Sometimes it is Hard to Say Goodbye…

“I want to be totally lazy and laze in the bed and be with you, Wheezy, and Maggie this morning,” Tracy told me sanguinely as she dressed for work. 

“I know you do, sweetheart,” I replied. “There is a vacuum in this house when you leave for the day. It can only be filled by you.”

Tracy and I also have to go grocery shopping tonight. We try to stick to our old schedule and we never arrive before nine. That’s a little trick my father taught me. Usually, Kroger is a wasteland by that late at night. I spend about eighty dollars and Tracy spends about eighty dollars.

“What’s for lunch?” Tracy then asked me excitedly before she left for work.

“I thought we would be Asian today and cook some soy sauce seasoned ground beef and cabbage over a bed of rice and crunchy chow mien noodles.”

“That sounds so delicious,” she replied to me. “I cannot wait until noon gets here!”

“It was mom’s recipe and I always enjoyed it when I was growing up.”

Bah! Humbug!

I just don’t feel much like writing a blog post today. Do you ever feel that way about your own blog? Nothing’s wrong. I am just caught in some kind of writer’s malaise. I was going to write about how I am getting all these links from porn sites. I wonder what that is all about? If they are looking for naked pictures and/or erotic blog posts, then they are going to be sorely disappointed. A thousand visits and not one comment? Makes me think some kind of shenanigan is going on.

Tracy will be home soon and I have some spaghetti and meat sauce bubbling away gently on the stove. I assume you can guess what we are having for supper? We haven’t had spaghetti in awhile so I decided that would be our meal. A quick run to Kroger gathered all the ingredients.

“You Can’t Have That!” “That’s Too Expensive…” “You’ll Rot Your Teeth Eating Those…”

These were some of the responses I got from Tracy grocery shopping tonight. When dad told her to moderate me, she took the responsibility in earnest. I just wanted some Hostess Ding Dongs and Hebrew National franks. I felt like a toddler desperately hanging onto a box of Lucky Charms.

We did our shopping after she got home from class. Tracy and I have both gained some weight recently and we are going to drink a Slim-Fast for lunch. My mother once lost a lot of weight doing that and eating a sensible supper. Tracy also got a lot of Lean Cuisines for us to eat as well. I showed her which ones were good and which ones that weren’t so hot.

“It has cellulose in it,” I told Tracy of Slim-Fast. “That’s why you feel so full after drinking one.”

Tracy said she would give it a try with me. Tracy remarked on how expensive they were as well. Kroger sells their version of Slim-Fast, but we didn’t want to chance it. I’ll probably be so hungry by supper time that Maggie looks delicious.

This would just be our luck, but when we went to checkout, we got behind two ladies with complicated orders with WIC vouchers. Sigh! It took forever and we had too many groceries for self checkout. We just had to be patient and wait.

“At least, we get to spend some quality time together!” I quipped.

Tracy just smiled broadly and then laughed.

Tracy Said I Got Drunk Called…

My father had his fair share of wine again tonight. I got “drunk called” by him as Tracy put it.

“Do you get the Hitler channel?” He asked, slurring his words.

“Do you mean the History Channel?” I replied.

“Yeah, your mother always called it the Hitler channel. She hated when I watched it. Tune in as the Japanese are now assaulting Papua New Guinea.”

I chuckled a little and told my father goodnight.

“Get some sleep, dad! You’ve got to work ten hours tomorrow!”

Inebriation Kroger Style…

My father had told me earlier in the day that we would go grocery shopping at nine that evening. Well, nine rolled around and he still hadn’t called. I called him and he seemed startled and surprised as if he had been asleep.

“Is it nine already?” he asked.

“I am heading to Kroger to get started shopping,” I told him. “Are you coming on?”

“I am fixing to head that way,” my father replied, composing himself somewhat.

I waited over 30 minutes for my father to get to Kroger tonight so I could checkout. I was getting a little peeved and perturbed. I almost checked out myself and just waited on him to arrive in the parking lot telling him I’ve finished. Handing him the receipt in the process. As soon as I smelled his breath, I knew what was up.

“Dad,” I whispered closely in his ear. “You’ve had too much to drink. You don’t need to be driving like this.”

There were Kroger employees standing all around us. I was trying to be discreet. Dad had that glassy eyed look of someone who had one glass of wine too many.

“I am perfectly fine,” he replied, stumbling on his words.

