Groceries

It’s a little milder today than it was the last few days.  Jerry was able to be out a little longer without hopping on 2 legs so I felt a little less guilty about taking him out in the cold.  He spent a good 2 hours today lying on his back begging for petting.  He moved from Don to me and back again if he wasn’t getting the level of cuddles that he wanted.  On his evening walk he seemed to have gained about 50kg and grown extra legs… he refused to move when I wanted to walk on, and just seemed to grow on the spot.  😌 He was a little naughty, too, and pulled my shoulder, so that’s being nursed and rubbed with some vile-smelling ointment that does relieve the ache.  I’ve told him that he can’t do that if he wants to go out, and he just wagged his tiny stump and licked my hand.  Don had a reaction to his flu shot, and had nausea and a headache last night.  He’s feeling much better now, although he says that everything aches.  I hope that improves, because I don’t like it when he’s not well.  I’m still looking for a doctor — for those keeping score, it’s been over a year since I registered with the province, and 11 months since the doctor retired, and nothing.  The virtual doctor services don’t prescribe the meds that Don needs (I’m in a better state, since my meds are all from the cancer centre) so it’s not a good option; same with walk-in clinics.  I’m still calling every doctor listed in Ottawa to see if anyone is taking new patients, and I’m trying to stay optimistic about finding one.

Yesterday we did a quick grocery run and although I had gone with my sister in Hamilton, I was still surprised at the jump in prices.  I’ve seen all the news stories about price increases and inflation, but I somehow filtered them out because most of my regular items hadn’t changed much in price.  I’ve had, for years, a mental price list that said “don’t pay more than $X” for these items.  But even those have jumped up significantly in a short time.  Some I understand — because so much is imported from the US, the wildfires, storms and other natural phenomena have caused increases.  The increase in oil, and therefore transport, yes.  I don’t actually believe that when oil goes up that the items on the store shelves should increase — they’re already there, so their prices should be unaffected!  Add to that, the marketing ploy from the major chains that they’ve “locked prices until after Christmas to help curb inflation” is deceptive, as the prices were increased shortly before they were “locked” at the “low” level.  It would have been better, in my non-retail-oriented mind, to have locked them at their Christmas prices for last year, which was the last time that they locked prices until after Christmas… it’s an annual program, although this year it’s being presented as a caring motion!

Even my usual shopping practices are limited in saving money this year.  I’m planning to have something to celebrate my 10th anniversary, but I’m hesitant to recommend a restaurant as it’s so expensive and I don’t want to add needlessly to my friends’ budgets.  I’m also reluctant to host something at my home because I won’t have the energy to enjoy it.  So I will need to think carefully about how we celebrate; I have ideas of things that would be enjoyable, but not necessarily price wise.  Yes, I know that the point is for us to get together, and nobody will expect anything elaborate, but still… In any case, it will be something for us to do, perhaps combining a pre-holiday in-person activity that is not exhausting nor too demanding, so we can all have fun.

That’s it for today; Jerry is poking my leg to let me know that he wants to climb up and get cuddled, so I’ll wish you all good night and go do my job of tummy rubbing.