I am not a shopper…

Yesterday:

— Meijer Thrifty Acres, 7 AM: lots of grokkeries, cleaning stuff, etc., etc., etc.

— Kayak Corral, sometime in the morning: Kayak lights — port and starboard. No, no new kayaks but saw some that looked pretty cool for the kind of kayaking we do. Hmmm…

— Lodi Farms, sometime in the morning: A yard of topsoil. (Yes, we had the Beverly Hillbillies Trailer with us.)

— Ace Hardware, sometime in the morning: Another cute metal table (red) for the backyard. And I fergit what else.

— Produce Station greenhouse, sometime in the morning: Two more tomato plants. Wanted some hanging pots of flowers but couldn’t make up my silly old mind.

— Plum Market (noon or thereabouts): salads for lunch, grokkeries for dinner, et al. (I walk to the Plum Market and usually buy only what’ll fit into a backpack.)

— English Gardens (after lunch): looking for hanging pots of flowers again but couldn’t make up my silly old mind (again).

— Kroger parking lot greenhouse (after lunch): *forced* myself to decide on two hanging pots of flowers. Hope I don’t kill ’em too quickly.

Today:

— Plum Market (8:30 AM): Copper River salmon (tonight), shrimp (tomorrow), veggies, OJ (because we are already halfway through the big bottle I bought *yesterday*), catsup (because we are out), and I fergit what else.

— Aaaaaaannddd… Guess where else? Canya guess? Huh? Huh? Meatballs anyone? Yup. You got it. Iiiiiikeeeeeeea. Yes. I managed to do all of the shopping above this weekend and I still managed to survive Ikea.

We pulled off quite a feat today. The nearest Ikea is 25 miles away or thereabouts. In fact it is about halfway between the Planet Ann Arbor and Fabulous Ferndale. Sooooo, we loaded Lizard Breath’s bike into the Frog Hopper and headed over to Ikea, where we met up with Liz in the parking lot. The mission? A couch. For Liz, although we need one (or two) too. And she found one (and a floor lamp and some kitcheny stuff). The couch was packed into two boxes. Against all odds and with a little help from a random bystander, the GG managed to get the BIG box into the Frog Hopper and attached the smaller box to the roof. The bike got moved to Maggie.

Are you tired yet?

Liz and I followed the Frog Hopper to FF in Maggie and, after unloading all the boxes, we… Decided we needed to eat. (No, we did not eat meatballs.) So we hoofed it downtown for lunch brunch. And then… A free-for-all session of opening boxes, putting furniture together, stuffing cushions into covers, breaking up boxes and loading them into the Frog Hopper for recycling back here on the Planet Ann Arbor. Er, actually it wasn’t really a free-for-all. Lizard Breath was very carefully reading the directions (and keeping the GG from jumping ahead and trying to figure it out without them). KW took charge of breaking up boxes and stuffing cushions into covers, two areas where she felt she was least likely to get into trouble.

Now are you tired?

All three of us were totally absolutely utterly exhausted at the end of all that. So we sat on the new couch while the GG drank a beer. Somehow the GG and I survived the 45 minute drive back to the Planet and after washing my feet (bare feet in sandals for something like six hours?) and cruising the internet for a while, I am starting to feel a bit like a human being again.

I actually love to shop with my kids. Well, fabric shopping with Mouse can get a little long sometimes but that’s a whole ‘nother topic (I love you Mousey). But when I am with one of them, I can vicariously shop, as Radical Betty used to say. And if they are hesitant to buy something because of the cost, I can slip them a little cash. There’s no shame in that. The Commander frequently did that for me even when I was long past the point of needing any kind of parental financial aid. In fact, she paid for my beloved old 12″ screen G4 Powerbook (which still lives although I’m on my third Apple laptop now). I was almost 50 then and it wasn’t because I couldn’t afford to buy it on my own! And I remember once long ago when my sweet mother-in-law slipped me a hundred dollars. For no reason. Just love. But I am digressing. When I shop with somebody else (besides the GG…) I am not stressed out by having to make my own decisions. I am able to relax and go with the flow and so notice things I might not normally notice. I would like to think that I’m able to keep any opinions I may have to myself. After all, my cute little beach urchins are grown now and they have their own opinions and tastes. And this particular kid has lived in San Francisco since she graduated from college six years ago, so I have *rarely* been involved in helping her furnish her household. It’s kind of fun being close enough to help shop and schlep things.

And maybe *she* can help *me* shop too. But probably not schlep things so much because Maggie isn’t all that big and doesn’t have a roof rack and can’t pull a trailer like the Frog Hopper does/can. But I do need a shopping buddy.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 3rd, 2012 at 6:06 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.