I went on and loaded up my car with groceries while he did his shopping. I waited on him to leave the store and head for his car.

“Just please Jesus let me drive you home,” I pleaded with him as we walked across the parking lot.

About that time, a police car came pulling into the parking lot very near us. That seemed to have spooked my father into acquiescing.

“Maybe you’re right. Can we come and get my car in the morning?” he asked.

“We can come at seven if you so wish. Just let me drive you home.”

Dad put his groceries on my backseat and I took him to his house helping him carry all his groceries inside. In two bags were two more giant bottles of wine.

I honestly don’t think my father realizes how much he is drinking. He is drinking about half a very large bottle of wine a night.

Germain to the Issue…

I had just entered Kroger and grabbed a cart. I was studying my list calculating where to go first as I made forward progress.

“Andrew! ANDREW!” someone hollered behind my back as I headed towards produce.

It was Jermaine. I hadn’t seen him in many months.

“Where have you been?” I asked him after he spooked and startled me.

“I’ve been driving up to the Kroger in Lagrange lately,” Jermaine replied. “They have much, much better prices.”

Jermaine began to ramble on about women’s basketball and my eyes glazed over and I got that one hundred yard stare that usually accompanies it. In the middle of him talking about women's hoops, I said, “Gotta run, Jermaine! Gotta get my groceries before my father arrives! Sorry!”  I was out of there like lickety split. I did notice Jermaine had a gallon of whole milk and a gigantic pack of cheap vanilla cookies in the basket of his hover-round. He pulled in to checkout as I briskly walked away.

I went off my diet tonight and bought some delicious looking apple turnovers that were fresh baked in the bakery. I went even further off the deep end and got a quart of Neapolitan ice cream. I have a weakness for ice cream and I hadn’t eaten it in months. The very foundation of my house cracked when I brought them inside. There was a clap of thunder as the voice of god chastised me. For the Magster, I got two 6-packs of Vienna sausages.

It took dad forever to get there tonight. Wine had been served is what me thinks. Several Kroger employees asked me if I needed help as I stood haplessly with my loaded cart near a checkout lane for what seemed like 30 minutes.

Sandwich Night at Andrew’s Casa…

Maggie had been bugging me all day about something to eat other than dogfood. I got her some .59 cent packs of corned beef and roast beef tonight as a snack. I gave her one immediately after putting my groceries away and the whimpering and whining stopped. Yeah, Maggie plays me like a card, but she can sound so pitiful – as if she is starving to death. I noticed she had a full bowl of dogfood, though. Sucker!

“You okay, Chuck?” dad asked as we walked across Kroger’s parking lot with our carts.

I had been quiet all night and dad said I looked pale as a ghost.

“I feel as if I am going to jump out of my skin,” I told my father as we began to load up our groceries. “Just be glad you don’t have a mental illness. Getting out tonight was tough on me for some reason.”

“In a few short hours, you will be taking your main medications again. Get a good night’s sleep and you will feel better in the morning,” he told me without much more consolation. “Come over at eleven and drink you an ice cold diet Coke. That’ll make you feel better.” 

It is just one of those things I go through from time to time. I will feel better, like my father said, after a good night’s sleep. When I arrived home, I took my nightly dosages of Klonopin and Coreg and now feel much better as I write this – the anxiety abating some.

On the food front, I got all kinds of things to make delicious sandwiches from and spent only $62 dollars. I got some fresh baked dark Jewish rye from the deli that just looks delectable and smells heavenly. I also got all kinds of thin shaved meats. I splurged and bought a bottle of Grey Poupon spicy mustard as well. I love how it opens the sinuses when you eat it if you spread it on liberally. The last thing on my list was cheese and I stocked up on a mötley crüe from muenster to pepper jack.  

Mwahahaha…The Kroger Bandito Rides Again…

“I’m warning you ahead of time,” I told my father as he pushed his cart in front of me. “I bet I spent $90 dollars, but I was out of everything.”

“That’s okay,” he said which surprised me. “You are a few days behind anyway.”

I guessed it pretty correctly. I spent $89.99. Dad didn’t even flinch. You can’t get any closer than that!

I am trying to eat more meal like nutrition instead of just snacking around the clock or grazing as dad likes to call it. I am trying hamburger and tuna helper for the first time in many years. I am also making lots of rice dishes like chicken, cheddar, broccoli, and rice. I also had to remind dad that I am feeding more than just little ole me. I am feeding Tracy as well.

