Grocery Shopping, Food, and Obsession

I am obsessive/compulsive about grocery shopping.  Always have been. Plus I am cheap.

So this is why when the grocery store ads come out with the Tuesday paper, I sit down and make out my list.  There are three major chains in Napa -- Safeway, Lucky and Raley/Nob Hill.  As luck would have it, they are all pretty close together, so I can do a swoop through them all.  Rarely is more than $30 spent at any one store.  Then I look through my coupons, which I keep in a big envelope in my purse with a list of what coupons are in the envelope written on the outside.  I add any store coupons, pick up my canvas bags and off I go.  Today I bought enough chicken thighs for five meals and two boxes of Splenda on sale --- buy one, get one free, plus a $1 off coupon.  Major coup.

The only times I ever buy groceries without a list are at WalMart (where mostly I buy milk because they carry the Hood lo carb dairy product we like), the Grocery Outlet, and 99 Cent only.  At these places, you kind of have to go with the flow of  what's there, and can't depend on anything being there for long or repeatedly.  Like the sugar free decaffeinated International Delight French vanilla instant latte mix, which I should have bought ALL of them. Last time Rod and I were lo carbing, and had a bread machine, we bought dozens of boxes of the low carb bread mix for a dollar each -- and that's when we knew they would soon be unavailable forever.  But because of the cheap produce at 99 Cent only,  I am loathe to pay more for things at the supermarket once I have bought them there.  Amazing things like asparagus and portobello mushrooms.  Yukon Gold potatoes and shallots.  Cans of tiny shrimp that I use in a shrimp spread recipe I make for parties and appetizers (they have been out of these for a while now, and I am running low in the pantry!).  Red, green, orange and yellow bell peppers -- who cares if they are misshapen when you cut them up anyway? So this is where I get produce and many canned goods.  The Grocery Outlet is another surprise place.  Last time we were there they had V-8 light, with way fewer carbs than regular V-8 (Rod likes this, me not so much), package cubed ham which is hard to find at our supermarkets but which is great to have on hand for omelets,salads, soups, and fritattas, and a really nice soft plush kitty bed for only $4.99.  It has become Mamie's favorite place, leaving Rod's lap freer in his office for work on the computer.

Here's how pedestrian our lives are:  A major outing on a weekend is to go to the Pet Club to stock up on cat food, to Costco (where I always eat the only hot dogs I EVER eat), and to 99 Cent Only.  Sometimes we stop at Chevy's for lunch!!!!!!   This is the big date of the week.

And when I whip out my canvas bags, the clerks are always kinds surprised, even though I have been bringing my own bags to the grocery store since the 70's.

Earlier this summer, I spent two days cleaning out the pantry because we had an infestation of pantry moths.  Total gross out.  I threw so much stuff away, and then gave alot more away because we were starting our low carb eating plan.  Now I have moth traps in there and so far so good.  Plus everything is sealed up tight in jars or ziplock bags once it is opened.

On Friday, I cleaned out the refrigerator.  This is another major job that includes washing all of the shelves and bins, and putting in new liners in the vegetable bins, throwing away all of the stuff in the bins that has turned into unidentifiable green slime, the plastic containers of fuzzy leftovers, and combining the three partially consumed jars of peanut butter into one jar.  And I also took everything out of the freezer, made a list of what was in the freezer, and threw out a few things.  Now I have a list posted on the door so that when I take something out of there, I cross is off, and when I put something in there, I add it to the list.  I wonder how many times I have bought some kind of meat for a special dish when I already had it in the freezer, buried under the meatballs, frozen corn, and tamales?  So no more of THAT!!!!!   I think that takes care of the resolution I made about cleaning out one drawer or cupboard a day for the next two MONTHS!!!

All this writing about food is making me hungry.  I think I'll gp downstairs and get a bowl of nuts and a piece of string cheese (my low carb snack of choice) and a big glass of diet cherry Pepsi.

Mirror, mirror AAAAAUUUGH !!!!!!!

It's no secret that after the age of about 45 you need reading glasses.  If you re a super visual person like me with a desk job, maybe earlier.  Like an idiot, I bought my first pair from the optometrist, until I discovered the drugstore ones.  Even better when I discovered the dollar store glasses.  Now I have reading glasses all over the house (I am counting five plus the pair I have on now next to the computer) , and in my car, and in my purse.  And then you also need a magnifying mirror to help with the makeup, right?

I had this little stand mirror with about a 3x magnification that I used for makeup, and a little portable one with a suction cup on the back for travel (how many times have I left this thing on hotel bathroom mirrors?).

So when I saw a fancy brushed steel light up double stand mirror at Costco for only $20, having seen one just like it in the Brookstone catalog fir $149, I jumped at the chance. Finally, a good mirror so my eyeliner would go on straight the first time.

Then I plugged the thing in and looked into it.  At first, everything was just a big blur until I realized I had to get real close for everything to be visible.  

