“Hi-Ho, the Merry-Oh, A Shopping I Will Go!”

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Is there such a thing as excitement paired with dread?  Apparently so, as I look ahead to today’s major task–a trip out to the store.  It is one of my favourite places to shop at so there is a part of me which feels a sense of excitement in being able to engage in an activity that I once loved doing, yet it is mixed with an impending sense of dread with respect to all that my outing will entail in terms of line-ups, social distancing, waiting to get into aisles to look at items, etc. But, it is what is as they say, and I’m afraid that this will be the way of shopping for quite some time to come, so I am just going to have to get used to it.   Suck it up, Susie.

Yesterday, my husband and I carefully went through the list of things needed so as not to miss anything that would then require another trip of sorts, although that is often how it goes anyway, isn’t it?  I don’t know about you, but we rarely find everything that we need in one shopping trip and that was even before the scarcity of items created by COVID-19 hoarding habits.  However, I am going to hope for the best as we look to restock our fridge and pantry for the next little while.

Last time that I ventured out, a negative mindset about the whole experience to come kicked in before I even left the house and sure enough, it was a rough trip out.  A self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts, so today, I am going to focus on the exciting part of my list of non-list things to look at and/or possibly purchase.  You see, my husband’s birthday is coming up and it is a milestone one this year, along with many other soon-to-be family celebrations including Mother’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries and a graduation.  What I love most about these kinds of occasions is being able to choose a gift that I think the person would enjoy receiving.  Of course, I don’t know what any of those things are as of yet, hence I referred previously to my list of non-list things in that I have people to buy for, but no specifics.  The difficulty will come in that I cannot as leisurely look about and contemplate this or that since others will be waiting to get into the shelves/spaces that I will be eyeing up; I must say that patience is not everyone’s strong suit these days it seems.  Understandably so, as we are all looking to get in and out in record time, but the out loud sighs and stare-downs I can personally do without.  Nonetheless, I will make the best of it and hopefully, I will find a treasure or two along the way that will eventually put smiles on the faces of my loved ones.  That joyful thought is the one that will carry me through my upcoming adventure for the day.

Wish me luck, friends and I will indeed wish you the same if shopping happens to be one of the things that you endeavour to do today.  Cheers to a good parking spot, a disinfected cart that rolls straight, a shorter line-up of sorts and folks who are in a patient, friendly mood; and, in my particular case, the prospect of finding a nice gift or two to brighten up some of the special days that will soon be celebrated around here.  “Hi-ho, the merry-oh, a shopping I will go!” :-).