Day 11

[eniel]

So instead of working today, I went shopping.

I knew part of me was stressing because of flour. And because it had been a long week. And because shopping during my "work" hours meant I then had to catch up on work. So all in all... yeah. Not a good place to be in.
Results: I ended up trying to do bits and pieces in four different stores. Our coop is still faring reasonably well. It had most of what I was looking for, apart from flour and yeast. The staff there were friendly, and fine. I was there at 9.55 and the first in line for a store opening at 10am, so again, it felt fine. There were maybe three of us in line when it got to 10am, the only reason I noticed it is because they only let two people in at a time.
However, with no flour, I thought I'd try a bigger store. Clearly, a bit mistake - the M&S Food Hall was a queue around the carpark, a good twenty minutes of waiting at least, and very little inside of interest. At this point, I could feel myself feeling really worried about the few things I still had outstanding.
So I went to Lidl (the three shops after the coop were on the way home) and was surprised that they didn't seem to be overpacked (they share a shopping area with Waitrose, which might be the reason why). Ended up getting a bunch of tulips there too, as well as extra chocolate that I knew I'd eat, to cheer myself up. And in a spur of the moment decision, because I had another ten minutes spare, I went to the Italian store @aardnebby.lj had been at the day before. Which had flour. The irony of my stress having possibly been alleviated if our communication had been better the day before was not lost on me. I picked up a few more items that I needed because we'd run out, and headed home.

Was glad to hear that Oldest Sister's friends were feeling better, and that she was therefore less stressed. Had drinks with a colleague on videochat that night: was able to vent, and shoot the breeze, and laugh at the staff quiz, and generally feel a bit more relaxed after such a horrid day. We commiserated, and shared coping mechanisms, and felt vaguely connected.