Don't send Will to the grocery store alone

My cousin Linda posted this on Facebook, and I thought it was hilarious. It also reminded me of how much I really LIKED the people I knew when I lived in Georgia (Jeanne Robertson is from North Carolina). Everyone I met in the South was unremittingly friendly and polite. My ex-husband once said "Why do they ask "How y'all doing?" ALL the time?" I said my feeling was that they actually wanted to know. I know it's also that they are very polite (my students there insisted on calling me "Dr. Anne" when I asked them to call me Anne; I was only 32 and I felt oooold), but they always made me feel like they also really hoped I was doing well, that it mattered to them.

Why am I posting about the South when we are now in Minnesota? Well, I watched the above video a couple of days ago. Last night, Will went to the grocery store alone. I'm sick again (call me Job) so I stayed in the RV with the dogs. Will was going to get: potatoes, yogurt, apples, blueberries, green beans, zinc tablets and my hair conditioner. Oh, and steak.

Remember that we have a tiny, tiny kitchen. Here, I just had Will pose in it to show you, although I don't think a picture can do justice to how small it is. Especially with the dogs hanging out with him there, which they are wont to do (as you can see).



Anyway. Will comes back *two hours* after he left. I was getting a bit worried and of course he didn't bring his cell phone - he only brings his cell phone if I hand it to him and watch him put it in his pocket. He walks in the door with EIGHT bags of groceries. Where on earth will we put eight bags of groceries??? The kitchen is already full. Oh, and he does NOT like anything on the precious little counter space we have.

Here's what he got: ten pound of potatoes, a dozen cups of yogurt, half a dozen apples (only because I said to get that many), blueberries, green beans, 2 packs of zinc lozenges, a lovely T-bone steak. That's everything on the list, except the hair conditioner, which he couldn't find. But he also got: a toothbrush, because he doesn't like the way his tastes (we have a dozen toothbrushes in my "extras" storage bin outside), 3 pounds of chicken thighs, sugar snap peas, strawberries, sauerkraut, 4 Hamburger Helpers, 2 cans of chili (we already had 4 cans), cheese, and a passel of different meds for me to try out.

I was especially surprised by the Hamburger Helper since I had bought one the other day and it took some convincing for him to try it, although he ended up liking it. I thought it made sense for the RV since boiling pasta is so much work. But we are about to get the kids again and he thought they would like it.

The chili was for our "first night in the RV" dinner with Abi tomorrow. We started a tradition that our first night out we have chili with melted cheese on top and tortilla chips to scoop it up with. Very easy, very messy, very congenial. It's important to the kids so Will wanted to make sure we had enough.

This is not an isolated incident. The other day he came back with 3 pounds of hamburger and a gallon of Jack Daniels, among other things. When he went to the pet store he bought five new leashes, two of which hold two dogs each (and that is a story for another time). We only have four dogs, and we already had four leashes. Not the kind of leashes he wanted, apparently. I think I need to go with him when he goes shopping from now on.

PS On the travel front: We are on the north end of Minneapolis, heading to Camping World in a couple of hours to get a steering stabilizer put on the RV. I am beginning another writing stretch, so may not post for a few days.