Dirty deeds, but they are not dirt cheap

Food - How many of you like to grocery shop? Just what I thought, not many. I could tell by the exasperated moans from some of my friends, that it is nothing more than a dirty deed, but it's not dirt cheap! If done on a weekly basis, it can be quite a mundane chore. Especially if you are buying "the staples" and no fu-fu items. Feeding a family is not cheap, nor is it easy to come up with a menu that is nutritious, that everyone will like and will fit in the family budget. Don't hate me, but I like to grocery shop. I am foodie and it has to do with a hording issue I have.

If I were to ask you: do you like to shop at an up-scale grocery store, or gourmet specialty food store? I think the answer could be a "yes." Who doesn't like to enter a up-scale grocery store that smells of great food, coffee, and flowers? Who doesn't like to feel as though they "deserve" to have their groceries bagged for them, no matter how much you spend and that drive up service available? A store where customer service is a priority and people actually smile. A store that smells of money - yes, you know what I mean - I just said it out loud, that's all . I do, sign me up! Being the foodie that I am, I can spend hours walking up and down the isles of that type of store. I don't even have to buy anything, but usually do, I am a horder. I just like to look at the fresh salads made in the delicatessen, then meander through the bakery, head on into the meat department where everything is fresh and succulent looking and continue down the isles to the preserves, sauces, oils, frozen food and then one last stop at the magazine section (another down fall) before ending at the checkout counter. Now you may say "that sounds routine," but I guarantee there is nothing routine about this trip through "la la land." You see, as I make my way, I am forever picking up jars of preserves, sauces, oils, etc. and reading the labels; checking out the jars that encapsulate them, wondering who invented them and what I could make with them, and the list goes on..... I forget about everything else, just for that moment and time, a sort of therapy if you will. I know, I need to get a life, but being a foodie is my life!

Am I alone out on a branch here? I extend the "olive branch" to you - join me.

Dish - Update: Tom Petters, Petters Group Inc., was arrested! I can't get over this for some reason. I guess we see greed (i.e. Wall Street) but this one has hit home, in the State of Minnesota! And it puzzles me. Someone who is a self-made millionaire finds it necessary to defraud people, innocent people, out of money all in the name of what? More money? I can't help but think that it is not the money he is after in the long run, as it may have been in the beginning, I think it has more to do with underlying self-esteem issues. A feeling that we have to have more than, be more than, etc... Or maybe it is simply a case of no conscience. There is a saying: "It will not matter if you gain the world, if you lose yourself." And 10 times out of 10, you lose yourself. But when you lose yourself, you are not the only one losing. Think of the people this has affected a) his family, b) the investors that put thier trust in this company c) all the people employed by his company/companies, d) the State of Minnesota and the trickle down effect this will have on the economy. Seeing this whole debacle come to fruition, saddens me deeply, he stood as part of: "The American Dream," that so many of us fight for and come to this great country for. A country where if you work hard you can achieve! A country where we root for the underdog because we want everyone to be all that they can be. And in return, ALL we ask is that you "be it" rightfully, legally, truthfully, and without harming others - please! Truth be told, crime doesn't pay.

Embellish - To thine own self be true!