load me up

i have a severe aversion to making more than one trip.

i want to make just one trip to the grocery store, so i spend the largest balance of grocery-shopping-time making the list prior to leaving the house.  i check each cupboard, fridge, freezer to see what we're missing, low on, or what is well stocked.  pre smart phone,  i recorded each needed item in an organized fashion on my 1/4 sheet lined magnetized notepad.  i carried a pen in my purse and enthusiastically crossed each item off the list as i plopped it into my cart.

having finished a task and subsequently dragging pen across paper in a straight line through words gives me a feeling of euphoria that can only be likened to the big 'O'.   crossing off is EVEN BETTER than the big 'O' because at ANY given moment i can make a list and cross something off... but with our busy schedule, kids, and work i can only catch Oprah on tv every once in awhile.   i really shouldn't call her big anyway, i think she's lost weight again?

with smart phone, i found a splendid app called ColorNote where i make my ever-loving lists and with a touch of a button an item gets a line through it.  it is NOT the same bliss.  but my smartphone tops my magnetized notepad hands down.  my magnetized notepad has one function.  and dictates the size of purse i must carry.  my smartphone is teeming with features and never leaves my hand so i don't even need to carry a purse at all.   so once i'm done at the market, i head home.  on the double since i never remember to take a cooler along and invariably have frozen boxed dinners on my list.

i refuse to make more than one trip from car to kitchen.   so i call the kids out to help carry in the bags.  but there are always so many bags and i only have 3 kids.   i'm not good at sticking to my list.  i see something on the shelf that looks so tasty,  i quickly add it to my list and then promptly cross it off.   plus i'm usually at the store hungry.  no good.  this is a rookie mistake that i continue to make as a veteran food shopper.

so the kids pile on the bags.  i pile on the bags.  alien piles on the bags.  alien, flashing back to all the broken pickle jars and cracked eggs, in a punctuated cadence shouts over his shoulder, "i'll. come. back. for. the. last. couple. bags. greta".    he is a practical person and doesn't bat an eye at making more than one trip.  i look around, only 2 left in the car?   i load up the last 2 bags.  i just can't suffer the thought of coming back outside for two measly bags.  i can fit them on this heap somewhere.   i waddle into the house, almost making it into the kitchen unscathed.