There's a common saying, "Never grocery shop when you're hungry...." Well, NorthernDaddy has come up with a new rule: Never grocery shop when you've had a stressful day at work.

That's the crap NorthernDaddy and Toddler bought for dinner tonight. It's been a long week at work for NorthernDaddy and, without going into detail, today had more than its share of problems. (As a co-worker said, "I've worked with you for years, and this is the first time I've seen you angry with someone.")(Oops - guess I lost my cool...but the work wasn't getting done, and that's unforgivable in my world.)

Anyway, about the shopping trip...cruising the aisles looking for something easy and comforting for dinner, it was decided to focus on dessert first. Bakery section ahead! NorthernToddler picked out a large sampler platter of cheesecake, but was denied when NorthernDaddy saw the $17 price tag. Carrot cake? Nah.... Mini birthday cakes? Maybe.... THAT ONE RIGHT THERE, DADDY! NorthernToddler had spotted the large cake decorated as a pumpkin/jack-o-lantern. It looked pretty good. Into the cart it went.

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Can't eat just cake, what's for dinner? Don't want chicken - that's tomorrow's dinner. Want big ol' steak. Can't justify steak's price tag. Hamburgers? That's the ticket!

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What to serve with hamburgers? NorthernDaddy has a craving for potato salad and cole slaw. No interest in making it from scratch, so over to the 'prepared foods' section. NorthernToddler was quite impressed - he's never even been in that section of the grocery store before!

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(Hey Daddy! -Did you know that there's food that's already made over here? No cooking or nuthin!)

(Yes Toddler, I know that there's prepared food here, but it's s*** to eat.)

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Well, the two hunter-gatherers loaded some s*** coleslaw and potato salad into the cart and continued around the store, adding pickles and soda to the cart - just to complete the perfectly healthy dinner! (Handy fact: NorthernDaddy would not eat pickles before Toddler came along. Couldn't stand them. Now, Daddy chomps a pickle almost every day. What's up with that? NorthernMommy thinks that it's some kind of weird reverse-pregnancy craving thing....)

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So, the NorthernToddler family went from eating locally and healthy last week to grabbing whatever processed junk was handy this week. Tonight's shopping run is easily the worst (nutritionally) trip to the grocery store that the Northerns have made in the last six months. Possibly the worst in the past year.

Yay for cruddy days at work!

(At least this guy's smiling face made the day a little better!)
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Also, NorthernDaddy got to have some fun by spending the whole trip around the grocery store telling NorthernToddler that it was Daddy's cake - not Toddler's!
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"But Daddy, it's not your cake - you hafta share it. You get a piece, Mommy gets a piece, and I get a piece!"

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Picture a grown man and a two-year-old travelling through the grocery store arguing (nicely) about whose cake it is.......