Grocery List

“We only need a few things at Walmart,” I said to my husband as we set out to do our grocery shopping. I wanted to shop at the economy store across the street, but they didn’t carry some things I wanted. It’s a mistake to go grocery shopping with your husband, even though it is extremely nice to have him along to help with the bags.

I started toward the back to get decaffeinated tea, but Howard took a detour to pick up his favorite mini-pies. “You look for what you want in that aisle, and I’ll look at the cheese and cold cuts,” he directed me as he headed to his favorite section.

Shortly I had everything I needed (and then some) and was ready to leave the store, amid the distractions of my spouse pointing out to me what caught his eye that he had “been hungry for.” I couldn’t believe my eyes when at the check-out, I saw that he had slipped in a five-pound “chub” of bologna! I hadn’t seen one of those in years! Also there was the ever-present slab of cheese.

After spending more than a third of our grocery budget in Walmart, we decided to keep it down at the next store. Since we hadn’t bought groceries for a couple of weeks, naturally we needed several things, and as I took a detour to pick up paper towels, Howard browsed at the freezer section. Unloading at the register, why was I not surprised to see a half-gallon of ice cream that had made its way into the cart?

I realized later that the reason we had bought so much was because we shopped late-morning, and we were both hungry! “What do you want to do about lunch?” Howard asked me on the way home. Well, with ice cream in the car, not to mention milk and meat, we couldn’t very well go in and eat somewhere. Besides, after buying all that food, why eat out?

“How about bologna sandwiches?” I needled him. And that’s what we had, along with a can of chicken noodle soup I had picked up. With a tall glass of iced tea, it was delicious. Especially when you know you have a fat hen and a pack of frozen dumplings waiting in the fridge for a sumptuous meal when you’re not too tired to make it!