First of all, I love this boy. Sweet Baby Kai. I love you!!! There was never a cuter nephew.
So I went to Dillons with Sage yesterday for the first time. I have run in and out, but not actually grocery shopped for 3 months b/c of being on bedrest. I have completely forgotten how to behave in public. I find the whole thing overwhelming and feel handicapped by a lack of social cues, which I find ridiculous and humorous b/c I'm indisputably an extrovert. I sat in the car for a good few minutes first - pep talking myself, trying to remember where to find the bread, and texting my friend for support...
Once inside, all was well until I needed to remember whether we buy organic bananas or regular ones. Turns out, I bought organic. Turns out, we do buy that kind. Turns out, first decision was a good one.
I headed to the deli and ordered a half-pound of sliced ham, well actually I stood awkwardly at the deli and wondered whether I was supposed to ring a bell or do a dance or just generally how to communicate to the nice man behind the counter what I wanted. I tried to say which meat I wanted, but just grunted and pointed, and he said "the smoked Virginia ham?" I'm not kidding. I actually just grunted. He got the point and gave me a half-pound of it. He was printing the label and sealing the bag when I decided that I needed a pound instead. Note to self: when changing the amount at the deli counter, its best to do it before the order is finished.
I couldn't remember where most things were, so I circled around and around the store, which would've been fine except that I continued to run into this very awkwardly friendly looking man. Also would've been fine except that he had only one leg. The other one was a prosthetic. And he was wearing shorts. Have I mentioned that I don't know how to behave in public anymore? I stared. Then I tried not to stare at his leg, so I stared straight into his face. For too long. He looked away and I found myself staring at the cans of tuna. Not kidding. Tuna. And tuna was not on my list. This same stare-down happened exactly 7 times. Really, 7, I counted.
I made it through my list and checked out. I rewarded myself with a York Peppermint Patty. Its only fair. Then that sweet sweet sweeeeeet old man was the bagger for my groceries. You North Dillons shoppers know him. He has very deep dark skin, looks like he's about 80, has an accent, and the kindest face you'll ever ever ever see. Walking with him to my van was a better reward than the peppermint patty. He's one of those dear people whose soul just radiates and I feel lucky to be near him. This is turning out to be a crazy long post, but the short version of what happened next is that I pointed him to the wrong van, a balloon flew out of our trunk and I couldn't convince him that it wasn't his fault, he tried to talk to me and I couldn't understand a word he was saying, and I spent our few minutes together trying to resist the urge to hug him. I was successful. But in hindsight, I think I should've just hugged him.
But the bottom line is I made it through Dillons without a breakdown or explosion and am no worse for the wear.
In other news, Ryan spent the last two days tiling our back entry. Whenever my brother in law Daniel is here, we find a project like that b/c he's just an all-around extremely handy guy. It took forever but it looks amazing, and now we don't have to have a coniption whenever someone comes in the back door about them needing to take off their shoes.
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| Daniel and Isaac hard at work...Isaac might need glasses? |
