China in Memphis / Grocery Shopping

China in Memphis

A few years ago, the Memphis Zoo acquired two pandas. It was really a big deal, and they built a big new China section to house the pandas. I don’t know if it makes them feel any more at home to have everything looking like China, but to those of us who have never been to China, it is pretty neat to see.

The new has worn off of it a bit, and there is no longer a separate admission to that area to see the pandas, but it still looks pretty neat.

Grocery Shopping

On the way home from work yesterday, I stopped by the grocery store, because there were a few things that we needed. That is often a normal routine, too. Where we live, there aren’t any grocery stores right around us. The closest grocery store is about 12 miles away. And the closest better grocery store is about 20 miles away. So it takes some planning.

For the first several years that we were married, we were spoiled by the fact that the grocery store was about a five minute drive away. If we thought of something that we needed, it wasn’t any trouble at all to jump in the car and go get one or two things. But then we moved, and those days were over.

The change in grocery shopping took some getting used to at first. We had to put a lot of thought into what we were getting, making sure that we had everything we needed, and enough of everything to last for a few days. But we eventually adjusted. Mostly.

There are still some times when there is something we really need. And if it is a major necessity, the nearest grocery store will do, although it isn’t our preferred place to shop. But we do try to avoid that as often as we can.

To help out, we keep a list beside the refrigerator and write down what we need as soon as we realize we need it, which is hopefully a few days before we actually need it. And then if we know we are going to the store, we can take the list with us to hopefully get everything.

Last night, I was shopping from the list that we had made. I actually saw friend who lives way out like we do, and he was doing the same thing. We talked briefly about our similar situations, both saying it was the best way to do it.

And then, once I got home and we got everything put away, I realized that there were at least two more things that we were just about out of. Wouldn’t you know it.

So the list was started again. It’s a never-ending process.