Going to Messages

A few days ago (maybe a week), I posted a little quiz. The question was, when a Scottish person says they are "going to messages," what do they mean? The answer: they are going to the grocery store to get food. Weird, but true.

I've always loved grocery shopping. I know that's a little odd, but it's one of the few things I really enjoy doing alone. I like to shop really slow and look at all the choices and make my selection. It's a really sensory experience for me--seeing, smelling, tasting--and I just get really involved. I love to cook and it's always fun to think of things to cook while I'm shopping. But, grocery shopping has become a bit of an adventure since we got to Edinburgh.

Most of the complication in grocery shopping is the fact that you have to walk to and from the store or take the bus. In either case, you have to lug the groceries a bit further than from your car to the door. It's amazing how quickly your outlook on things can change when you're placed in a different context: a month ago I wouldn't have dreamed of walking to the grocery store (and there was a very nice one just half a mile away). In fact, I would drive around the block several times just to find a good parking space so as to minimize how far I had to walk with all those groceries (and, let's just be honest, since I got married, Joe unloads all the groceries from the car). Now, I think it's quite quaint to walk to the store. And, I think a 1-1.5mile walk (one way) is quite close.

We made our first venture to the grocery store on Friday when we stopped at a little store on the way home from Joe's school. The store wasn't the nicest and we couldn't get everything we needed, so it was evident I was going to have to find another alternative. But, the walk home wasn't too bad. About a mile, but with both of us, the walk home was pretty easy. Perhaps bolstered by the ease of Friday's excursion, or encouraged by my desire to reexperience a pleasant grocery shopping outing, I located a lovely grocery store about 1.3 miles from our flat. The walk there was great. The shopping was fulfilling. Then came the packing up and lugging home....

I must have been a little overzealous in my shopping because these bags were heavy! I made it about 10 steps before deciding I was going to have to take a bus home. I made it about two blocks to the bus stop, when I had to call Joe and tell him he had to meet me at the bus stop by our flat or I was going to have to take a taxi. These bags were just too heavy. We decided to meet but I got there first and being impatient and cold I starting dragging those bags home. Joe caught up with me and we split the load. It was still pretty heavy. But we made it. When we got home, I insisted on weighing it.....

80 pounds. No typo there. It was 80 pounds of groceries. Check it out:

It doesn't look like much, but it sure was heavy

All six bags are mine: The black one is full of laundry supplies and the blue one is full of bottles and cans of things. The 4 plastic bags are full of dairy, fruits, and veg....I think I'll be making smaller trips from now on.