I thought I would get up early and beat everyone to the new grocery store this morning. I got there 8 minutes after it opened a up and the parking lot was already full. When I got into the store I was the last to get a cart. I guess when you are giving away 70.00 dollars of free food people really want to go to your store. I had my free food coupons hoping I could find someone who would want them. The food they were giving out for free were not products I eat so I would be happy to give them to someone who would be interested. ( more on that latter ) As I got into the store it was apparent Kroger had gone all out on this store in order to compete with HEB which opens next week. This store is bigger and grander than most of their other stores in the area. Their Post Oak store is the only other one I have been in that is as ice as this one, and nice it is. They have separated the vegetables out so each vegetable has it's own home ( too bad they didn't do that with the sea food ). The mushrooms can now bought in bulk as they have a place of their own. The only thing is that you still have to put the mushrooms in a plastic bag where as Central Market has brown paper bags to mushrooms in which keeps them dry and keeps them fresher. ( This is the proper way to store your mushrooms an okra by the way in your frig ). There is a large deli with more than two people working the counter for once. ( and they promise to keep the counter people there) There is a soup bar, Tortilleria Factory for fresh made tortilla which is important down here, a fresh baked bread corner, doughnut counter, then the gourmet stuff. The gourmet stuff is expanded from their typical deli food counter to try and keep up with HEB's On The Run market. They now have all sort's of goodies that I will have to resist like a Mediterranean bar that has humus and Ba'gouni (sp ? ) and other delights. Since I still like Whole food's humus better I probably will spare myself this temptation. I did sample some of the Mediterranean dips and they were so so, but they did have some couscous salads that looked promising. I will have to avoid this section like I do when I go to Central Market. The fish section is just a larger section of their typical store. Whole Foods has them beat here. Here is where I got on to them. I asked them why every other display of fish was right next to raw shrimp. The lady said the manager thought it looked nice, but said she thought she knew what I was about to say but wanted to here it from the customer and wanted her manager to here it from a customer. sure enough I said what she had tried to tell her boss. Not a good idea ! For people like me who are allergic to shell fish especially shrimp, the shrimp needs to be separated from the other raw fish like they do with the cooked fish. I hope they do this. Whole Foods does this.
The Nature section is much larger and has some items in it which is nice. They had some Vita muffin products which I had been wanted to get hold of since reading about them. They only had three of their products though. The vita brownies, vita chocolate tops, and one other I can't remember. These are only 100 calorie and are enriched with extra vitamins. They are not too terrible high in sugar since they use a sugar alcohol to help keep the sugars down. I bought the vita Brownie which wasn't too bad. I'll eat it instead of a fruit serving after lunch ever so often when I get a chocolate craving. I am going to ask the store to order their banana nut top since I love banana nut cake. I believe in the WW point system these count as 1 point, so they are usable in many people's diet here.
There's been a change in plans for my brother's wedding and thus a change in plans for my feet surgery. He won't be getting married this year. If he can, it will be late in the year. There is a scheduling problems with location they want and with his fiance's brother being able to make it over to the States. Amy if you are reading this you can identify !!!! This gives me more time to save up for this San Fransisco wedding which is were they want to have it. Speaking of San Fran, I got word that my ha;f sister lives there. I never have met her. My father had a love child when I was 16 or so with his then girlfriend. He wanted to marry her and raise the child but she didn't want to have another family. So, she gave the child up for adoption. I was ticked as a kid that I would never get to have a sister. Years after I get this call from this lady who introduces herself as my half sister. She has all the info which proved who she was. We set to meet and she stands me up and I never hear from her again. Well, now she is trying to make contact with us again. My brother asked me if I felt funny about this. I said no. I have been praying for her for years. If I was her I might have stood me up to. She did call to tell me why she stood me up, but never had the nerve to try and re-establish another meeting. well, nether did I for that matter and she was going off to school. I moved away and lost contact with her until recently when I found this letter she had written me with her parent's address. I've been thinking about her too lately. So, no, I don't hold it against her that she didn't contact me. My prayer is that someday I will get to meet Beth, my half sister who lives near San Fransisco. Strange story to be sure.
Talked a lot today. More than usual, but I felt I needed some venting. Thanks if you read all of this.