Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Cupboards Are Bare, The Fridge is Empty, and I am Out of Cheerios

Ugh!  It's finally here.  The day I have been dreading.  The cupboards are bare, the fridge is empty, and I am out of Cheerios.
First let me explain something here.  Ross loves to go food shopping.  And for Ross it is a ritual.
Pre-shopping:  First we have to have a sit down meeting, at the kitchen table, of course.  After I have read the minutes from the previous meeting, meaning checking the pantry and fridge for stuff we are out of, we then move on to current business, meaning making the new list.  This entails him asking me "what would you like to have in the house?"  At this point my usual response is "whateva".  This drives him nuts, by the way.  See, I am not a foodie.  As long as I have my low fat cheese, no salt saltines, cheerios, strawberries and bananas, I am good to go.
Okay, so in order to move this meeting along, I start naming things, "low fat cheese, no salt saltine...you get the picture.  The list becomes the same list as it was last time and the time before that and so on and so on.  This meeting usually lasts at least 30 minutes.  Far too long for me, by the way.
Next, there is the gathering up of the cooler bags and the eclectic array of  re-usable green grocery bags (5 cents off the bill for each one used).
Then there are the good-byes.  These are tough.  When you spend 24/7 with someone, it's hard to be apart for what may be hours.
Okay, so kiss, kiss.  "See you soon." Then it's the last final call before he actually gets out the door, "Are you sure there isn't anything else we need or you want?"
 "Nope, I'm good." I yell back.
And I hear the squeaky front door finally close.
After all of the hubbub of the meeting and gathering of the bags, and kiss kiss, it seems so quiet in the house.
Ahh, but not for long.   I'd say about 30 minutes after he leaves, I can be guaranteed a phone call.
The conversation goes something like this:
"I'm in the blah blah aisle.  They have blah blah on sale. It's buy one case of a thousand and get the second case of one thousand for half off."  (of course it's an exaggeration, come on, you must have seen that my tongue has been in my cheek this whole time by now, haven't you?)
I ask him where he thinks we are going to store 2000 blah blahs.  He tells me that we will figure it out.
At this point I immediately begin to clean out the pantry and make space on the storage shelves in the laundry room.
Next stop is the German Butcher, along with another phone call home to ask if I am sure that I don't want anything else from the German Butcher.
Somewhere along the way, Ross will make a Costco run.  Yes, you guessed with another phone call to ask if I am sure I don't want anything else from Costco.
When he comes home from his favorite haunts, in addition to overflowing "green" grocery bags, he is ready to regale me with tales of his journey.
As we put the groceries away, there seems to be a back story for each item.  There is his chat with the fish monger (okay, I guess you can't call the guy behind the fish counter at Shop-rite a monger, but for the purpose of making this more colorful he will be known as the fish monger) about the pros and cons of farm raised vs wild salmon.   It is certain that there was some kind of incident in the check out line that becomes a story to be told.
There is always some kind of excitement happening at the German Butcher.  The last time Ross was there, he, Wolfie and Wolfie's cousin swapped stories about their past experiences at the Fancy Food Show.  Ross will tell me that Wolfie gave him a taste of his  Black Forrest ham.   "He makes it himself, you know."
"Oh really?"  I say.  "I think you may have told me that once (or 100 times) before."
And finally Costco.  "They have all new stuff out now at Costco."  "You should come with me next time."
Ross is incapacitated, meaning he can't drive and is still on heavy pain meds.  And since we are out of cheerios and low fat cheese, etc., I am going to be doing the food shopping today.  My style of food shopping is slightly different,   There will be no sit down meeting. I will do the kiss, kiss and "see you soon", though, but the soon will be much sooner than Ross' version of soon.
There probably will be a German butcher run and a trip to Shop-rite.  But, there will NOT be a Costco visit.  After all, I can't possibly have a Costco experience without Ross.
I’m pretty sure I won’t be cozying up to the fish monger or Wolfie and Wolfie’s cousin.  There will definitely be no eye contact with anyone in the checkout line. 
That probably means that I won’t have much to say during the unloading and putting away phase. 
Maybe I’ll take a little video for Ross.  Something for him to do while he is on the mend. 


I have created a page for Anna's Diary.  It can be found under the Tab titled Anna's Diary.
I have posted all of the entries to date there, starting with January 1, 1929.

Here is today’s entry from Anna’s diary:
Thurs. May 16, 1929
Charlotte here to wash.  Had to run down town to cash a check.  Back early.  Flo, Jean and myself went to Broad to see Violet Heming in “This thing called love.”

[Info on Violet Heming can be found here]

7 comments:

  1. I, too, hate grocery shopping....but mostly because it requires bringing Little Man along and he cannot keep his hands off anything I put in the cart, even if it's frozen solid or glass or whatever. He's kind of nosy like that.

    Speaking of which...I think we're out of low-fat cottage cheese.........

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  2. That is so funny. I think after men retire the grocery store, deli and Costco become their new best friends. My husband does most of the shopping as well. We only got a Costco card last Fall but he loves it!! David is pretty good about using a list and not buying 2000 of anything! I only go to the store when I want to pick out special things for a special meal, about twice a month. 
    Hope Ross' recovery is going well and that he will be out and about soon. I'm sure the fish monger and deli person miss him.

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  3. We used to do grocery runs together. Then, I started working on Saturdays. So hubby does it by himself. I like to go with him, and while doing grocery,  usually I get some craft things for myself too. 
    So, now a days, no grocery run and crafty little thing for me.

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  4.  I remember those days of shopping with little kids, not a lot of fun.
    I have done more than my fair share of grocery shopping, perhaps that's why I am a little tired of it. 

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  5. Even though Ross won't go to the store without a list, he can't resist a sale.   Ross is coming along.  It was a beautiful day today, so I took him for a little ride down to the bay.

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  6. Getting a treat for yourself, especially a crafty thing is great incentive if you have to go to the grocery store. 

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  7. Oh, oddly enough, I really enjoyed grocery shopping with my kids.  They were usually easily entertained and, during their toddler years, I was able to go to the grocery on weekday mornings.  We would make it into an adventure and then come home, have lunch, and off they would go to napland!  Ah, those were the days!

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