Well, I got home and unloaded my groceries and I couldn’t find the thank you card I had bought for my sister. I wanted to thank her for the wonderful clothes she bought me for Christmas. Much diligence was taken in finding the right card. I tried to call my father and catch him before he left Kroger from doing his shopping, but he wasn’t answering his phone.

“I am going to drive back up there and look in the cart,” I told Maggie as I headed out the door to the car.

There it was sweet baby jeebus. In the cart as I had pushed it into the bin. I was so relieved. It was so inconspicuous that it wouldn’t be stolen easily. I snatched it out of the cart as the cart boy looked on quizzically and hurried home. 

An A For Effort…

“Your body is here, but I think you left your mind at home,” dad told me tonight chuckling as we stood in line at Kroger.

“When you called me, Maggie and I were sound asleep on the couch!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t think we would grocery shop until Monday night!”

Dad also remarked on the Hebrew National franks I had in my cart.

“I like just a regular hotdog myself,” he said. “The cheap kind. Those Hebrew Nationals are too Frou Frou.”

I balked, telling him how delicious Hebrew National franks were.

“Get me some diced onions and meaty chili and I am in heaven!”

I cringed when the final tally was told. I had spent over $80 dollars again. Dad just shrugged and said he was glad I was getting enough food. I thanked him for being so kind.

“A few weeks there you only got $40 dollars worth and it worried me,” he said.

I really was in la-la land tonight. When I got home and started to unload my groceries, I left my car’s stereo playing so I could listen to it while I brought my groceries inside. I had backed up in the front yard to the front door. When I finished, I couldn’t figure out why the key wouldn’t come out of the ignition. I had turned off the car with it still in reverse. Duh! I put the car in park and out came the key.

With Trembling Hands He Goes Forth…

“Your hands are trembling,” my father said as we met down an aisle in Kroger this afternoon.

“I am a little overwhelmed by the crowd of folks in here,” I replied of a very busy Kroger.

“Now you see why I insist on going around nine at night,” he told me.

Dad was just getting back in town and called me to meet him at Kroger to buy our groceries. He had been at my brother’s house watching Auburn win a bowl game. He was very excited and overjoyed at the win.

“War Eagle!” he said to me. “Come on, let’s get you checked out and home safe and sound.”

I followed my father up front and soon we were walking to our cars.

“You, after all these years, still have trouble in social situations. Don’t you?” he asked as we walked.

“It gets to me at times, but at least I can muddle on through in these later years,” I told him. “Used to, I wouldn’t allow myself to be put in these kinds of situations.”

I got lots of good food tonight and spent over eighty dollars. Tracy and I are having grilled hamburgers and hot dogs New Year’s Day. The ribeye's were $8.99 a pound and that was too rich for my blood. Time to dust off and clean the grill sitting in the basement. I just hope the weather cooperates.  

Getting in the Spirit of Things…

YES! Kroger had colored Christmas lights in sets of 100. I bought four packs at $2.49 each. I was surprised at the price and expected to pay much more. I am getting in the Christmas spirit slowly but surely. I already have my step railings decorated. Next, I am going to tackle my shrubbery tomorrow when the day warms up some. Burr! It is cold out there tonight. One nice thing about mom’s Honda is that it warms up quickly. It was toasty warm by the time I arrived at Kroger. 

I didn’t buy much of a way as far as things to eat. I just mainly got breakfast foods for when Tracy stays over and sandwich fixins. Dad fussed a little bit about it but I assured him things were fine. The total was still $61 dollars despite what little bit I got. I got plenty of cheese on wheat crackers and peanut butter which I live on these days. I also got a big pack of smoked sliced turkey and a loaf of Sunbeam old fashioned bread. My big expenditure and splurge was two eight packs of lemon/lime Gatorade. Each bottle only has 140 calories which is far short of sugary soda. I get so tired of drinking copious amounts of water all the time.

I was also thinking of my Magster tonight. She gets so tired of eating just Purina One so I got her some of those Nekot lemon crème cookies to eat. I will only give them to her sparingly, but she loves them. It makes for a happy and content dog. She has a sweet tooth like her owner.

Trouble in Paradise…

9:00 pm rolled around and Charlie and Papa still hadn’t arrived with my and Maggie’s meals. I tried calling my father but it dumped me into his voicemail. 9:30 pm came and soon they pulled up to the curb. That's the latest arrival of them all. Maggie had been looking out the window for over two hours. She just went nuts and never gave up hope that they would arrive. I told her they were coming too early.

