Groceries

A couple of evenings ago, with much heavy sighing and drama and what not, I was informed by my teenaged boys that we were completely and totally...sigh...out of food! Oh the horror. Um...what about that wonderful lasagna that I just fixed you? Didn't we just eat? And the home made...with kneading and yeast involved...bread sticks that we just had. But that was supper and we need snacks! And milk, and bread, and FOOD! Sigh. I had to face it, I had to go to the dreaded grocery store.

Eric and I usually get groceries together, that way I can complain to him about what the other customers are doing. This time, I was on my own. I had to talk to myself. And talk to myself I did. Things like, "ma'am, why would you think that it is ok for you to let you young daughters each shred up a big bundle of parsley in a he loves me, loves me not fashion? Are you going to pay for those bundles? And who gets to clean up that mess? ma'am?" And then there was the woman with the coughing son...and I almost said it out loud to her..."um...if your son is so sick that he throws up a little bit every time that he has that deep barking cough that you can hear from aisles away, so sick that he has to carry paper towels and a baggy for when he throws up, don't you think that maybe, just maybe, you should have KEPT HIM AT HOME??" Man, where is that Purell when you need it? Can a person drink it? I was trying to find the Purell when "Mr. Too Much Cologne Wearer" wandered by. "Thank you sir, that overwhelming cologne smell is bound to kill all the germs the sick boy just spread." See what Eric has to deal with when he shops with me? At least I'm just thinking the stuff, not saying it out loud! Oye. But I made it home with my loot. And the boys were happy.

See...chips, popcorn, milk, torn cheap Cub Foods bag....I love grocery shopping....I love it not. But it's not all bad. See this mysterious turned over bag? What can it be?

It's roses! On sale, left over Valentines' roses! They might not last very long, but they sure are pretty. And they helped me as I wandered around the store trying not to breath or touch or actually say anything.

But the roses weren't the only highlight. I had bagged my stuff, loaded it in the Jeep and was just about to bring my cart through the slushy parking lot to the cart corral when an older man said with the happiest smile, here, I'll take that cart for you. So kind, so nice, how is it that a simple smile and kind gesture can turn a day around? Thank you sir!

It was a great reminder that there really are kind and considerate people around. And it made me smile at the next person that I saw, to try and pass it forward.

The grocery store...it's not just a place, it's an adventure. Here...stop and smell my roses....I protected them from the germs.

Olympic symbol of the day...men's Figure Skating. USA by a hair. So close, so many jumps and spins, fun to watch....

....even if it is a little swooshy.