Final Preparations

Well, I use both words in the vaguest of senses.

Firstly, although today was my final day of shopping for the foodie things for Christmas, I still have to do some last minute last minute shopping tomorrow. Only for little things, like ingredients for a trifle. A replacement bulb. A cat litter tray. Last minute shopping is always varied, isn’t it?

I was walking slowly around Sainsbury’s today (other supermarkets are available) – well, I couldn’t do anything else but walk slowly, as the store was packed to the rafters with shoppers getting their last minute things. Everyone getting underfoot and undertrolley of everyone else. Shoppers causing major congestion at key points by leaving their trolleys at right-angles to the aisles. Shelf stackers stacking shelves whilst shoppers empty said shelf at the same time. This was me too! I was stocking up with bottles of cola as a chap was stocking up the display. Two on, two off and in my trolley. Two on, and two off and in my trolley again. In the end, they guy handed me the bottles directly from his fork-lift truck thing, until I’d had enough. Three seconds saved there!

Round to the fresh chickens. All the large ones had already been bought, so only the small ones remained. I bought two sparrow-sized ones, for £4.00 each. I was thinking of buying a fresh turkey, as the price was displayed at £8.99 and the birds were much larger than my chickens… however, this was the weight price, and the turkeys themselves were selling at around £45.00. My little birds will do fine, the turkeys were not ten times as big as their prices hinted to, compared to my chickens… and my chickens won’t take as long to cook as those ‘pterodactyl-sized’ birds either. An hour or so saved there (cooking, that is, not at the poultry chiller)!

No frozen Brussels Sprouts on the freezer section, so I had to dash (slowly) to the fresh veg section to pick some up from there. Luckily there were some left. Then on to the bread section, where the loaves were selling out fast. I had to let a woman step out and escape away from the shelves as she had become trapped between a shelf-stacker’s fork-lift truck thing, and another customer’s trolley that was at right angles to the aisle; she’d have been there all night if I hadn’t. So, the time saved by the cola had now been made up again by this. Everything happens for a reason!

I walked to the checkout, after getting everything from my second-to-last-list, and it was free. The checkout, that is – not my order. The busyness of the store wasn’t reflected in the queues at all. Well, not the checkout I chose anyhow! Thirty minutes saved there!

Paid. Packed. Time to leave the store. Fill the car. And queue for forty five minutes to get off the car park….

Sigh.

Everything is balanced.

No need to rush.

Take things easy, and we’ll arrive at the point in time called now. Rush, and we’ll still get here, but feeling a little more flustered, not having had half as much fun, and not having enjoyed the final preparations.

Tomorrow, it’s the final final preparations.

Let the fun begin!