“We were caught in the drive-thru from hell,” Charlie told me.

“I got to thinking y’all had a car accident,” I replied.

I had ordered Wendy’s (a double/w cheese) tonight and thought that might have been the hang up, but it wasn’t. It was that dastardly KFC who always gets orders wrong and has a slow drive-thru. I’ve deemed them the screwiest KFC in the South. Horsefly has to have their chicken tenders thus the reason Charlie and Papa put themselves through that every week. They consistently cause problems.

Maggie was really “talking” to Charlie and Papa tonight. It always warms my heart when she does that. She was so excited she was almost beside herself. She doesn’t get to see them nearly enough as she wants to.

It has been a quiet day other than tonight’s little SNAFU. Charlie brought breakfast about 9 am – three sausage biscuits and a diet Coke. I drove over to my father’s house after finishing breakfast. He had his Christmas tree up and lit and I helped him decorate it. It really looked beautiful. Dad inherited mom’s beautiful ornaments and decorations. I always get a live tree so I have to wait until mid December to get my Christmas tree as they dry out so easily. I am hoping Kroger sells Christmas lights so I can decorate my shrubbery and step railing tomorrow night after we buy groceries. My neighbors across the street are putting on a grand show with lights and Christmas icons that are projected on the side of their house.

Not Gonna Do It…

“Let’s go ahead and get your groceries tonight,” Dad told me over his cellphone as he was driving home from the pharmacy.

“Not gonna do it,” I replied. “It is thundering and lightning outside. Maggie needs dogfood, though.”

“I’ll go get Maggie’s dogfood,” Old Fuss and Feathers said. “I wish you would come with me and get your groceries.”

“Not gonna do it,” I replied again to my father’s consternation. “I’d be soaking wet just loading up my car. I'd catch the death of me in the process.”

“I’ll honk my horn and you can run out and get Maggie’s Purina One.”

“I will be waiting on you,” I said. “Can do that.”

I had told my father last night that it was going to be bad weather-wise tonight and that Maggie needed dogfood. He didn’t listen to me. I asked to be able to use my debit card to debit Maggie’s food last night at the Piggly Wiggly and he said no that we would get it tonight. Now? He is riding around in a rainstorm trying to get Maggie up something to eat. He can be so hardheaded at times.

Andrew Almost Screwed Up Big Time…

We had bought my groceries and I needed gas after all my running around Opelika last night.

“Come on, we’ll do it now and then I will do my shopping,” Old Fuss and Feathers told me.

Dad insists on putting my gas on his Visa card.

I sped across the parking lot to Kroger’s gas station and swerved violently to the right to miss a light pole – tires screeching and everything. I just didn’t see it. My mirror barely tapped it and it didn’t do any damage except for just a little yellow paint that can be buffed off. I am just getting to where I can’t see to drive at night. My heart is still beating fast from that almost encounter which would have severely damaged my car. WHEW!

I spent a little more tonight at $59 dollars. I got a dual pack of JIF creamy peanut butter for $11 dollars and two $4.99 canisters of Mrs. Grissom’s chicken salad. A black lady remarked on my JIF purchase.

“Honey? You going to spend $11 on peanut butter?” she incredulously asked with a small child standing by her side.

“It’ll keep me from having to buy it again next week,” I replied. “And I save a dollar fifty.”

That’s what pushed my total up so high. No Jack of Speed trip tonight since I had to get gas. We left at 8:45 pm and I got back at half past nine. Forty five minutes was still a respectable time for driving to and fro and buying gas and groceries.

Earlier, Tuleana called me at eight. I got so excited when the phone rang thinking it was my father wanting to go early. What a let down! She just wanted to let me know she got her food stamps refilled and was all happy.

“I am happy for you too!” I told her.

She was putting out feelers to see if I could take them to buy groceries tomorrow. Out of gas was my excuse. They are persistent aren’t they? Tuleana doesn’t give up at all. That's the difference between a crazy person and a rational person.

I Make a Mean Sammich…

We seem to be back on track as far as our grocery buying schedule is concerned. Monday night it is! I still had a lot of food left from last week so this allowed me to buy things I normally couldn’t afford like a two pack of large Jif peanut butter jars. Those were $11 dollars. I think my total was around $75 dollars tonight.

