Internal Chatter: Grocery Shopping

I love Mondays..I've stated it before. The type A personality that has swallowed me whole loves routine and Mondays bring back routine. In the morning, after exercising, I create THE LIST. I love creating the list and looking at my dinner schedule and thinking about those extra essentials we've run out of. My grocery run includes 2 stops: Costco & Walmart. I make sure my Costco coupons are reading to go, in the order of what I want the most and what I need the least, I gather my coat and THE LIST and excitedly head out the door. Except every once in a great while, I forget THE LIST and find it resting on my desk where I left it at the beginning of my excursion. Today was one of those days...of course I didn't know it until I was in the parking lot of Costco. I took deep breaths and started to recreate THE LIST in my mind..which isn't fully functioning in the memory department.

Then I zip to get gas if I need it. Today I ran into an old family friend. Kurt. But he was too busy on his pay-as-you-go cell phone to give me the time of day. Secret: I was super excited to run into him...I find that odd since I see him every day and only hope he has somewhere to be every once in awhile.

Walmart. Do any of us like to admit we shop there? I don't, but a girls got to do what a girls got to do. It seems that always one wheel on the cart makes an annoying squeaky sound and that every time you turn down an aisle there is someone parked right in the center of it. Come On people...pick a side. Then, when I'm trying to race through the person hygiene section so no one will catch me buying stuff...2 people block me in and I run into someone who I'm friendly with but not THAT friendly with.

The grocery section is awesome. I try to have sympathy for the mother with the screaming infant who you hear no matter what aisle you are in, but really I just feel bad for the infant.

For me, the most crucial section of the store are the check out lanes. There are certain clerks I try to avoid. There is the gal who is unbelievably slow. No...seriously, it's like watching slow motion and it takes everything I have to not just grab a can, slide it across the scanner, and say, "See...how hard is that?". Then there's the gal who is a chatterbox. I like some conversation just as much as the next person, but I don't need to know you are depressed (you think I'm joking..I'm not) or how you just can't keep weight on no matter how hard you try or how you really should be on break (these all came from the same clerk at different times). Last, but certainly not least, is the guy who keeps a folded rag next to the register so he can dab is dripping nose after each swipe of an item. GO HOME.

Once I've made it through the gauntlet, I joyfully drive home. Grocery shopping (the end result..just like exercise) makes me happy for a few reasons. There is something about opening the fridge or the cupboard and seeing them full of food that balances out the fear you face during times of unemployment. Shelter: check. Water: check: Food: check. I also love to hear my boys come home from school and exclaim, "Yes! Groceries". Finally, I remember doing the same thing when my mom went shopping and then trying not to let Randy know about all the goodies hidden throughout the kitchen.

Ahhh...another grocery day come & gone. All is well. All is well.