And boy, was it ever!!!!!!   Every broken vein, enlarged pore, bump, lump, and straggly eyebrow hair was standing out in sharp focus.  ACK!    And as if that wasn't bad enough, there under my chin were HAIRS.  LONG ONES!  SOME WERE WHITE!   WHISKERS!     AAAAUUUUUUGH!   How long they had been there, I don't know because I never saw them before.  Oh, I had seen an occasional stray hair that I plucked as soon as I felt it, but never in this much profusion.

Here's the irony if growing older:   You get hair where you never had it before, and where you once had hair, it thins out . Like under my arms and on my legs., etc.  I find myself shaving there much less often than I used to.  Thank GOD I have seen no hairs in my ears and nose!!!!!  (but this might be a guy thing -- I don't know).

Anyhow, once I got over my initial shock, I plucked like mad and check every single day for new miscreants.

And I must say I don't think my eyebrows have ever looked better.

A New Year and a look back at Christmases

This year we almost missed the New Year altogether watching a Netflix movie.  We tuned on ABC at the last minute to watch the ball drop in Times Square and have a big kiss and a snuggle.  No hats, not horns, no champagne.

 In the 70's (maybe 1971or '72)  , I got the flu on New Year's Eve and didn't wake up until  January 2nd, sick as a dog in a bed (my pull out sofa)  that was drenched from my sweat.  

And one New Year (1974 maybe?) when Ellen and I went out to the coast with my little dog Yoni and drank champagne in the blustery sunshine.  And another when I went to San Jose to stay with my aunt Carol and we went out new year's eve to a club.  She got carded, and I didn't.  DEVASTATING since carol is five years older than me!!!

So now it is 2011.  I remember when I was a teenager thinking about the year 2000 and wondering what life would be like when I was (for God Sake) 53 years old.  Ancient at the time.  Would there be space ships? Clothing made of aluminum foil?  Would we all have antennae coming out of our heads?  Well, no such luck, although we now DO have cell phones sticking out of our ears (except for me -- I have hardly turned on my new cell phone since I replaced my work phone with a private one), wear "body art" (and I shudder to think what THAT will look like when these kids are in their 60's and 70's), and are increasingly turning to hybrid and  even electric cars (let's see how long THAT lasts -- I read in the paper today that sales of the new Chevy Volt and Honda Leaf have been disappointing).

So THIS year my resolutions will be mild.  I have tackled my hard ones without a new year (unless you can call retirement a new year) to motivate me -- quit smoking (6 months TODAY), began exercising (at least 5 days per week for a half hour or more each time), and losing weight (25 down and 25 more to go).  In 2011, I want to:
     1. Write in my blog at least twice a week
     2. Volunteer or contribute at least once per month
     3. Clean out one drawer/shelf per day throughout the house until I have done them all
     4. Remember everyone's birthday and special days (anniversary, etc) this year
     5. Host at least one party (not counting the gathering of the goddesses).

I think I can pull these off.

About Christmas:  It's funny that I can remember almost nothing about my childhood Christmases except for the Christmas I had the flu -- I  must have been about six or seven -- and th Christmas I got my big rubber doll, Sandy -- when I was about four, I think.  I also remember going to midnight mass with Grandma Haebig and the smell of the incense in church and the mystery of it all.  In my house growing up, holidays meant drinking and drinking meant stress and bad behavior. On New Year's Eve, mom and dad went out and brought home all of the party hats and horns for us to play with the next day until they fell apart. Somewhere I have a picture of us with those hats and horns, and our neighbors the Cappelinas sitting on the couch. I was wearing checkered overalls (which we called "harryhalls") and was maybe five or six.

This is the Christmas I had the flu - Age 5 or 6 

This is the Christmas we got the merry go round 

No child safety laws then!  I was maybe 3 years old in this one. That merry go round stayed

out in our backyard for at least five years after that Christmas.  

I remember Christmas in 1974 when I went home to Wisconsin.  I had my rabbit fur jacket and my hair permed into an afro (what was I thinking?) and I took everyone (my Mom, sisters and their two kids both under the age of six) to see the Nutcracker in Chicago.  The kids got restless after about 15 minutes  but I didn't mind. That was the Christmas I visited with some of my high school friends including Judy Looker and Sharon Naydihor.  And I got my Fry boots (at Goldblatt's in Racine). That was a Christmas when I was single.   Then there was the Christmas (1970?) when Loren Thornton and I drove down to LA in our  1957 Volvo to visit Loren's sister, who was mucho pregnant. Her water broke while we were there at her house in Malibu!  And her husband had this long powder blue Cadillac convertible. When we drove back, the Volvo conked out in Paso Robles and we hitchhiked home with our luggage, Christmas presents, and our little dog Yoni.  We road most of the way in a VW van that smelled heavily of patchouli mixed with pot.    And I remember another Christmas when I was single on the Russian River and had the blues SO BAD.  I had this tiny plastic tree I plugged in that looked so forlorn.  And another Christmas on the River when I bought a little tree and decorated it with red glass hearts trimmed in gold glitter, determined to celebrate in spite of my loneliness. 

Any how, welcome to 2011 and I look forward to an exciting, entertaining, educational, exhilarating  year!!!!