Thursday, May 7, 2020

Wednesday

Yesterday (Tuesday) evening, I did my very first curbside pick up of groceries!  The store sent me a couple of reminders about picking up the groceries and the time slot and gave me the phone number I was to call upon arriving at the pick up area.  About one hour before my pickup time, they sent me a notification that some of the items I had requested were not available and asked if I wanted any substitutions to be made.  But, I chose not to get any substitutions.

I drove to the grocery store and found the pick up area without any difficulty.  They had several parking spaces marked "Pickup Only" and each space had a number.  When I pulled into a space, I called the number they had sent me and a store worker answered.  I had to give them my name and the parking space number.  Within 5 minutes, or so, two store workers brought my groceries out to the car, asked if I was Bless, handed me a printout of the order and the receipt, and loaded the groceries for me.  According to the store's website, their employees are not allowed to accept any tips and we are requested not to offer any, so I didn't.  I was on my way home within 10 minutes of getting to the store parking lot!

Once I got home, I began the process of disinfecting everything.  I washed all the fresh produce and the cans, wiped all the boxes, and so forth.  That took me quite a long time!  But, it was something that I felt needed to be done for my own peace of mind.

I bought some fresh produce - 4 bananas (I'm so happy, they picked the slightly green bananas I requested!), a container of strawberries, a head of lettuce, a zucchini, and two cucumbers.  I bought a gallon of milk, a pound of butter, a container of orange juice, two pounds of ground beef, and a tray of chicken drumsticks.  I also bought some pantry supplies - a bag of flour, a bag of sugar, some canned milk, canned chicken, and canned mackerel.  I wanted canned tuna, but, that was unavailable.  And, I bought two boxes of macaroni and cheese, two boxes of saltine crackers, and a box of cereal.  I bought store brand where I could, to keep costs down.

Some of the canned and boxed items I bought are to be donated to the food bank if the post office does their annual collection of donations, this weekend (so far, I haven't received any notification if that is still on or not and I couldn't find anything on their website, about it, either; maybe I'll ask my mail carrier, tomorrow), and/or, to the Temple for their own use or to be given to anyone they might know of who is in need.  I know I am blessed to be able to buy groceries for myself, at this time, and I want to share that blessing with others.

Later in the evening, my daughter helped me to put in another order to a different store, for the canned tuna (since the grocery store didn't have it), along with a few other items such as dry cat food and laundry detergent.  That order will be delivered to me, sometime next week.

Today, I spoke with cousin P and her daughter on the phone in the morning (they called to say they were going to pick up some lunch and to ask if I wanted anything; I declined the offer) and with aunt C in the afternoon.  Later in the evening, I exchanged greetings with neighbor S and her daughter, across the street; S wanted to know how the piano practicing was coming along!  Um...!

It has been a very warm day, today, with the temperature in the mid 90s.  I still haven't turned on any of the fans, yet, though!  I did some mending, a little knitting (still working on the socks), put away some laundry, tidied the bed linens shelf of the linen closet, watered the back yard again (watered it yesterday, too) because it was so hot (the poor melon plants that were transplanted aren't doing too well), did a little cooking (mackerel curry and sauteed/curried cabbage), and washed the dishes.

Breakfast was a banana, lunch was a salad, and dinner was rice with mackerel curry and cabbage, with strawberries for dessert.

Later, I video chatted with my daughter.

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to buy groceries
- Daughter's help with the ordering of supplies
- Cousin and her daughter calling to ask if I needed anything
- Water for the garden
- The warm weather

My joyful activity today was a long video chat with my daughter.

Tuesday's To Do List:
- Dust family room and my bedroom - DONE
- Errands, if any (grocery shopping, etc.) - DONE!  (Grocery pick up!)
- Water the garden, front and back - DONE 
- Water the house plants - DONE

Wednesday:
- Vacuum
- Paperwork/filing 
- Do one decluttering/organizing task - DONE (organized one shelf in the linen closet)

The vacuuming and paperwork will be carried forward to Thursday. 

How was your Wednesday?  What are your plans for Thursday?

18 comments:

  1. I bet it feels good to have your cupboards restocked! I hope you manage to get some tuna ... I'm thinking of Dancer's needs here, you understand. I'd hate him to have to go without 😂😂

    The wiping down takes ages doesn't it but I agree that it's a necessary task.

    I don't have much planned for today, just a bit of sorting. I'm hoping to get on with the jigsaw and then it's the quiz night with friends tonight.

    I hope you have a good day Bless ... and I am keeping my fingers crossed for the melon seedlings!

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    1. It does feel good to have the cupboards restocked, Eileen. Yes, I'm hoping I will be getting the tuna, next week. Dancer will be most unhappy if we don't have tuna! I tried to explain rationing to him, but, I don't think he quite understood! LOL!

      I like your plans for the day. I hope you have a lovely day, Eileen. Thanks, I'll do an update on the melon seedlings in an upcoming post. :)

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  2. Welcome to the world of pick-up groceries :) The grocery store I go to (Kroger) has pretty much the same routine and it is very helpful. I also have a secondary store (Meijer) that I intersperse with when I need something out of the box (like corn holders/skewers) or that Kroger is out of at the time. I end up going about twice a week which I don't mind at all. I don't wipe everything down but I do wash my hands a couple of times as I am putting stuff away.
    Sounds like you have been on a roll - socializing and getting stuff done around the house. Such a good feeling.

