Grocery Shopping

I got to go grocery shopping last night. Grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do. I don't really know why except that I love having a full fridge and cupboards and actually having ALL the ingredients a recipe calls for.

We always went grocery shopping with mom when we were growing up. Bowman's is the best place ever. You ALWAYS see someone you know, usually multiple people. And the bakery gives out free cookies. You know the sugar cookie ones with the color swirls in them. Sometimes we would get one with sprinkles.

Mom would always let us pick out one treat too. My favorites were Sixlets, M&M's and animal crackers. After going home while mom put the groceries away I would sit on the floor behind the chair and divide my spoils by color, or shape and size. I always ate the brown M$M's first since they were the ugliest, then the ones that were facing up with the M on the top.

We called Bowman's the 'small store' and Smith's the 'big store'. When we went to the big store we always got to see the lobsters in the tank by the deli. They were pretty cool.

One of the baggers was my buddy, Mark, and he would put quarters in the horse for us to ride. To this day I think Mark still works there, but I don't get to ride the horse anymore. :)

It was a big deal when Bowman's moved to a newer, bigger building the next block over. Complete with a drive-through pharmacy and everything. Even the pharmacist knows our family really well.

When we got older we would bet to see who could get to the closest amount of what the final bill would be. Mom always won. She was usually only a few dollars off.

During high school, Bowman's was kind of a hang-out spot. If you went there on a weekend night you were bound to run into somebody doing something. During lunch on the weekdays, students would go there and sit in the isles to eat lunch.

Alot of times for family night we would walk down to Bowman's and get something ice cream related (of course) for a treat and stop and eat it on the church field on the walk back home.

I've been guided through the isles of Bowman's blindfolded on my 18th birthday while my friends kidnapped me to buy dry ice. Yes, we are just THAT exciting.

So I guess you could say that I have alot of good memories associated with grocery shopping. It still makes me happy to go, even if I can't go to Bowman's. I still like Lee's okay; it's a whole lot better than Smith's! (Smith's doesn't have the lobsters anymore. :()