I lost two pounds last week so I continued with the trend of what I ate last week. Sandwiches aren’t a binge food for me as it takes care and time to make them. I got smoked provolone, garlic and herb jack, baby swiss, and tomato and herb jack cheeses tonight. I also got two pounds of sliced Boar’s Head roasted turkey from the deli. That stuff was expensive!!! I rounded it all out with two loaves of the rich and yeasty Artisan bakery bread I have become enamored with. Dad asked me tonight that he had noticed I was buying that now and how it tasted.

“Softest and freshest bread I have tasted on the bread aisle,” I told him.

I have been searching for such a bread for months nay years now.

My big splurge item besides the sliced turkey was a big bottle of Califia iced mocha coffee.

For my one sweet item, I bought a bunch of bananas instead of 4 bags of powdered Hostess donuts. Hey, I am trying.

Old Fuss and Feathers did his shopping while I shopped as well. He returned from putting his groceries in his car just as I was ready to check out. We were perfectly choreographed tonight.

We both gawked as we walked to our cars. The police had someone pulled over in the parking lot.

“Glad that’s not me!” Old Fuss and Feathers loudly said.

“Such a terrible feeling,” I replied as I shook my head.

I paid careful heed to the speed limits on the drive home. The police were out in force this evening. There was no lack of flies for their fly traps tonight it seemed as I saw another car pulled over down highway 29.  I know this sounds cynical, but they probably had a quota and needed the revenue.

Tales of Woe: No Circle K, No Kroger, No Walmart Tonight…

I just had a extremely massive panic attack and it was dispelled by the simple words, “We don’t have to go tonight.” Old Fuss and Feathers was really nice tonight and told me just to calm down and relax. The whole thing seemed insurmountable. I needed gas for my car, groceries for my pantry, and some nice clothes to wear to the doctor on Friday. On shaky ground I am. Old Fuss and Feathers insists on going so late so he won’t get “caught” by someone he knows.

“We will just go sometime during the day tomorrow,” my father told me. “You just calm down and get to feeling better.”

I thanked him profusely for being so nice about the affair. Usually he would try and manhandle me through the process of going to these stores. It was almost like someone gave me a couple of valium when he told me we didn’t have to go tonight. It immediately defused that ticking timebomb that can be my addled brain.

Meanwhile, As We Volunteer: Love Lost…

Tracy broke up with her long-term boyfriend yesterday. She didn’t seem like herself all morning – her usual chipper self. He had been meeting women on Match.com behind her back. I tried to console her the best I could.

“Time heals wounds,” I told her. “I know this very well. Maybe it’s the ethos’s way of getting you a better boyfriend.”

“We fought all the time at the end anyway,” Tracy told me. “We were always at odds with each other. It still hurts so damn badly, though.”

Grocery Shopping for the Stout of Heart and Mind…

Dad vehemently insisted we go tonight so I went…

“Have you looked at the weather radar?” I asked him over our cellphones.

“A little water won’t kill you,” he blithely replied. “Besides, you’ve got to be hungry. Aren’t you out of food by now?”

Yes, I was out of food. I was subsisting on cheese on wheat crackers.

I was in the mood for soup tonight so that was my main expenditure. I got a little bit of every thing from minestrone to loaded baked potato to vegetable beef chunky soups. My big splurge tonight was Hebrew National wieners or franks as some people call them. They cost a fortune, but they are so delicious. We will be having hotdogs for supper one night in the next week. Maggie thinks they are the bee’s knees. 

It was raining heavily and lightning as I loaded up my groceries into my trunk. I got soaking wet while my father went back inside to do some shopping of his own. He says he is going to cook this weekend.

“You seem to be struggling tonight,” my father told me before he left for the confines of Kroger.

“I am! That’s what you get with mental illness sometimes,” I replied. “I can’t seem to get all my ducks in a row tonight.”

I hurried home only to get even more wet unloading my groceries into the kitchen from the car. Maggie looked on like what fools are humans. 

The Easy Street to Obesity…

“Jermaine? If I wanted to get really fat what would I eat?”

Jermaine chuckled nervously.

“Are you serious?” Jermaine cautiously asked.

“I am dead serious,” I replied.

“Well, I would start at the Hostess aisle and stock up on Ho-Hos and Ding Dongs. Stuff like that.”

“That sounds good!” I replied excitably.

“Get you three or four boxes of Poptarts and some whole milk to wash it all down with,” he continued.

“You know what I have a hankering for?” I said looking deep in thought. “I want ice cream and lots of it.”

