In Spite of Myself

How many times in life have you switched allegiances with respect to various things? I am talking about everything from product brands to food tastes to sports teams to hairstylists to political parties or religious affiliations and everything else in between. Maybe the better question is whether or not you have actually admitted to others whenever you have changed loyalties, granted some things might be more obvious to onlookers.

I know that I have changed my mind a lot in my forty some years, probably even more so than I realize. Likely, my family (my parents especially) and some lifelong friends would be happy to remind me of some instances without a doubt; the words, “Just wait until you get older,” or “You’ll see,” or “I’ll remember this,” seem to come to mind here; one of which such instance you will get to hear about in a minute. On some fronts, my changes of heart have been trivial in nature whereas in other respects, they have literally been life-changing. I’d like to attribute age, wisdom, experience, and a willingness to change as some of the main reasons why I have flipped sides of the coin, so to speak.

Let’s start out with one of the more minor changes that I have made over the years… well minor to me, maybe more serious for others. You never know.

While growing up, peanut butter was a staple food in our household. At first, we only bought the Empress creamy smooth brand which was sold in a giant can exactly like the one pictured below. Talk about feelings of nostalgia upon seeing the character logo again.

Image courtesy of CanadianDesignResource.ca

Then, when our beloved Empress cans turned toasters (a story unto itself) were no longer available, our peanut-y spread of choice was Kraft Smooth, followed by the lighter version when it made its debut onto the market–calories in and calories out, right? Recently, in our travels, my husband and I have somewhat reluctantly taken to the Jif brand of peanut butter only because it is more widely sold in places; however, it still has to be the light, smooth kind. The interesting thing is that, now, we find ourselves buying it as our first choice at home. Who would have ever thought? Knowing that I had naysayed the tastiness of the well-known Jif tub on many occasions over the years, I’ve had to literally eat my words in this case.  For the record, I still like Kraft PB; I mean, it does have that cute little bear on the label and who wouldn’t love that?!

As a child, I not only loved peanut butter, but I also loved trucks. Yes, it’s true. After all, my dad is a retired farmer and gravel truck driver, and my two brothers owned many of the kind, which all three ‘boys’ loved to tinker with and fix up for re-sale. My first vehicle at age sixteen was none other than an older model Chevy half ton, orangey-red in colour with its patterned cloth bench seat that my oldest brother had previously owned. I don’t remember a lot about being in it because I didn’t have it for very long, but you never forget your first!  From that point forward, I have been a decidedly steadfast truck owner, always of the Chevrolet/GM brand; although, the overall quality of their products has steadily declined in my opinion over the past few years, which has been rather disappointing.  That aside, last fall for practicality sake, my husband and I turned over a new leaf when we purchased our first-ever, used SUV so that I could have something easier to get in and out of post-surgery. I must admit that it has been golden for me over the past few months.  Not only have I been able to drive myself around, but parking has been a breeze by comparison (I even fit into parkades!) and the hatch is… well, that hatch is every woman’s dream for hauling around shopping bags, flower pots, etc.  So, am I total convert from my once-preferred larger ride to our now medium-sized sport utility?  Not totally, as I still look longingly at my parked Silverado with all of its bells and whistles (soon, I should be ready to climb back in it), but I will reluctantly confess that I am thinking that my next vehicle purchase might just end up being an SUV-type.  Notice that I said might be… don’t quote me as of yet.

On the scale of one hundred and eighty degree turnabouts in life as recounted in one of my recent blogposts, I met and married my husband which is something that I swore that I would never do–get married, that is.  Until I met him nearly one decade ago, I had no desire to marry nor had I ever really given the idea much of a second thought unlike many ladies who have dreamt of their big day from a very young age. The fact that I did finally marry elicited two different responses from my close circle of family and friends as you might imagine, “See, I told you,” and “You? Are getting married?! I thought that you didn’t believe in the idea.”. I know, I know. What can I say? Alright, I guess I can own up to my rather sudden change of heart about marriage and say that I was… wrong.  Flat-out wrong!  The good news is that in this particular case, I don’t mind saying the ‘w’ word one little bit. :-). I love being my husband’s wife!

Speaking of marriage and starting anew, another pretty significant switcheroo in thinking for me came about as my husband and I tried country living for the first time in each of our lives. For him, it wasn’t as big of a change in that he has moved around a lot throughout his lifetime, across country even, whereas I have lived within a twenty minute radius my whole life long. Ironically, I’m still in and around that same minute mark even given where we live now. When my dad first mentioned taking the plunge to a rural area, I thought, Nah, I don’t think so. What would I do waaay out there?  Besides, I was frightened of highway driving since my brothers had done the majority of it when we were all old enough to take turns driving out to our various family camping destinations. Yet, the reality of where we live now is that we are a grand total of fifteen minutes away from two major centres. Such a tough concept to grasp for a born and raised city girl!  Sigh.  Of course, within days of living out here, we were sold on the property and on becoming Country Bumpkins, as sang by Cal Smith. Rather than what does farm/acreage living have to offer, it was more like what DOESN’T it have to offer?! From its wide open spaces and ample parking & storage to its pretty views and quiet ambience in addition to the relatively nearby amenities, we honestly have the best of both worlds. Gees, there’s even space for horses, which I would personally love, but with our first love being travel, it wouldn’t work or be fair to them. But, who knows?!  Maybe one day we will be ready to settle in for the responsibility since this is clearly a tale of never say never.  As it turns out, living far enough away from the bright lights and the hustle and bustle of city life whilst still being handy to most things is pretty hard to beat in our books. Highway driving and all. Truthfully, I can’t picture living anywhere else, except for… Hawaii, of course, but those of you who know me or have been following me for awhile already could have guessed that one. 😉

To sum it all up, instead of eating Kraft peanut butter alone in the city with my Chevy truck parked on the front street, I am now a Jif-eating, married gal enjoying farm life & thinking about SUV’s. Yes, all in all, I think I’ve made some pretty decent swap-outs in life in spite of myself.

Now, what I really want to know from you is… what brand of peanut butter do you side with?  Think carefully, as your answer might be a divisive one.  (Kidding, of course.)

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