An Unexpected Luxury

Living in a cold climate can certainly have its advantages. Today being grocery shopping day, I was reminded of one more. I, ladies and gentlemen, can now unload my groceries from my car AT MY LEISURE! Oh yeah baby! It is 26 degrees as I type this so as you can probably guess, my car stays quite chilled when not running.

Grocery shopping with two fidgety toddlers is taxing enough. But for me, the arrival home is just as taxing. Let me paint you a picture.

We pull into the garage and shut the garage door. Girls are unloaded and I begin my multiple trips between kitchen and back of van.

I put 4 bags on one arm and two on the other. Using my pointer and middle fingers, I manage to turn the doorknob and heave the door open with my hip. (I got mad skilz, let me tell you) Claire is there waiting with a question. "Mommy, when are you going to get me my lunch?" I tell her to wait until I get the groceries unloaded just as the cat dashes between my legs into the garage. I know I can't leave him there because he will likely eat his way into the bags of lawn fertilizer or some other such poison.

I race to the kitchen to deposit all 6 bags on the counter and find that Sarah has managed to take the back off of the remote control and is sucking happily on a battery. One battery removal complete and I am headed back to the garage for my second trip. I now have 4 bags on one arm and 3 on the other and am headed to the door when I hear, "crunch, crunch, crunch". Oh that stinkin' cat!! He has found a bag of something and has started chewing his way in. I run quickly to the kitchen and drop off the bags and find Claire rummaging through the first set of bags and once more she asks, "Mommy, can you make my lunch NOW?" Um. . . . no.

Off I go to the garage to drop kick gently pick up the cat and take him inside the house. I go back out to the garage to find that Sarah has somehow slipped past me into the garage and is now digging through Daddy's tool box which is filled with all sorts of fun sharp and dangerous objects. I scoop up the baby and take her inside as Claire asks once more for lunch. With a growl and a huff, I plop the baby and 3 year old down on the couch and turn on the TV in the hopes that I can manage a free 2 minutes to unload the remaining groceries. 10 minutes later, my kitchen is a mess with bags of groceries, (many of which have toppled over spilling their contents all over the counter) the girls are chowing down on a quickly thrown together lunch and I can finally start the process of putting the groceries away. And this is a tame day.

Now that was Houston, where the temperatures are so hot that your groceries could spoil on the cart ride from the store to the car. So you have no choice but to unload quickly. But here? Ahhhhh, bliss. The temperature is cool enough outside that leaving my groceries in the van a little longer is no problem at all. In fact, I get some great benefits.

First? I don't have to worry about my groceries going bad. I can get the girls inside and fed with minimal frustration. I can be calm, relaxed Mommy and actually enjoy this time with my girls. Once Sarah is down for her nap and Claire is busy playing with a full tummy, I can take my time unloading the groceries.

Second benefit? Most times, my groceries are actually colder when taking them from the van than they were in the store. That ice cream that starts to soften and melt during my multiple laps around the store is now refrozen perfectly. The 24 pack of water bottles? Nice and chilled and ready for consumption!

There are plenty of things about this cold weather that are tough to adjust to, (another blog for another day) but it has also afforded me this unexpected luxury and I love it!