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    1. Thank you, Debbie! Yes, the store I went to was a Kroger affiliated store. I used to shop in a couple of different stores, each week, to get the best deals based on their weekly sales ads, but, not all of them offer the curbside pick up, so, I am currently sticking to those that do.

      Thank you for visiting my blog and I shall be over to visit your blog, too.

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  3. You say "Curbside PickUp" we say "Click'n'Collect" . I havent done that here but many friends do. Two friends just stopped as they were out on a cycle ride. We had a conversation from opposite ends of the path! They said theyre online food order was delivered, but a few items missing. We have a food bank in our town, helping needy families, run from another of the churches- then in Bournemouth, which is much larger, there is a charity HelpForFood, which does meals etc for homeless people. Two folk from our church are organising weekly collections of food and toiletries and alternate the delivery between the two charities. We leave bags of stuff outside the door and let our friends know to pick them up on their saturday morning collection route. It is good to know that those of us who have plenty can , and do , help the ones in need. This virus is not affecting everyone equally- the poor and marginalised are suffering even more.

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    1. Yes, "curbside" is the term used, even though I picked up the groceries in the parking lot! LOL. I know you make every effort you can to help others, Angela, and not just in this time of need. I am still trying to rise to the occasion, so to speak. :)

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  4. Washing the groceries is so time consuming isn't it, but it is definitely worth it for peace of mind.
    I'm glad everything was straightforward with your grocery collection, as I gather it is proving difficult for many people here to get a collection or delivery slot, which must be such a worry if you're having to depend on this service.
    I still haven't managed to get any sugar or vanilla extract, so I'll take a look in the farm shop when we go for a bike ride this afternoon. X

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    1. Yes, washing the groceries is worth it to me; "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" as the saying goes. :) One of my friends was saying that everything she wanted to order was either not available or was going to take weeks to be delivered. But, I was able to get most things I ordered, so I am very lucky! Oh, I hope you find the sugar and the vanilla. You'll need them for the birthday cake!

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  5. I'm glad your grocery pickup went so well ,
    I do the same as you, disinfecting everything that comes into the house and washing my hands many many times.
    It's good that you've worked out a way to manage on your own to grocery shop,
    Hopefully your delivery order will have the things you were missing from your pick up

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    1. Thank you, Debra. Yes, it feels good to be able to do my own grocery shopping, again, without having to burden someone else to do so. I know they don't mind, but, I like being independent! I am hoping the delivery order will be complete. If not, I'll keep trying. :)

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  6. Wow, 90's!! I would love that. We might get an inch or two of snow tomorrow. Your grocery orders sounds like you are all stocked up now! Andrea

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    1. We went up to 93F, today. My kind of weather! :D We are having summer and you are having winter!

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  7. I'm glad you managed to get your groceries fairly quickly, thanks to your daughter helping you to order. Now I hope that you get the tuna from the other store as I don't think Dancer will be happy unless he knows there is a good pile of cans in the house!
    We had two deliveries today, one a tiny battery in a very large envelope, and the other my pills and some allergy medication from the drug store. I had thought about going down to the drug store but I felt I would stick to my routine and only go in to town every 2 weeks. I've opened a can of evaporated milk so that we don't use up the regular milk which is better for tea.
    We seem to be getting into the habit of going to bed late and getting up late. One morning it was 9.50 am when we got up. I think I know someone else who keeps late hours! 😄💕

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. Yes, I wouldn't have ordered anything yet, if I was trying to do it, myself, because, I couldn't use my regular store loyalty card, for some reason (I think it is too old!). My daughter was able to create a virtual card for the order!

      I prefer condensed milk in my tea, but, I do have two cans of evaporated milk, as well, just in case!

      Can't imagine who that might be, keeping late hours! LOL! :D

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  8. I use disinfecting wipes on the cans and packaging and I wash my veggies in the sink with water and a splash of vinegar. Apparently, vinegar doesn't work on the coronovirus, but I do it out of habit anyways. It doesn't hurt.

    My grocery delivery was my best one yet. I asked for fresh or frozen broccoli or zucchini, as an example. That way I gave my shopper lots of leeway to pick up items I can eat on my diet. It worked like a charm. There are not many frozen veggies available these days, so I am getting a lot of fresh produce which I then prepare for the freezer on my own.

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    1. I used disinfecting wipes on the boxes, but, washed the cans, since I don't have a big supply of wipes. I don't normally use disinfecting wipes and what I had were leftover from when I bought some just prior to starting chemo, because my immune system was going to be compromised! In fact, even the disinfectant spray that I have is what was leftover from that time! I guess I'll be stocking up on that, when it becomes available, again!

      I am glad you were able to get more fresh produce which you can then prepare for the freezer. It's a bit of a learning curve, isn't it, this ordering groceries? No doubt we'll be pros at it, by the time this all ends! :)

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  9. You are doing so well. That's great that you did the curbside pick up for groceries. How convenient.

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    1. Thank you, Stephenie. Yes, I am glad I was able to take advantage of the curbside pick up. It is very convenient and, even more important, I don't have to bother anyone else. :) I didn't want to ask anyone to pick up something like meat, for example, when the stores put a limit of how many items a shopper can buy at a time. This way is much better.

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