The Morning After The Talk

It's the morning after the talk and all is well. Then Bob gets up and announces we need to go to FredMeyer (grocery store) because he has a 20% coupon he wants to spend on underwear and he wants to return a $3 bungee cord. (dang those super stores)

Mid morning we are on our way with bright shining faces through major road construction headed for FredMeyer. As we enter the store I show him seats and tell him to meet me back there. I head for the grocery section to pick up the few items we can buy only at this store.

He finishes before me and true to his nature he's a busy boy.  He's a friendly man, loves people, and will talk to just about anybody. I find him entertaining a nice lady who has just signed him up for a Visa credit card! He's a sucker for anything free. He got all these freebies from the nice lady for signing up.

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I need to be eating more chicken but I really don't like it. I'm always looking for ways to disguise it. I have these chicken spinach & feta sausages out on the Weber Q. If Bob ever leaves the lid down long enough for them to cook I'm going to see if I like them.

I can now report these sausages are quite tasty and I will buy more if I can remember where I bought them. I have grocery stores dancing like sugar plums in my head.

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I decided I could smell the kitchen drain, probably from the garbage disposal.  I got online to see what I could do about it and did the following:

1) 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup white vinegar in the drain to set for 10 minutes.
2) Poured pan of boiling water down the drain
3) Because I have a garbage disposal it was recommended to turn it on and run 2 cups ice and 1 cup salt (I used ice cream salt)

Seems to have worked.

A Come to Jesus Talk

From time to time during the 54 years I've been married to the husband we've had to have a 'Come to Jesus' talk. Bob is OCD about a lot of things. Once he becomes focused he never lets up. It's like being screwed in a vice. I stand it as long as I can and then it's time for a talk. It seems to me the subject of food comes up entirely too often in this house. After all we're talking about two people, not a houseful of hungry children.

These days I try to go with the flow of whatever keeps Bob calm, anxiety free, stress free, and happy. I figure he's my top priority. He turns 84 in a few days and he's not well.  The problem with this concept is that I am NOT calm, anxiety free, stress free, and happy.

The man talks non-stop about food, cooking, grocery stores and 'supper.' I could care less about food, cooking, grocery stores and 'supper.' He never gives it a rest.

Monday was a trip to Costco. Tuesday was a trip to Safeway. This morning it was time for a  'Come to Jesus' talk. As is our tradition, I explained to him he has screwed the screws too tight. I can't breathe, time to loosen up some.

A) I cannot continue to be totally focused on food. I'm gaining weight and that is very bad. I'm also not eating what I'm supposed to eat as a diabetic. It has to stop. I have to focus now on my own health and diet, which is very different than his food focus.

B) Breakfast is set in stone here so I don't have to deal with that. I will continue to plan and help prepare the noon meal. Once the kitchen is cleaned up from that I'm through for the day. I do not want to hear another word about food.

C) Supper, as he calls it, we will prepare separately. The things I need to eat are not the things he likes to eat. There's plenty of food in the kitchen for him to prepare himself something light for his 'supper.' I'm pretty clear on what I need to eat, none of which he cares about.

D) I put a magnetic notepad on the refrigerator. He can note anything he wants from the grocery store and I will do the same.

E) Grocery shopping will be done the following way. We will shop the grocery store of his choice (excluding Costco). I will prepare a shopping list for him of all the foods we routinely buy and need to pick up that day. I will corner a small grocery cart and get him and his list started. I'll have a list of the things we don't routinely buy for me to pick up and I'll take a small cart and go the opposite way. We'll met back in the register area where I will unload groceries from both carts, and check out. We've done this before and it works pretty well. This week I set him off to do his shopping and slipped next door and got my hair cut, then came back and did my shopping and he was none the wiser.

F) Costco will be a once a month trip. He buys little food there, but lots of paper goods and that sort of thing. He knows exactly what he's going for and doesn't need my guidance. I will find a chair, sit and listen to an audible book while he shops. I don't care how long it takes him to shop, how slow he walks, or how long he stops to look around. As long as I'm not doing it I don't care. He can take the cart and putter around all afternoon if that's what floats his boat.

I've got to change the subject in this house. I realize he needs the social outing. I'm willing to give him that but we must not talk food 24/7.

I've got to get back to walking and thinking about something other than food. As a diabetic food has ceased to be a pleasure I live for, but rather a necessity for living. I know how I'm supposed to eat and do not want to think about food anymore than is necessary.

And that's how I feel about that!

Walmart Grocery Shopping

If you've been following this blog you know of the battles Bob and I have over grocery shopping. His preferred store is FredMeyer (Kroger) and mine is Safeway. It would appear we may have found a store on neutral turf, Walmart.

Walmart has recently opened a grocery store near us. It's only sells groceries and has a pharmacy. It's not one of their big box stores. I never used Walmart when we lived in Texas, and until recently it wasn't an option in Oregon.

Every time I enter this new store I have a bad feeling. I keep thinking I'm supposed to be boycotting Walmart for some reason but I don't remember what.

I looked online to see what I could find. It looks like progressives may be boycotting Walmart because they pay low wages and do not give their employees enough hours to require them to have to pay benefits.

I'm assuming this is the issue. Now I have a decision to make. Paying low wages and not paying benefits would make Republicans smile because that would be a money maker for Walmart. Paying low wages and not paying benefits would make Democrats frown because employees would not be making a living wage or have the benefits all Americans need, such as healthcare.

I've never liked Walmart since the day one went in near us in Texas. It was built out of concrete blocks, it was huge, the parking lot was huge, and the building was painted gray and blue. It was one ugly store. The few times I was there It was crowded, and the parking lot and sidewalk areas around the store were dirty. I hate big box stores on a good day and I really don't like crowded ones. Nothing about it was pleasing to the eye.

Now it appears Walmart has finally figured out it might be a good idea to build stores that blend with the surrounding buildings. I have to say this new grocery store is very nice and the architecture blends nicely.

I can't find much to criticize except that I have this nagging feeling I'm not supposed to shop there because they're bad. Are they bad for the economy, bad for other businesses in the area, bad because they pay low wages?

What do you think about Walmart?