Trolley of the Dolls

Now that Janice has been put on bed rest (formerly strict, now reduced to modified), we've had to adjust our schedules and the workings of the household. I've been pleased to discover that I can still do a reasonable job cooking, but humbled by trips to the supermarket. I'd swear that I used to do all of my own shopping. I don't seem to remember how to do it, but surely I would have starved otherwise (and I'm clearly not, nor have ever been starving). Now each trip seems like an adventure into another world, one where I don't speak the language or understand how anything works.

To counteract my ineptitude, Janice (bless her heart) has taken to re-writing the grocery list by location so that I can use it like a map:


This makes the entire trip much simpler and less likely for me to screw up. Unfortunately it doesn't prevent minutes being wasted while trying to select the appropriate item. This morning, I stood in front the array of sizes, flavors and types of jam while my internal monologue ran:

Let's see, I think it's usually Jam. No, maybe preserves. Or at least not jelly. And she mentioned once that she tried to get jam without high fructose corn syrup. Or was it with the corn syrup and no preservatives. I probably should have been paying more attention. Ok, we'll go non-HFCS. Now, what type of fruit does Anaïs prefer. We've got strawberry now, but I should change it up. Boysenberry... I can't remember if she likes fruit with 'y' in the middle and not on the end. Of course I could just stick with strawberry. I wonder if Apple Butter counts as jam...

Just repeat this while randomly picking up the various jars. I finally settled on Blackberry jam, sweetened with fruit juice and no preservatives. But I hedged my bet by getting the smallest possible jar.

Oh, and hello blog, long time no see.