The Kroger Discovery Tour

Time to write again...I was too tired last night and I almost skipped it again tonight.

But I didn't.

I will eventually get to the Kroger thing, but first, here's a quick recap of the really important stuff.

It's been a rough week, having been the only one at work in my position, and being left to cover 3 people's desks. The one saving grace is that I am only working 5 hours a day. On the one hand, the short days hurt me because I needed 8-10 hour days to catch up, so I still have 400+ emails to contend with. On the other hand, working 5-hour days has left me with at least a little energy in reserve on most days, and has allowed me to spend a little time trying to clean up the house. I'm grateful I've been under doctor's orders for these 5-hour days, because I am feeling better than I might have been.

And here's the "how I felt today" report for Yolanda:

• Thursday morning I had a headache and felt very groggy and kind of dizzy all morning. It wasn't a bad headache, just a naggy one. I don't think I had slept well the night before.
• Thursday night I had terrible heartburn and I did not sleep very well. Is that because I cheated on my diet and had tortilla chips with guacamole at dinner? 
• I'm still having heartburn today, as well, and I haven't cheated any more. What's up with that? Is it just the side effects of my Parkinson's meds, specifically the Mirapex ER?
• My Parkinson's symptoms are not improved, but my energy level is.
• The swelling in my feet and leg is probably worse. Did you tell me it would be a little worse this week, then would get better after that?

NOW, on to the Kroger story! 

I never realized all the stuff you can find in the grocery store! Typically, I go in the store by the produce section, then hit most of the aisles, working off of a list, going straight to the product I want, and moving on. I suspect most of us do it pretty much the same way. Even when I don't have a list, I still go straight to the product. 

What I'm getting at here is that I never, ever look at certain items in the store. Now that I've been put on a special diet by Yolanda, however, I've been looking for something new, and I've opened my eyes to more of what's out there. For instance, I NEVER go to the water aisle, but I'm supposed to be drinking a certain kind of alkaline water now, so I started looking. Holy cow! I couldn't believe all the kinds of water you can buy! 

And what about the international aisle??!! Wow! All those bizarre ingredients that show up on Chopped must come from this aisle:  fish sauce, oyster sauce, rice noodles, 15 kinds and sizes of flour tortillas, Thai soup, clam juice, coconut milk, chow mein noodles, etc., etc., etc.!

And then, there's the cold cut section and the frozen meat section (I was trying to find some new applications/products for turkey or chicken). I typically avoid these areas because they are full of processed foods, and I don't believe those foods are healthy. In desperation, however, I was wiling to try to find something new that fit my diet parameters. Again, WOW! Do you have any idea how many kinds of frozen breakfast items you can buy? Everything from frozen sandwiches to organic frozen sausages that are almost healthy, 19 kinds of potatoes, and English muffins, gluten free and regular! (Am I the only one who never knew this?!)

I guess I'm just saying open your eyes. See what's around you. Look someplace you never looked before. Venture out. Try something you never tried before. Speak to someone you never talk to. Order something you never get at your favorite restaurant. Wear something you haven't worn in months. 

Have we forgotten how to be original? How to think outside the box?

It might give us all a new perspective!