“That’ll do the trick,” Jermaine said grinning. “That will really put the weight on you.”

Jermaine cocked his head at me and asked me if I were really serious again.

“I am just dreaming,” I finally replied, patting him on the back and cackling. “If I was going to get fat, I would want to do it in style.”

“I thought you had gone off the deep end, Andrew,” Jermaine told me with a sigh of relief.

Old Fuss and Feathers would have a fit if showed up at checkout with a cart full of that kind of stuff.

In contrast to tonight’s proceedings, I only spent $57 dollars on my groceries. I just couldn’t eat any more of those bland frozen meals which are so expensive.

The Shade Tree Mechanic…

Jermaine called me today and said his engine is running really rough now. He can’t afford to take it to a real mechanic. They’d take Jermaine and his old car to the bank. I swung by his house and got $60 dollars from him. I then drove to AutoZone and ordered the parts we need to tune up his engine. I also got some carburetor cleaner as well.

“The parts will be here Monday,” I told him to his relief.

He about fell over himself thanking me. I spent some time spraying carburetor cleaner in his throttle body hoping that would lessen the rough idle. It helped some, but he desperately needs new spark plug wires. His were all cracked and frayed in sections. With new spark plugs, wires, and a cap and rotor, it should solve all his problems.  We can get that big old 402 cubic inch V-8 running smoothly again.

Mayfield's Birthday Cake Ice Cream…

That’s what I bought tonight at Kroger and it is delicious. Dad and I are just now getting around to buying groceries this week. I had a lot of food left from last week and we both kept putting it off despite my father giving me a lecture on how we need to stay on schedule. I was down to two Lean Cuisines this morning and told my father we better go tonight and he agreed. From the moment I left the house, to the moment I was putting up my groceries, only 30 minutes had elapsed. Now, that’s what I call some grocery shopping.

Another One Under My Belt…

I am warming up some pork chops and rice for supper. I never got around to eating them last night. I just stuck them in the fridge for later. I am especially keen on the asparagus tonight which dad drizzles with a mayonnaise and lemon juice emulsion sauce. It is just delicious. There were four biscuits, but I am unsure how well they faired a tour of duty in the fridge overnight. I might slice them in half and toast them in my toaster oven with some butter. That’s what my grandmother, Sally Lou, would do. Leftover biscuits were a treat at her house.

Last night, I was so tired that I sat down in my recliner in the den and fell sound asleep instantly. Maggie woke me up about 3 AM barking loudly as if someone was in the yard. I checked to make sure my car alarm was on, I turned on the porch lights, and then double checked all the doors to see if they were locked. I then went and retired in a proper bed and slept soundly the rest of the night. 

Sharyna thought I liked Jermaine. Hah! Just kidding! I like Jermaine. He’s a good friend, but he can just talk your ear off for 20 minutes or more. Southern etiquette dictates that the person who started a conversation finishes it. The same goes for the phone. That’s why I was avoiding him last night. I was tired and ill and wanted to get in and out as fast as possible. I was one pooped puppy last night.

Skinny Minny, unfortunately our Kroger doesn’t have that service or I would certainly use it. I think Walmart does, though. I would never convince my father to try Walmart's service unfortunately. Kroger is just ten times more convenient as well as far as location and parking. 

Back to the Basics…

I didn’t buy diet food tonight with dad’s strong urgings. I ran out of food early last week and dad subsidized my diet for a few days there out of his pantry. I ended up eating lots of neat and odd food – food dad didn’t care to eat or have. One night, Charlie brought me a big grab bag of snacks.

“Eat sensibly and eat in moderation,” my father told me as we walked across Kroger’s parking lot tonight. “And then you can eat what you like.”

I got a lot of stuff to make sandwiches. Oh, I did buy a dozen Lean Cuisine frozen meals which are technically a diet food I guess. Dad made sure of that.

“Get you some frozen meals,” dad kept telling me as we passed in the grocery store.

He was doing his shopping as well.

My big splurge tonight was a big fancy bottle of Califia cold brew coffee which I wanted to try. It was $4.99 for the bottle, but the bottle is huge.

I bought a few Chinese frozen meals I like as well. Got to have a little General Tso’s or chicken chow mein.

I was a big spender once again. I spent $90 dollars. Dad never says a word about it these days which is very kind of him. I guess that is just going to be the norm from here on out. I seem to spend around $100 dollars regularly lately.