Sick day

This is a "random thoughts" kind of entry. And I know I've been lacking in the writing lately, but life has been keeping me busy, as usual. Also, I've been having a sort of blog-identity crisis these days, but I won't get into that now. I became inspired to write today, possibly out of boredom because I'm sick and have been mostly laying around, but the urge hit me, so I ran with it.

Today was a "sick" day. Not a traditional one, but when is anything I ever do considered traditional, right?

Battled the chills all morning long.

Started feeling like crap yesterday, and it progressively got worse as the night went on. This morning, I felt just as bad as I did when I went to bed last night, so I decided to stay home from my day job. Just as I was about to roll over and shut my alarm off for good, I remembered I already had an ultrasound scheduled this morning. Getting this appointment in the first place was a pain, so I figured I should still go to that instead of attempting to reschedule and get an appointment that would actually take place before the next millennium. I also had to drop something off at my day job before the appointment, so I went ahead and got up, showered, and headed downtown early to avoid traffic.

I had about 2 hours to kill between dropping off that thing at work, and my ultrasound appointment. I get a few hours alone, albeit feeling like ass, so where do I go? To where food is, of course. I hit up the Whole Foods flagship store downtown, so I could get a cup of coffee that didn't cost $4.00 and a blueberry scone (I've always been a sucker for their scones). I picked a stool in the almost empty cafe, and watched Monday morning unfold for the city. Also, "cheap coffee & scone" mission accomplished - everything came to $3.65. *thumbs up*

It's interesting to watch a Monday happen. I'm usually shoulder-deep in Monday myself, but today I got a rare opportunity to witness a Monday from the outside. I got there around 8:30am, and the place was buzzing with energy. So much energy, in fact, that I felt like I was in slow motion while paying for my coffee, and adding the necessary creamer & sugar. People were like a blur all around me, reaching past me, ducking behind me, tapping their cup while they waited for their soy creamer - it was all a bit unnerving, so I was happy to get to a stool to sit. I will say, I usually enjoy Whole Foods immensely, but I noticed today that having worked at Central Market for the past six months, coupled with the fact that I felt like ass, today's visit didn't hold the same giddy feeling as in visits past. But, here I was, trying to kill time until my doctor's appointment, and I noticed a strange beauty in being part of a big city at the beginning of a work week.

Sitting at the bar in the cafe, my stool was facing a giant window to the outside world - specifically, the intersection of 6th and Lamar. The mix of business men & women coming in to get their morning caffeine fix, alongside the stay-at-home Moms with small kids, was pretty interesting. Among the professionals who moved a mile a minute, the Moms leisurely fed their babies or browsed the aisles at a snail's pace. Even in the parking lot, those who were obviously going to an office job were whisking through, almost jogging to their cars, and the Moms were just strolling amongst them, avoiding collisions & trying to get their shopping done for the day so their little person could get home in time for the always-glorious morning nap. Then you had the fitness crowd, walking around in their workout or biking gear, usually in pairs. They didn't have coffees, but rather smoothies or green concoctions from the juicing bar. These folks didn't seem in a hurry, probably because they all just got done burning more calories than I do in an entire week. They earned their slower pace. God bless 'em, -- and I wasn't even glaring at them out of jealousy for being more disciplined than me & squeezing in a workout that early in the day.

After I finished my scone and half of my coffee, I decided to get up and move around a bit, and hopefully warm myself up (see: chase the chills away). As I browsed, I had an epiphany that is nothing new to me, but seems to happen often -- the overwhelming sense of gratitude for living in a place that has such an abundance of food. If you've never seen a flagship Whole Foods, it's quite a sight, and it's literally packed floor to ceiling with amazing creations made in-store, as well as aisles of packaged foods. Everywhere you turn, there are goodies bursting out, tempting you and luring you in to buy them.

A cookie bar? There is a God.

Just a fraction of the section with cured meats and cheeses.

An antipasti bar. We have so much food in this country, we have a whole section of food to eat before you eat your other food. Amazing.

I hope Heaven smells like this bread.

I walked around, marveling at this and that, and making mental notes of things they do that Central Market doesn't (ahem!), and ended up killing enough time to go to the doctor. I'm happy to say, I only purchased cumin, anchiote, a few loose parsnips, cilantro, peanut butter granola cereal for the hubs, organic toaster pastries, paper towels, three kinds of baby cauliflower (see below) ...

C'mon, admit it - they are pretty adorable.

... and a new, smaller reusable grocery bag. My husband would probably argue I need another one of those like I need a hole in my head, but hey, it was $.79 and I hate lugging the big ones around when I only need a few items.

Another cutie, right?

I got out of there for $16.82. A new personal record. Now that I have proved to myself that I have self-control after all, I might let myself go back to Whole Foods more often. I did leave feeling a little giddy inside, after all, so yeah, probably. 

Hope to be back in the saddle within the next few days, and start blogging more consistently, as I talk about in nearly every post I write. (If Blogger had an app for iPhone, I'm tellin' ya, things would be so much easier ...)

Until next time.