Best shop to date
Entry posted by Ethyl17
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It has been an interesting two weeks, post wedding. Mary called Friday night, just for a chat and mentioned that just two weeks earlier, we were all on cloud nine!
We lost my Mom on December 17 and Bruce's December 24, so this is always a bittersweet time of year. We talked in Chat about downsizing the holiday work: decorations, cards, cooking, baking. Most have families that balk at changing the traditions. But with some discussion, families either adjust or jump in to help out.
We here in North Haven have "minimalist". Bruce says it is OK, but sometimes I wonder if he is just worried about upsetting me.
It took four days to recover from the wedding, plus I had to do two extra shifts to make up my time from the week before the wedding. And not 24 hours goes by, Newtown. That seemed to just send me into a tailspin. Too many emotional ups and downs. Fortunately we go to a friend's for Christmas Eve. Christmas Day will just be Bruce and I, but I do want to do a nice meal.
So it was off to the grocery store today. Now we haven't been in two weeks, so it was a big shop. Plus I wanted to try a new antipasto recipe that was shared with me. The store has recently remodeled and we are still getting used to it. I think every shopper in town was in the store and they brought their spouses! The non-shoppers are always a problem, even on a good day. Stand in aisles, offering suggestions - trying to help out, getting the looks - LOL. Wandering about, no clue. But they probably have something to say about the woman who brings the guy in the WC and makes him push the cart while she pushes him! So irresponsible - LOL. Quite a few recognize us, of course and we have some laughs.
Bruce and I spent a long time on the list, matching up coupons, getting deals. Especially the buy one, get one free meats. That happens so rarely and we do try to stock up. This week they offered ham steaks, Kielbasa and chicken. His favorite lamb chops (Australian) were 99 cents a pound. That happens twice a year, so that will be our Christmas dinner.
Bruce has taken it one step further. He combined cheese, A-one steak sauce and Planter's nuts to get $5.00 back from Kraft. Plus the nuts were $2.00 off on sale and he had a coupon for all three that we purchased. Same thing with the steak sauce that Bruce uses all the time when he marinates his beef. He found a coupon for most of the antipasto ingredients - now guaranteed they were all brand names, but the antipasto was wonderful and I think I would have bought the better brands anyway, since I was trying a new recipe.
So our biggest trip to date. I want you to know it took almost two hours to prep the list and another 2 1/2 at the store. I am going to figure 45 minutes of that was figuring out where stuff was now and getting around the "I have no clue why I am here" people. Just want everyone to know this is not an easy task. But $280.00 in groceries that we paid $181.00 including tax. You rock Bruce!
Happy Holidays to all. We are still hoping for a white one here in Connecticut. Debbie
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