The Dreaded Thought: Grocery Shopping

I'm not going to even sugar coat it sisters, I despise grocery shopping. The very thought of having to go makes me cringe in agony. Sure, the first couple of times were blissfully engaging as I pranced down each aisle with my "new wife smell" but a few more trips later, I was whooped out like a piece of bologna in between two pieces of bread!

I can't decide whether it's the overwhelmingness of the crowd of people driving their carts histerically down each and every isle I go through or just the stress of knowing what to get, how much of this to get, or both but by the time I reach the register I seriously contemplate stretching out on the roller counter.  Bag me up while your at it, Lady! Because of my hate/hate relationship with the grocery store, I usually don't go for three to four weeks at a time and sometimes even longer sadly. But the good thing is, nothing spoils for the most part because we eat everything, down to the last crumb..literally. We are newly rats, it's true, roaches don't stand a chance at our place, they simply curl up and die from starvation. 

This morning I woke up refreshed, I knew it was that time again, so in an effort to charm myself into the idea of grocery shopping, I locked my lips on a warm cup of coffee and decided it was time to get serious.  Get serious you ask? Let me break it down for you, Two words: Meal Planning. Yes, this little wifey did the unthinkable, I actually took time this morning and planned out our meals for the next three weeks. Countless times have I heard how I needed to incorporate this little idea into my wifey agenda, but I always shook my head at the thought. It would come to me, I said. The strawberry jelly will voluntarily jump into my shopping cart and the mayonnaise will leep at it's first chance! But does it really happen that way? Of course not, because I always find I end up with three full jars of mayonnaise by the time I get home that I mistakingly forgot I already had, two unopened boxes of sweet tea bags minus the sugar needed, and did I really forget toliet paper again!? Thank goodness for paper towels, (you know you've had to, too) or did I forget that as well? Tell me I'm not alone in this aspect of life.

To my surprise, meal planning was a success. I knew exactly what I needed for each dish for each day, and I got it, saved some money too wouldn't ya know? Turns out you save money when you buy only the things you know you need. 

I even found I'm pretty clever myself, instead of using an entire package of hamburger meat which usually doesn't all get eaten because let's face it: there's only two of us, I decided to half my meat portion and separate them into plastic bags! So instead of two potential meals, I made four! And you know what that means? A few more days away from the grocery store! Hallelujah!

After a year of living this newlywed wife, it's finally beginning to sink in that there are loop holes in this beautiful thing we call marriage, but there is so much more to learn, Lord help me.