Stocking Up Before Getting Socked In

Dearest Rachel –

It looks like there’s about to be some interesting – in the sense of that famous Chinese curse – weather coming our way. Yesterday morning, the folks warned me that we could end up with between eight and ten inches of snow in the next twenty-four hours; as a result, they had Daniel and me over for dinner last night rather than waiting for Thursday, when we all would presumably be socked in.

Meanwhile, here I am just getting over a cold (indeed, this morning I woke up to the sensation of my face being attached to my skull by means of an invisible vise grip), and now I have to deal with more of it. If it weren’t for the fact that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself if I were traveling while sick (and it’s entirely possible that the cruise line wouldn’t let me on if I was showing symptoms anyway, whether Covid or bird flu or whatever it is I’ve got), I’d wish I was back out of town again. But that’s not really an option – and as I said, it’s probably just as well, as I might not be able to appreciate the opportunity in any event. All I can do for the moment, though, is to brace for impact – whatever that impact might be.

This includes making sure that the pantry is reasonably well-stocked; and wouldn’t you know it, as the middle of the month approaches, so too does that time when Daniel and I have to use up the coupons I get from my superstore credit card. At this point, I can’t remember when we started with this thing, but I’m pretty sure you were around when I set up our recurring donations for church and the like on this particular card (since by then, it made more sense to give a specific amount on a regular basis rather than write a check for one-tenth of a paycheck that I was no longer getting) which, as part of its rewards program, issues a certificate for $10 off of any and all purchases when you spend a certain amount on the card, regardless of where and what for (and no, I can’t remember what that amount is offhand. All I know is that I’m regularly getting at least half a dozen of these every month). I’ve even been able to fill shoeboxes with items ‘purchased’ with these certificates, creating an “Inception” level of donations (granted, assembling them proved to be more troublesome than just paying for pre-made boxes, and even when I told you about it at the time, I’m aware that talking about it sort of negates any credit I might receive for a good deed done. I’m just amused at the recursiveness of it all, though, and have to talk about that, at least).

In any event, these certificates expire after about 90 days, compelling the two of us to get over to the place and use them for one thing or another. And while there are some things I’d just as soon shop at, say, Aldi for over Meijer, hey, free is free. So that’s what we did yesterday after dinner with the folks. I should mention at this point that I’d planned on making it a short day at the ‘office’ and doing the shopping on the way back home to pick up Daniel, but as I was driving there, I realized I’d left them – and the list I’d made for myself (yes, I do that now and again these days – will wonders never cease?!) – back at home.

It was just as well, since Daniel actually had a few things he wanted to stock up on, as well – which is unusual, as he often has little opinion when I tell him I’m going shopping, and ask if he want me to pick anything up that I’m not aware of. I wonder if that’s not part of why you preferred to have me come with you on these excursions back in the day; sure, the companionship was nice (and I certainly miss it), but sometimes, it’s just more effective to have two minds coming up with things we might need. One of us could remember what the other hadn’t – or wouldn’t have – thought of.

Granted, he doesn’t have the same impulsiveness that I do when it comes to this sort of task; all he pointed out were the two things he’d originally had me put on the list (shampoo and snack sausages; quite the combination, don’t you think?). He didn’t even offer a suggestion regarding the type of cheeses we might need to restock the fridge with; has he stopped eating the stuff? I know he has the various restaurants he visits on a weekly basis while I’m at the ‘office’; is that all he ever eats on his own? I really don’t know, but we did try to get enough stuff to tide ourselves over until the snow subsides.

In any event, we were quite pleased to have been able to get this taken care of before things started to get messy today. But imagine my chagrin this morning upon checking in at the office to see the following forecast:

So, yeah; it looks like we didn’t need to panic so much about making sure we had everything we needed between now and tomorrow. Then again, the coupons were expiring by the end of the week; might as well deal with them while we were thinking of them.

In any event, whether we’re getting socked in or not (and it increasingly looks like we’re not), I’d still appreciate it if you’d keep an eye on us anyway, honey, and wish us luck. We’re still more than likely to need it.