15 July 2008

Shopping again

I know that I only seem to post about shopping but that seems to me the major activity around here. All I do is shop and laundry and cook and eat. No wonder people in the burbs are fat! (I still have 15 or so baby weight pounds to lose but that is a whole other post)

So what did I do so far today?
I took the list off the fridge and then I went through it assigning each item to the store that I thought I could find it in - Costco, Mrs Green's (the organic market) or ShopRite. Now I am wracking my brain, should I go to Costco before ShopRite or should Costco wait until Thursday. My overriding question is - what if Costco doesn't have waxed paper? or deoderant? or shaving cream? Then I will have to go back to the supermarket.
I long for the days when shopping was something you did on the way to something or on the way home from some activity. Now, it is my day's activity...
How did this happen to me?

What happened to movies? What happened to museums? What happened to real life?
I know I have three babies (14 month old triplet daughters) but shopping is not the only thing there is in life. On Sunday to make my 17 year old stepson less bored, we took him to the mall in Stamford. This was after we passed up looking at the galleries in Silvermine. We chose athletic shoes and sold out iPhones over art!!!! This is not who I am or at least who I was?

My husband said to me this morning when I told him I was going shopping to buy myself something pretty. After searching for kosher organic chicken and meat, I don't have the cycles to look for clothes or shoes or even a purse. I miss going down the block and just picking out food at the Kosher Marketplace. If they didn't have it or if I felt frugal, I would walk the extra two blocks and go to Supersol and then pick up bagels (real ones not the H&H hyped ones) and cheese at the Bagel Basket. I would treat myself to a cinnamon bun if I felt like splurging. Then there was always a Fresh Direct order or a quick run to Food Emporium for everything else and then if I forgot something, I could go to PriceWise....at any time of the day or night.

All this would be done while walking - with a stroller or without... I miss walking. There is not much to see in this development - yes the houses are pretty. There is a whole lot of nature and the circles under my eyes are much better and Syd doesn't cough so much anymore. In Manhattan, you could always go for a walk and see things and people you never saw before. Here you see deer, wild turkeys and little turklets... cute but how many can you see before the novelty wears off.

There was never a time to feel alone. You were never alone. Not that I feel alone here but I do feel lonely. My world has contracted to an inner circle of mostly toothless, wordless little people. I love them with all my heart but I miss the rush of seeing something new and feeling in touch with the world at all times. It is making me very nervous.

2 comments:

Natalie Hanson said...

Hi Susan,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and struggles. I hear you. We are going into our third year in the Philadelphia suburbs, and we love the house and know that the public education system here is one of the best in Pennsylvania. But it does feel devoid of most everything except malls and frosted hair. I miss being surrounded by very different people, and we really REALLY miss the restaurants, especially the Asian food. I hope you find your peace with it over time. I know it has gotten easier for me, both because I've adjusted and because we have figured out how to get into the city periodically.

Natalie

ps - Great GREAT photos of the girls' first birthday. Our little one turns one in two weeks!

EJ Birch said...

I feel your pain, Susan. But then again, NYC isn't what it once was. Becoming more and more generic. The 2nd Ave Deli is now a Chase!? Then again, what isn't a Chase these days.
CBGB's... GONE
Le Figaro (Cafe)... GONE
Bleeker St Cinema... GONE
Brooke Astor... GONE - well, that had to happen sometime, I suppose.