaeological finds that rewrite history and change our understanding of religion and culture. Why? Because I am a stay at home mom of two young girls, and I can’t exactly see dragging them through high risk situations so I can have an adventure.

I have, in summers past, gone out searching for Forrest Fenn’s treasure with my mom (Whoot- Whoot!) -If you don’t know about that, and you also want to be Indiana Jones when you grow up, I suggest you look here– just throw me a bone if you find it before I do ;). Treasure hunting runs in our blood, and I know that as soon as my babies aren’t babies anymore, my mom and I (and maybe the girls too) will be at it again- backpacks on, canteens full of water and hearts full of anticipation… what will we find?

Remember in The Goonies (spoiler alert!) when they find One Eyed Willy’s pirate ship? Oh man! THAT MOMENT- even the moment when they discovered the treasure map- a personal dream of mine to experience ever since I was a child. Remember when Mikey gives his parents the sparkling jewels… priceless. It’s, of course and obviously, all about the hunt, the thrill and the sheer excitement of it all- for who hides or finds a treasure like THAT without a fascinating story to go with it?

As I write this, I know too, that it’s the history nerd in me that also feeds off the romanticized idea that living in some other time, when true treasures were lost, found, buried, fought and died for, would have been just a little more… I don’t know… exhilarating. The realist reminds me that people living “back then” also didn’t live long and had terrible hygiene… EW. Plus- it must be said, that I have the ultimate treasure- my babies, husband, friends and family of course- but this isn’t about them… it’s about my imagined life of adventures and zero responsibilities.

So here I am, a SAHM with the imagination of a child, brimming with the fantasy of finding a city of gold, El Corazon (Romancing the Stone reference there), maybe a hidden pirate’s treasure, Forrest Fenn’s treasure box filled with artifacts and gold coins, or at the very least two Safeway Monopoly pieces (specifically showing a Vlasic pickle jar, and a StarKist tuna packet) that would complete the row and lead to $1,000,000 (pretax) cash.

So wish me luck, and I’ll wish you luck too. I better buckle down and get to my monopoly pieces… maybe I’ll unwrap a treasure token today. If not, maybe you and I will cross paths somewhere, treasure maps in hand. We’ll know, for just a moment that we are out seeking the same feeling, the excitement of finding something once in a lifetime- even if it doesn’t amount to money because, it belongs in a museum!