Day 55...Things that make you go hmmmm........

Even though I was under the weather yesterday, I went out and got my produce and did my Christmas shopping. I did because the real weather is supposed to get much worse the next few days, and I didn't want to deal with it.

The threat of bad weather reminded me to make a quick stop and pick up some insurance that I keep forgetting to do. I pulled into the Home Depot, love that store. I got something called "Ice Melt" so I wouldn't get trapped with the car in the garage for 5 days, like last year. It was only ten bucks. Cheap insurance. The bag was pretty heavy, but I lifted it into the car and looked to see what it weighed. It wasn't that easy to lift either. It was 40 lbs. "Wow", I thought, "that's almost how much weight I have lost." Could I really have been carrying that around with me every day? It hardly seems possible. Pounds are pounds right? I'm tempted to heft the bag on my scale and make sure. You want some motivation? Next time you are out and about, go into the garden section or dog food aisle and lift up a 40 lb. bag of something. Then think about why you are tired all the time.

Only five days left after today. That's pretty hard for me to believe also. I bought my usual 7 day supply. I didn't even need my list this time. At my favorite store, basket full, I felt a bit sad. Oh, I will continue to shop there every week now. I used to only go maybe once a month, because it's not that close. However, the freshness of the produce and the great prices make it worthwhile for me. It didn't before. I wasn't consuming enough produce to make it worth the trip. Sometimes, in the past, things would even go bad. I'm happy to say that I have only lost one red pepper, and I think it was old when I got it. Rare, but true. Mold, gross.

I stay on the outside aisles of grocery stores now, mostly. Looking down some of the aisles makes me shake my head. So, so much stuff that is so, so not good. It wouldn't be there if millions of people didn't load up on it all the time. Sometimes, I see a shopping cart loaded up, maybe with a child in it as well. It's hard not to ask, "why are you doing this to yourself and your family?" Is it marketing, lack of time, lack of knowledge, what? Do people not know or care to cook anymore? This might date me, but when I was a kid, I don't remember so called "convenience" foods being around. Maybe my parents didn't buy them. We had a huge garden every year. I am the oldest of six. That's a lot of hungry stinkers. I learned how to cook by the time I was seven. I learned how to can and freeze food too. That was convenience food, opening a can of something you stored away in the summer. I have to think it was better for us, even though it was processed by us in some way. I often hated that garden, but what I wouldn't give to have a good one today!! What I learned isn't taught to kids anymore. It's a darned shame too.

Want to see a picture of the biggest sweet potatoes I have ever seen in my life?...........................Sure you do!!

That's a regular sized pen and they really were only .89 a pound. I managed to find a couple of normal sized ones, but they were all so pretty, I had to take a picture. Think juicing for 55 days has changed me?

Sure you do!!!!