While cutting out some fabric today, I watched Tintypes on BroadwayHD. Can we talk about Lynne Thigpen's unbelievable talent? She's amazing. If you only know her as The Chief from Where in the World is Carmen Santiago?, look her up on YouTube. Stunning voice. Comic timing for days. Great dancing. We lost a really good one early when she died at age 54.
Things have been pretty scattered here. Almost all of California has been dropped back to the most restrictive tier of closures and precautions, mostly in the hopes of cutting down on transmissions over Thanksgiving. Judging by the reactions on the community board, it might backfire. I guess I have no choice but to hope for the best. Fuzzy is certain we will do a very short dinner with the windows open at his mother's house, but I feel less confident. We plan to do a special dinner for the girls on Friday, perhaps even with the good china.
With more people doing their own Thanksgivings and the shutdowns looming, our stores are going to start getting skinny. It might count as panic buying, but I did a Costco order for delivery and a Wal Mart drive up order for groceries today. I figure that we now have a good stock for the next week or so, and I should be able to stay out of Costco for another month.
Wal Mart started offering drive up grocery pickup when I was about six months pregnant with Tiny. I avoided it as much as I could, but I kept getting dizzy spells while grocery shopping. We decided to try it out a couple times, as it was easier than sending Fuzzy in with a list. It filled the need, but we didn't use it a whole lot, as going grocery shopping was one of my few opportunities for an outing with Tiny being brand new. We mostly used it for the weeks we would be too busy for shopping, and I would schedule it to have Fuzzy swing by on his way home from work.
When things started shutting down, I actually had a pickup order scheduled, as I was neck deep in preparation for two shows. They cancelled the whole thing, as the shelves were bare, and the employees were too busy keeping the peace to do much else. We tried out pickup orders from other stores that were farther away, and I'm thinking of starting those again, to support the little guy more. I also discovered the wonder that is Target drive up, with no minimum and a four hour turnaround. They don't offer much in the way of groceries, but they have a nicely stocked baby food section and I love their diapers.
Right now, it's really easy to get into the drive up options, as most of my area seems to think that it's their patriotic duty to be in the stores for even the smallest whim. Fuzzy's brother has made a few snarky remarks about how Americans will do basically anything to avoid getting out of their cars. Fuzzy's brother also lives in a major city and shops at stores within four blocks of his home.
Frankly, I love drive up stuff, because I have crappy impulse control. Ordering ahead means I have already bought everything to the list and have stayed within the budget I set. It also means that I have edited out most of the "poor life choice" snack options before checking out, and that I have allowed my family to offer their last minute needs. I'm less likely to need to run back to the store immediately, and I'm less likely to have a snack for the drive back. Pick up orders also mean that I don't have to deal with crowds or waiting in line, something that was rough on my nerves before all of this, especially on the first weekend of the month (many local employers pay on the first or on the first and fifteenth). I am just fine with listening to my audiobook while waiting for the drive up crew to come out and load it all in my car. I'm totally cool with knowing in advance that shredded cheddar cheese isn't available. We usually schedule it to coincide with our takeout dinner night, so I go pick up the groceries, then run over to the restaurants to pick up our orders. Fuzzy puts all the groceries away while I distribute dinner, and our evening is rolling, without the stress of dealing with the crowds.
I'm likely to continue doing drive up pick ups. It's just convenient for us, and it's saving me from some wacky choices. I don't necessarily recommend it for all your produce options, but when you're doing pantry staples and standard items, it's fantastic. Plus, see previous statement about audiobooks.
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