“Remoted” Day 321 (Sunday)

Looks like we're getting pink snow.

Family Dollar, located barely a half mile from the house, has become my go-to when I need practically anything, because they carry a little bit of everything. With a snowstorm forecast for Monday, it suddenly felt important to get milk. What is the deal with snowstorms and milk? I don’t even drink milk because it makes my throat all gross. Since I learned that scrambled eggs don’t require milk and can be made with water, the reasons for having milk on hand are reduced. It’s only ever needed for quiche, the very rare French Toast, an occasional quality cup of hot cocoa, and a few recipes. 

There are a few groceries needed, but not in a true need sense. The pantry and freezer are far from empty. It’s more of an “if I had this, I could do that” sense. It’s stuff like yeast and rye flour for some of the recipes in the recently acquired Finnish Cookbook. Ground pretend meat in case there is a sudden need for American Chop Suey. And, perhaps most important, ice cream for sitting on the couch and watching TV. None of this warranted a trip to a grocery store the day before a snowstorm. But if a Whole Foods delivery window was available, it might be good for that. As an added plus, a delivery would give me something to look forward to.

The grocery cart was prepared with depleted staples like potatoes, apples, onions, plus ice cream, milk, rye flour, and yeast. A delivery window was available on Monday from 3:00 – 5:00. In the time it took to dilly-dally, let the dogs outside, and a few other diversions before completing the payment info, the window closed.

There was some weird and mysterious need to spend money today so it was Family Dollar for the win. The freshly drafted Family Dollar shopping list included a wide barrel curling iron, dog biscuits, canned dog food, a frame for the pet portrait, and necessities like potato chips and cookies. And snowstorm milk. The list was misplaced before leaving the house. Curling irons were available, but not the right size. Dog biscuits, a frame, and potato chips were found. Canned dog food was forgotten about until I got home. 

The new ice cream freezer installed at Family Dollar during the store remodel in the spring has been wonky since the summer. Any time I considered getting ice cream, the containers were soft and squishy like a stress ball and very unlike an allegedly frozen treat. One day while I was standing at the so-called freezer case, having just checked all the containers for firmness, the manager came up the aisle and I mentioned all the soft ice cream. He felt the ice cream containers like I had just done. He pushed a button at the top of the case and didn’t seem satisfied with the result that blinked on the display. Then, without a word, he wandered off the to the back room and that was the end of that. For the next few months, every time I came into the store, the ice cream freezer was empty.

Channeling Mummu.

Today, while rounding the corner from paper goods to the baking/frozen food row, Ben & Jerry’s and Breyers ice cream could be seen in the freezer, along with a few boxes of ice cream bars. This was exciting, because it had been a solid five, maybe even six months since seeing ice cream there. Flavor was irrelevant and I reached in for a container of Ben & Jerry’s. It was stress ball squishy soft. All of it. So was all the Breyers. And that was the end of that.

In the milk cooler, there was one half-gallon container of milk and three one-gallon containers. I grabbed the half gallon because it’s going to snow. I have until February 8^th to figure out what I’ll do with it. There also seems to have been a bit of channeling Mummu with the purchase of chocolate covered graham crackers and Caramel Nips and Chocolate Parfait Nips, some of her regular treats.

With potato chips, cookies, candy, milk, a fresh pot of soup, and dog biscuits, The BungaLowell is ready for the snow. The snow shoes are in the enclosed porch and shovels are posted near the front and back doors. Bring it, Mother Nature.