Tag Archives: grocery shopping

My toe has platted.

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In other words, my knee recovery has plateaued.

After a few weeks of what felt like rapid healing and progress… I seem to have stalled and can’t find the choke.

I’ve been assured this is normal but it’s annoying all the same.

At almost four weeks post partial knee replacement I’m mobile, independent and thankfully back behind the wheel.

Three weeks of sending my husband to the grocery store with a list, individual product descriptions and a detailed schematic of the store’s layout still resulted in the purchase of incorrect items… so I’m very glad to be able to resume my normal chores.

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I did however make the mistake of telling my physical therapist I didn’t think I was getting much out of the visits at my appointment yesterday, so she doubled down and worked me extra hard. This morning I’m swollen, in pain, back on the ice and limping… which I haven’t done in weeks.

Sometimes it’s preferable to keep your mouth shut.

Lesson learned.

My scar is still prominent, though a little less Frankenstein-ish.

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The erythema discoloration… which I learned was the dilation of blood capillaries – knee replacement is so educational!…. has mostly disappeared so that’s good.

I’ve been told to wait another week on scar tissue massage but I have a large crease and dent at the top that I’m anxious to break up so my vitamin E oil is ready and waiting.

Overall things are good.

Still having trouble going down stairs like a normal human being, but I’ll get there.

Someday.

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I’m afraid I don’t understand the hype.

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A new grocery chain opened its first store in Maine last month and the hysteria was off the charts.

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I’d never shopped in an Aldi before and had no idea what to expect, but everyone was raving about how much money you could save so after waiting a few weeks for the craziness to die down…

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(Actual picture of how happy people were to shop there.)

The husband and I drove to Portland to check it out.

Marketed as a discount grocery, I expected no frills and that’s exactly what I got.

This was a brand new store…but the first thing I noticed when we walked in was how dirty and disorganized it was. Apparently their cost cutting measures include a lack of brooms and dust pans and employees to operate them.

Starting with produce, which was stacked haphazardly in it’s original shipping boxes, I was hard put to find a banana, apple, pepper, tomato or cucumber that wasn’t heavily bruised, browned and looked ready to toss.

There was no deli, no bakery and no seafood counter. No frills, for sure.

There was also no rhyme or reason to product placement… cheap fake flowered wreaths were next to the mayonnaise. Plastic outdoor thermometers were next to the crackers. And did I mention you have to “rent” a shopping cart? They’re out front where you pay a quarter to unlock one and get your money back when you return it.

I was unaware that 95% of the products are their own versions and not brand name. Having been burned one too many times with tasteless substitutes I had no desire to fill a cart with mystery cereal or soup.

We walked out of there with nothing. And it’s a good thing, because there were only two registers open with no DIY kiosks and the lines to check out were insane.

I seriously doubt I’ll ever go back, so if you’re an Aldi shopper? Please tell me what I’m missing, because I don’t understand the allure.

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Things I like today… Chapter 6

 

I like:

This beer we found at a liquor store in New Hampshire.

 

 

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It had a rich, dark, oaky finish….. and also made me laugh.

 

I like :

This meme my husband’s niece posted on FB.

 

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It’s uncannily accurate.

My husband can spot a red tailed hawk in the top of  a tree on the northbound side of the highway while flying down the southbound side at 90mph…. but can’t find his socks. Which are in his sock drawer, where they’ve been for the past 35 years.

Someone please explain that to me.

 

I like :

 

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This giant pink flamingo my husband’s nephew brought out to the Island for the kids to float on.

 

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Did I mention he’s a rough, tough lobsterman…

And it didn’t quite fit on his boat?

 

I like :

Reusable grocery bags.

Less plastic and less waste to clog our landfills.

 

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Of course I’m proof positive that saying is pure crap.

I’m 55… and not a single thing about me feels new again.