A Morning with My Daughter

I adore this beautiful woman. Sometimes I find it really hard to believe that she is my child. The moments that I get to spend with her now are precious to me, and I am extremely territorial when it comes to her. I don’t want to share her with anyone, even her brothers. I want her all to myself. 

I miss the days when she would come snuggle with me on the couch and we would just sit there and watch whatever was on television together. 

I went to visit her this morning to pick up some absolutely heavenly banana zucchini bread she baked this week. Did I mention she’s an excellent cook as well? It was the first time I have been to her apartment, the one she has lived in for a year now. I know, epic fail mom, right? There always seems to be something or other happening that prevented me from visiting her, so I did not plan on letting anything stand in the way today.

The invitation she extended for me to come over included her brothers, but as fate would have it, they decided they were going to stay up all night last night and did not go to bed until after 3AM. So yes, I was completely and totally selfish and did not even attempt to wake them up and see if they wanted to go along with me. 

I had her all to myself for a change, and I was going to take advantage of it.

Why You Should Always Wear Your Glasses

So I tiptoed out of the house, pulled up her address in my phone and hit navigate and off I went. I might add that I did NOT have my glasses on at the time, so I just hit the first address that I came to in my contacts with her pretty face smiling back at me. What I failed to remember was that I also have her work address in my phone (which I have never been to either) so it did not dawn on me until I was almost there that my trusty GPS navigation was taking me to where she WORKED and not to where she LIVED.

I called to tell her where I was and she got a good chuckle out of that. Thankfully, she only lives a few minutes away from her job, so getting to her house from where I was did not take long. I pulled in the parking lot and saw her and Roxy at the screen door waiting for me.

Shopping at the Kroger Marketplace

We did not do anything overly exciting. I went grocery shopping with her at the new Kroger Marketplace at 9000 Staples Mill Road. You would think that isn’t something to get excited about – going grocery shopping – unless you know what the Kroger Marketplace is. The Kroger Marketplace is about 30,000 square feet larger than their regular stores with plenty of space to sell clothing, jewelry, toys, home-accent goods and an expanded cookware line. April wouldn’t let me dawdle in the cookware and home goods areas. She knew if she did, we’d be there for hours and hours. The store also has a Starbucks with cafe seating for about 35 people and free Wi-Fi. Hollar!

You probably think it is extremely strange and extremely silly for a 47-year-old woman to get excited about heading off to a Kroger Marketplace. Sadly, I don’t get to go out and about much unless I’m with April. Hubby goes fishing, to the racetrack, or to his brother’s house. That’s about it. If I suggest an afternoon of walking down Cary Street and visiting the shops, or an afternoon at the mall, I receive a look that makes me think he’s seeing a 6-headed alien with lasers shooting out of the top of its head.

While April was at the Boar’s Head meat counter (really, that seemed to be the only brand that they sold as far as luncheon meats went) I was checking out the 175 varieties of cheeses from the New York-based Murray’s Cheese and the different handmade butters from various places, and I actually had the chance to see some ingredients I’ve seen used on MasterChef to prepare dishes that I had absolutely no clue about. Yep, they had them all at the Kroger Marketplace.

I think I’ve fallen in love with a store.

I loved the meat and seafood counter. All that glorious deliciousness spread out all pretty in glass display counters. I read in an article by the Richmond Times Dispatch that Kroger is moving towards a 100 percent sustainable seafood operation – using farm-raised fish to avoid using wild-caught species that are being over-fished. Kroger’s right, customers do care about that.

Want to know what really surprised me though? I was under the impression that Kroger was a grocery store for those with a high-middle to upper-class income. They definitely couldn’t compete with Walmart’s Superstore prices, prices that someone in our income tax bracket can afford, right? Wrong. Beautiful fat bratwurst in the meat section were only a $1.00 each. Every aisle we went to had a “10 for $10” sticker on multiple, name-brand items. I hardly ever see 10 for $10 stickers at Walmart. Items with their ‘regular’ prices were low as well. 

We have a Kroger about 5 minutes from us, just about 3 minutes past the Walmart and the Food Lion we normally shop at. Next time I need to go to the grocery store, I’m going to be inclined to drive a few extra minutes to go to a store where I can buy fresh versus frozen, and at a better price.

I made the mistake of stopping at the jewelry counter to sigh over all the pretties (while April kept urging me to come with her and not to stop). Too late. The sales woman swooped in on me and had me in her clutches. April was already in the checkout lane, shaking her head, when I finally managed to escape the jewelry counter with my wallet still in the safety of my purse. They sure do have some pretty items available though. I’ve got a mental list to give to hubby for my Christmas gift wishes.

My Daughter’s Apartment

I love her one bedroom apartment that she shares with her boyfriend, Chris. She has an open kitchen, dining area, living room floor plan that makes the small space seem more inviting and larger than it actually is. I envy her kitchen appliances – stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher. She has a huge bedroom, plenty of closet space in the apartment. Tiny bathroom though, but being the resourceful woman that she is, she makes it all work with stands and hanging storage for all her makeup and hair care items. She has the most adorable dandelion appliques on the walls around the mirror in the bathroom. Love the whimsical look of it all, it is totally her.

Even with all of Roxy’s toys scattered about, and the big bundle of kisses and hugs that she is, there’s room for it all. I like that it feels like a home. Her house that she had with her ex-husband never felt lived in, homey. Felt more like a showroom, where nothing was to be out of place. The space that she and Chris have created is just right somehow. You can tell that happy people live there. There is a black and white photo of her nana and pappy on the fridge when they were very young, a photo of my mother and I at my graduation on her end table, next to a photo of her and her father when she was younger. 

I would have stayed all day if I could have. She had things to do though, as did I. All too soon it was time to say goodbye. She made a comment about the fact that I kiss her all the time – when I see her and when I leave her.

Because I miss the little girl that was mine, and I love the young woman that she became, and because you never know when the last time will be the last time.