What’s In Your Trash?

by | Jul 26, 2016

Trash is on my mind because I’ve been wrestling with the barrels.

In front of every house on the street is a house waste barrel, a yard waste barrel and perhaps the recycling barrel. trashbarrels

This signifies the bulk of your eating and cleaning up your yard for the week.

What conclusions can be drawn from this?

I don’t go into the barrels on the street. Once in a while you do see one that has been dumped . . . do you look or glance away? Of course you look! You see the egg shells, a bacon container wrapper . . . a frozen dinner or two carton . . . a frozen pie container . . . cereal boxes . . . You may learn they use soy milk . . . or other interesting things.

Have you noticed that when two barrels have been dumped side-by-side, one is yours and the other a neighbor that you can distinguish your trash from that of your neighbor . . . egg shells pretty much look alike . . . but you know . . . you just know!

It’s all those subtle things . . . pancakes . . . what do they put on them?

Do they make them from a mix or buy them frozen?

Are they a nut-free household?

These aren’t things you discuss with your neighbors . . . but their trash is a fountain of information.

Then, there’s the recycling!

The soda they drink . . . regular or diet . . . which cola?

Maybe not cola, but root beer or Orange Crush . . .

Maybe beer and wine . . . or hard liquor . . . Those bottles get recycled regularly.

You can even find out their brand of pickles . . . and condiment . . . the very basic stuff of their life . . .

Do we judge?

I don’t pay attention to what others buy at the grocery store, but I’ve noticed some interest to what is in my shopping cart.

Do I feel guilty?grocerycart

Sometimes . . . when I’m buying frozen stuff and junk food . . . not when I’m buying fruits and vegetables and healthy stuff . . .

I do like a blueberry muffin and buying them from the bakery section is so much easier than making them from a mix. And that goes for cookies, too. We find what is good and easy and what our family likes . . . There’s no mystery to that.

I have a grocery shopping day coming up . . . so that’s why this is on my mind.

I have to decide what I’m going to put on my list and not go crazy once I get to the store.

I try to eat healthy, but I also like to have something to snack on from time to time . . . and a bit of variety is always welcome.

I’m sure none of us have a shopping cart full of healthy stuff we’d we proud to display on a website. Maybe . . . depending upon the topic of the article . . . In reality we have a mix of healthy and fun food . . . and easy food to make . . .

We may not be winning any awards for our shopping and the meals we make, but we’re healthy and happy with healthy and happy families. We’re real . . . some people go to fast food places to fill in the gaps of their grocery shopping . . . I can honestly say I can’t remember the last time I bought fast food . . . it’s not that it’s bad, it’s just not on my regular route.

Well, all I can truly say that trash day and shopping day are highlights . . . at least I highlighted them here. I’m sure you have an opinion about this . . . please leave me a comment.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

 

 

Happiness Is A Choice

by | Jun 11, 2015

Happiness is a choice, you cannot choose what happens, but you can choose your reaction to it and be Happy.

It seems we are bombarded with all kinds of distressing news, even the weather can irritate us. I know the warm sticky weather we’re experiencing right now isn’t having a positive effect on my disposition. I’ve also chosen not to listen to the news other than to be informed. I’m beginning to think that newscasts just want to dwell on the negative. That’s not how I choose to live my life.

Happiness is a choice. We can choose to see the beauty all around us or see that the neighbor’s yard looks like a garbage dump. 

I was at my local market last night. I was waiting at the deli counter to get some sliced roast beef for sandwiches and a snack for my sweet Diva. A woman was looking at the pastry display case. She looked, waited, glanced my way, looked at the display case, walked away . . . returned . . . then said, “Tell the girl there’s a fly in the pastry display case. I was going to get something, but not now.”

I was thinking about getting some danish, but after seeing the disgusting look on the woman’s face I decided to pass on the danish.

After my roast beef was sliced, I was hoping a fly wasn’t lingering on it. Then I remembered she had to open a new package.

I did tell the young woman behind the counter that there was a fly in the pastry display case. She merely shrugged and said, “What am I supposed to do? We try to keep the doors closed and we have these blowers, but flies get in.”

This got me thinking . . . was there a fly landing on my danish the last time I bought some? Is this a serious problem that I’ve been ignoring? I could feel my face contorting into the same disgusting look I saw earlier from the woman who brought the fly to my attention.

I walked around the store for awhile, gathering items . . . feeling a bit sick to my stomach . . . dwelling on the fly in the pastry display case . . . and wondering  if it was a frequent guest . . .

Then I stopped. 

I stopped thinking about the fly. I stopped thinking how I could have gotten fly cooties on my danish the last time I bought some. I stopped looking for flies.

Then, I remembered “Happiness is a choice.”

I felt fine when I arrived at the store. It was much more comfortable inside than out. I finished my shopping and went to check out.

I felt good. I was pleased I got the items I came for and my precious Diva would be happy to see me when I arrived home. I wasn’t thinking of the sticky warm weather outside. I chose to be happy and not dwell on the negative.

I sometimes forget “Happiness is a choice.” We are reminded every day in subtle ways of this fact. I suppose it is easier to fret and worry about stuff . . . is it conditioning? If so, than we can stop this pattern and go into another mode . . . looking and finding something to appreciate . . . count our many blessings . . . be grateful for what we do have and are capable of doing . . . finding happiness . . . or humor . . . just to break the cycle.

I truly love this blog where I can write about mundane things that happen at the grocery store . . . and turn it into a lesson . . . maybe more for myself than others . . . but if it helps you . . . this makes me happy.