Jenn's Bag of Tricks - Grocery Shopping

Living alone with RSD is not easy.  In fact, it’s a depressing pain in the tookis!!  But it is possible!!  Once you have amassed a bag of tricks, there is almost nothing you can’t do in your own life!!  You just have to be willing to make the necessary changes, pick your battles (spoons), swallow a little bit of pride from time to time, and just *keep at it*.  Soon things will become like 2nd nature and you’ll be making your own life a little easier without even realizing it when you do it.  It just becomes "the way that things need to be in your world."  Here are a few of my grocery tricks to help get you started …

The mere thought of traversing the aisles of a grocery store, while in pain, can be paralyzing to me.  Add to it the inevitability that I will have to face the refrigerated sections, and I have a strong case of Supermarketphobia.  So I don’t go alone.  I call a family member or a good friend and ask someone if they would be willing to help me spend a couple spoons on an adventure on a specific date at a specific time, I’ll buy the coffee.  (RSDers, please be mindful of how you ask.  Remember, these people have lives of their own and the sun does not shine out of your tookis for the rest of the world to revolve around.  Set it up in advance.  The worst anyone can say to you is “no” and that’s ok, you can call someone else or wait a day.  You have bigger battles to fight.)  Since my SSD checks are WAY below pathetic, I have become a coupon clipper.   I make a detailed grocery list based on the valid coupons in my collection.  By detailed, I mean that I write down (or type out) the brand that I want as well as the specific flavors.  I also buy in bulk, when possible, and divvy up portions for future use and easier handling.  When I go to the store, regardless of time of year, I wear layers on my upper half as well as long pants and I wrap a jacket around my waist.  I always use a cart for balance (well that and those small baskets get too heavy after 2 items) and if it’s a “big trip” I’ll take my cane in too, even if it's for nothing more than reassurance that I have it if I need it.

Yogurt - I have a coupon for Yoplait.  I google “Yoplait yogurt flavors” and I write down 5 flavors that look good and that I know I’ll eat.  If it’s a good pain day, I’ll put my jacket on before heading down the yogurt aisle, if it’s a bad pain day, I’ll give my list to whomever is with me and then they know the exact brand and flavors to look for without having to shout out my options to me.  Also by making a detailed list, in case it’s a really bad pain day and someone has to do my shopping for me (I reserve that particular job for my mom or dad), they have my particulars in front of their faces and I’m not subjected to what they think will sound good to me.

Milk - I buy vitamin A&D milk because I need every vitamin and protein I can ingest.  Those gallon jugs weigh a ton (well …  a gallon might as well equal a ton if you’re an RSDer) so I ask whomever is with me to “please lug the jug” for me.  When we get back to the Chalet, I ask that same person to pour the milk into my designated, more manageable to me, sealable containers (with handles).  That way I get my milk, vitamins, and moustache without being afraid of manhandling the big plastic jug that weighs more than I do … at least until the darn thing is less than half empty.

Ground Beef - I buy a minimum of 2 lbs at a time, depending on price.  When I get home, I put the whole thing in the freezer and wait for a good pain day to grace me with it’s presence.  On that good pain day, I thaw/defrost the package/log, put a white onion through the food processor, and brown it all.  After it cools, I take sandwich size freezer bags and put a couple cups of meat in each baggie and stick them back in the freezer.  I can reheat 1 baggie at a time for tacos, spaghetti, goulash, pizza, or whatever I’m hungry for that particular night.

It’s the simple little things that I can do to make my life a little easier and more manageable and they still allow me to feel a sense of independence and accomplishment.

I have faith that, even though I am no longer “alone,” I will still be able to use my creative bag of tricks in enough little ways to make the scariest tasks feel like a successful adventure.  I have faith that the single and alone RSDers that read this will take 1 or 2 of my tricks to heart and say, “Oh yeah, huh??  I can do that too!!”  When we stop believing in ourselves, RSD wins … And I’ll be a monkey’s uncle before I let that happen to me!!