Day Four -- Things They Never Think to Warn You About When You Get Married

Married life has been a wonderful experience thus far, and I'm very glad and grateful that I married Sam a little over two months ago [Editor's note: I originally wrote two years. Wonder what that says about me?]. I knew going in that it would be a terrifying and exhilarating experience, and despite all I had heard and read there would be a multitude of little things that can only be learned through said experience.

One of those terrifying things that no one thinks to warn you about is grocery shopping.

Oh, it may not sound terrifying, but trust me, it is.

You have to understand, by the time I married Sam I had been living completely on my own for about three years, give or take, and completely used to shopping in a specific way. I'd make up menus for the upcoming week or two, figure out what exactly I needed to purchase to make meals for said week and have a handful of snacks and drinks. Then I'd allow an extra $5 to $10 for an impulse buy (depending on how tight my budget was), and never allow myself to spend more than my set amount at the store (typically between $60 and $80 for two weeks).

That was then.

Now, now it is an adventure in trying to rein in constant impulse buys. It's not that Sam can't stick to a budget--he's very meticulous when he sets his mind to it--but he brings out the "oooh shiney!" personality trait in both of us. And heaven help us if we make the mistake of shopping while hungry. We've never crested the $200 mark, but there have been times I thought it a possibility.

There's also general food choices to consider. Sam, bless his soul, still has a bachelor's tendencies at times. There are days when he still thinks it's completely okay to live on nothing but Ramen, chili, rice, crackers, cookies, and juice. I, on the other hand, at least try to buy healthier foods and make complete meals instead of just meat and and a side dish. It's two completely different walks of life.

Also, Sam easily consumes about twice as much food as me on a daily basis (which is completely understandable as Sam has about 13" of height and over a hundred pounds of weight more than me). Dishes I could live off of for two or three days thanks to leftovers are now eaten in the first sitting. I've had to learn to basically double all of my recipes if I want to have leftovers for lunches.

This means grocery shopping can become a wee bit stressful for me, as I spend the entire time mentally keeping track of everything we buy and trying to persuade Sam and myself that we really don't need to buy an extra large tub of coffee this time (though we will need to get it next time). Not that I would trade it for anything in the world--I completely love and adore my Sam!

Anyway, this is why you're not getting anything deep and insightful, or silly and humorous tonight. Because, that's right, we just the entire evening planning, shopping, and unpacking groceries.

But the extra $1.50 for the Special Dark Chocolate Hersey's Syrup was totally worth it.


"Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!"
--Anne Tyler