beyond comfort foods

As much as I like looking at illustrations featuring saucer-eyed dolls, it eventually gets old and starts to make me irritable. So before I post the next student-feature story, I think I'll spice things up with an all-text entry.

Today was the second time in as many days and as many meals that I have gone grocery shopping. That's right, I went yesterday after dinner, and again today before dinner. Today I brought home cucumbers, chives, cauliflower, soymilk, a doughnut, a muffin, a loaf of bean bread, and a tube of toothpaste. The only thing I needed was the toothpaste. My dinner was leftovers from two days ago. Nothing that I bought in the last two trips to the grocery has been eaten.

I remember growing up how infrequently my family went shopping for groceries. Seems to me that despite our being a family of five, it was once every two weeks that we went grocery shopping...at most. Sure my mom did a fair bit of gardening and we got our milk from the cows, but that didn't cover all our needs.

Why is it that I buy groceries so often?

This last weekend I went to an Ultimate Frisbee tournament and ran up and down the field for six long games. It was a great tournament; I scored goals and had some great "D's." I didn't notice any ill effects until Monday morning. I couldn't open my eye when I woke up, and around 11, came home from the optometrist with a paper stamped "Kakumaku Jyohi Hakuri" or "Cornea Epidermis Exfoliation" and two little bottles of Super Eye Juice to repair the damaged cornea. Sand and grit from the previous day's games was the culprit.

I spent the day not being able to do anything, constantly dabbing at my eye and blowing my nose. After a day in the house, I was in great need for distraction...so took a walk to the grocery store.

I buy groceries out of frustration.

This morning, my eyelid only managed to make half-mast, but I went to work anyway. The students had midterms today, so I had no classes to teach.

I spent the day happily getting small tasks done that I hadn't managed to get done while classes were in session, and gradually my eye began to feel better. I left work in high spirits and before I knew it, found myself unlocking the door to my apartment with two bags of groceries in hand.

I buy groceries in times of happiness.

I've heard that some people eat when they are feeling stressed. Actually, I know it; I've done it. Unfortunately, it seems that I've moved beyond comfort foods: now I go comfort shopping.

I need to think of a way to break this habit, because I'm sure that the money spent on unnecessary carrots could be directed towards more important things such as the postage for mailing off my graduate school applications.