Thursday #7: The Grocery Store / 2-18-10

So, today I took grandma to the grocery store for the first time. Two weeks ago I went to the store for her on a Friday and picked up some things she had on a list she gave me and it made her pretty happy. So, she made another list. My mom told me the night before so I could plan on taking grandma during our time together.
When I got to her house, I made breakfast right away so we could get on our merry way. My mom told me that grandma needs to eat before we go out, which is not a problem for me because if I wait to eat, it won't take long for me to get cranky and slow too.
She had her favorite: scrambled eggs and dry toast with jelly. For the first time, I "jellied" her toast for her and put the top piece over the bottom and sliced it in half (usually she does it). Then, I noticed for the first time she ate it like a sandwich and didn't pull the slices apart..maybe she thought I made her a jelly sandwich.

After breakfast I took her blood pressure and gave her her pills. I also take my blood pressure sometimes too out of curiosity. Since three women in my family have high blood pressure, why not start keeping track of mine now, right? Looks good so far. Grandma jokes "oh, right, are you trying to tease me with your perfect numbers?"

Together on the way to the store (and as you can see, I finally got prescription sunglasses and grandma brought her pair this time):

Her pair of J-Lo shades that is...and look at those pouty model lips:

Alright, now for the good stuff. Now remember she doesn't get out much nor has she been to the store in a while. So, she likes looking at everything. At first I was afraid she was going to put tons of stuff in the cart the way she was eyeing everything..but no, she was just intrigued.

She really liked these tomatoes and made me feel them...they were "perfectly firm."

Cat food: 10 for $4. We started to count, but once she got to 4 she decided that was enough. All chicken and salmon flavor.

She wanted a mini travel toothpaste, but decided she would think about it.

Picking sweet potatoes:

The one thing that was most important to her to get from the store was Tostido's Spinach Dip! She loves that stuff! Here she is looking for it. I told her it was probably on the chip aisle, but she insisted on looking around the produce section and vegetable freezer section:

I waited patiently for her but began to make my way with the cart to where I thought it would be. Here she is slowly and unsurely following me:

I FOUND IT! AND SHE WAS SO HAPPY! That man behind just doesn't understand:

"What was it doing here?!" she said. It was actually on one of those side shelves in a random spot next to the cleaning aisle!

Did you say cleaning aisle? Grandma loves to clean, so then suddenly there she went to have a gander. She walked away so fast, I thought she disappeared or was running from me:

Packing it in. She is pretty strong and wants to help equally which I think is great so she feels able and capable still (that's important to her) though I did try to lift the heavy things first so she couldn't.

Buckled and set:

When we got home we made coffee. She had been out of creamer and hadn't had her cup for the day yet. She asked me how much cream I wanted.
I said "a two count."
She said "a one-two count or a one-one count," and proceeded to count to two, which was actually probably equivalent to a 5 count.
And I said "perfect."
It's no wonder the creamer goes so fast.

And here we are practicing the sample driving tests online for the 3rd week in a row. She got 18 out of 20 correct! Here's my drawing showing her what it means to make a left turn from a one-way street onto another one-way street where you must make sure the traffic is moving to the left as well:

After the test taking we decided to go to AAA. She has been worried that the written driving test is going to change soon and wants to make sure all of our studying is not in vain if that's the case. I found out the CA DMV already published the 2010 driver's handbook and we went to see if we could get one.
While we were walking up to the doors she told me, "You know what I'm gonna do? And you can't tell anyone, it's a secret."
And of course, I said, "yes, tell me!"
She said, "I'm going to dye my hair red right before I take that test. Then they'll think I'm younger and I'll fool them!"
I said, "Awesome, I'll totally help you!"
So, don't be surprised all of you out there following (Aunt Sharon and mom)! haha. I'm on grandma's side if she wants to get wild!

Anyway, AAA said they didn't have the new handbooks yet, but were expecting them to come in next Thursday morning. So next week we're going to call before and maybe head back. On the ride home grandma told me in the car, she will never forgive that Doctor Miller for taking away her license, never ever.