Making a Snack Station
Enjoy the next chapter of Surviving (What Feels Like) the End of the World….
With my few clients, my work life began to form a routine. This day, interview a subject. This day, the article is due. This day, their newsletter needs to go out. That regimen allowed me to begin tubing.
What is tubing?
In the summer, you may have seen people floating down rivers in inner tubes, just enjoying the sunshine and sometimes a refreshing beverage. All that is required of you is to keep your butt from hitting any rocks as you float. And that is what I am doing when I am tubing my work. I float through the day, following the routine and doing just enough to keep any pain from occurring.
By switching my determination from striving for more clients to tubing, my body and soul relaxed in the nooks and crannies of my days. That space allowed the grief to sneak in, tears to be randomly shed, even a little creativity to emerge. It allowed me to enjoy walking the dog, chatting with my wife on lazy mornings, playing in our little garden spaces, designing and knitting a new piece.
Creating a routine made this possible. And a big part of that routine included doing the grocery shopping.
When working from home, grocery shopping requires a specific trip.
And that trip takes one to two hours because I want to do as many errands as possible. After all, one long trip equals many fewer small trips and uses less gas.
Saving money and the planet at the same time!
Along with the library and pharmacy, several grocery stores line my route. Pricing and availability must be checked EVERYWHERE! Start at a small farm market open year-round for the freshest produce. A local salvage grocery outlet provides deeply discounted laundry detergent and snacks. Then a more expensive national discount grocery store where most remaining items can be found. Finally the regular grocery store crosses the final requirements off the list.
Shopping is tiring!
Around the midpoint of the trip, a low energy point hits and a bag of chips or cookies emanates a magnetic glow. I stop resisting and grab the snack. Revived, my shopping tour continues!
The snack habit began in June while my wife was in the hospital. On the drive home each evening, I would eat a bit of cookie or some chips left over from my lunch and combine it with the sugar-free ginger ale that food service refused to leave off her tray. That tiny hit of empty sweetness and calories would get me home with just enough energy to feed the dog and myself actual food before collapsing into bed.
This loosening of my dietary morals progressed to snacking during errands. Then, because my mother taught me to be practical and save money, I started keeping a bag of Chex Mix in the car. Purchasing a larger bag was cheaper than grabbing the little snack-sized bags or candy bars. And Chex Mix has less calories than a candy bar.
At least that’s what I told myself.
And it does. I just looked it up!
I mean, as long as I don’t eat more than a cup.
Whoopsie!
Recently, as I got ready for the seven hour drive to visit my Dad, I stocked up on a few additional snick-snacks to eat in the car. And when I returned, the leftovers remained with the thought that they would fulfill my snacking needs.
Sooooooo, I have chewy “protein” granola bars to go with my Chex Mix now.
Since my organizational skills are uninspired in vehicles, the granola bars stayed in their box in the passenger seat until Mack sat on them while accompanying me on a quick outing.
I guess he doesn’t like granola.
Anyway, they were in the box and in their foil wrappers, so dog butt germs didn’t touch them. They didn’t even get misshapen!
Then I picked up a bag of Double Dark Chocolate Milano cookies at the salvage grocery store (expiration barely past!).
The time had come.
Let’s build this snack station!
When I got home from that grocery trip, I organized the snacks in my car door so they would fit: cookies in the middle, Chex Mix bag curled to one side and the three remaining granola bars on the other.
All the diet books and blogs I’ve read throughout my life looked down at me and shook their heads.
But eating in the car doesn’t have calories, right?
Calories aren’t the only danger at the snack station. On Saturday, the car’s interior had reached boiling levels when I opened the bag of Milanos. They looked fine. I pulled out a slippery cookie and the melted chocolate dribbled all over my hand.
Whoopsie!
Two delectable bites ended the cookie layers. Licking the chocolate off my hands left them sticky and grubby. Maybe I could hit the bathroom before starting my final shopping run? The hand sanitizing wipes appeared before me in the grocery store airlock (that big room where the carts live and then you go through another door into the main part of the store). A thorough wipe with one of those and I didn’t even get chocolate on the cart handle.
Because I’m an adult.
And the snack station saves me money! Those weak moments in line at the cash register, the ones where my bored hands are suddenly lonely for a treat? Those are alleviated by dreaming of my fully stocked car door. And if my grocery cart includes something for my snack station? My excited mind fills with “When will I eat it? Where will I store it?”
What a delicious puzzle!
The snack station doesn’t have a drink bar though, so I am required to purchase a refreshing beverage during my travels. A seltzer makes me feel fancy and special, so I’ll grab one of those green bottles of “italian sparkling water” out of the cooler at Aldis. “Yes, please! Don’t I look sophisticated now? Ooh-la-LA!”
Speaking of eating in the car, on my recent road trip, I also discovered the best way to eat Chicken McNuggets on the go. Pour the sauce into the bottom of the to-go bag and just dump the nuggets on top. No need to bother with dipping! Do you like a little barbeque sauce on your fries? The easy life has arrived!
See? Handy hints for living. Just what you come here for!
At some point, I’ll come to my senses and the snack station will turn a little healthy before disappearing altogether.
Or will it? As I type, I notice that an additional snack station is forming on my desk.
Whoopsie!
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