Sorry I have been MIA for the past two days...my DD has been very sick (high fever/vomiting) so I've been focusing on taking care of her.

To follow up on my last blog re: my panic over grocery shopping and subsequent gorging on homemade cookie dough because there was nothing else to eat in the house....

I GOT GROCERIES! WOO HOO!

Admittedly, this does not sound like a big deal. But when I am in the midst of a depression it is REALLY HARD for me to get out of the house and do what needs to get done. I wasn't quite ready to tackle the grocery store after sorting coupons and finding recipes, so I called my niece (LIVEELOVER) and she was kind enough to go for a 2-mile walk with me. That made me feel energized and proud of myself for being able to check another day off on my "5K Your Way" fitness plan. With my newfound strength, I headed off to the grocery store.

As I was cruising the aisles, I began to realize why I dislike grocery shopping so much.

1) There are so many decisions to be made. I am not good at making decisions, even on a good day. And with grocery shopping there are two competing value systems at war with each other -- the side of me that wants to buy healthy food, and the side of me that is trying to save money. They are often in conflict. For example, I had a coupon for some granola bars that were also on sale. Good deal, right? Until I looked at the ingredients and realized that 3 of the first 4 ingredients were a form of sugar. Since my daughter also struggles with eating right, I stood there for 5 minutes holding the granola bars wondering whether I should buy them or not, and if not, what was I going to pack in her lunch? Imagine applying this decision making process to sixty or so items, and you come to the second reason I hate grocery shopping:

2) It takes me too long! I spent two and a half hours at the grocery store. I don't know anyone else who spends an entire evening shopping for two people.

3) The final reason I think I dislike getting groceries is because on some level it escalates my worry about money. As most of you know, I am really struggling financially. I held up one small bottle of Woolite (the size of a bottle of dishwashing liquid) and realized that it cost the same as 45 minutes of work for me. Depressing.

So there you have it...the reasons why I don't like to get groceries. With that said, I felt great when it was all done! I faced my enemy head on and survived I was so proud of myself, I even took a picture to share with all of you.



Woo Hoo! Veggies!

Now I just need to cook them....