Where is the Bread?

Homemade Gluten-Free Challah bread for when you can't find the bread aisle

Change can be strange. And I don't mean something as dramatic as a change from working to not working. That deserves its own rant on another day. I opened up my email today to find out that Gmail changed. I think they warned me about this the other day, but in my preoccupation, I forgot it was going to happen. Now there is a new face to my inbox and I'm not sure I like it. I didn't like when Google changed its logo either. Things have to sit with me before I can appreciate a grand new design that is supposed to enhance my life.

My Shop Rite does this every time another store opens up in the neighborhood. I have a choice of going to Whole Foods, Wegmans, Shop Rite, The Food Emporium, Target, Walmart and a host of other great stores like TJ Maxx and Home Goods, all within 10 minutes from my house. This major decision of which direction to steer my car on any given day is a great brain exercise for any retiree. When Wegman's opened, my Shop Rite went through a transformation with new tiled floors, fancy new signs, and pretty granite counters for the bakery department. None of this made me choose Shop Rite over Wegmans. I simply go to one over the other because Shop Rite sells my brand of dog food and Wegman's sells my all-natural deodorant. Then Whole Foods opened and Shop Rite expanded with its own natural food wing, and shifted everything else in every other aisle, just because it would be fun to drive its loyal shoppers crazy. Now that The Food Emporium moved into the neighborhood, my store did it again. There is nothing quite as ridiculous as me standing in the middle of my Shop Rite screaming out for bread. I don't even eat bread because it has gluten in it. But in case someone at home would like a slice, I can never find it anymore. As much as I would love to have a Trader Joe's within my 10-mile radius of favorite stores, I am keeping my fingers crossed that life stays the same until I can figure out where things are. Change is hard for someone of a certain age.

Today, my husband went in for some oral surgery. My daily routine of planning what to do and what to eat all got delayed this morning. I sat with Norm on the deck and helped him hold the ice pack on his cheek. There was no other place I would rather have been or any other activity I needed to finish. I wish he wasn't in pain, but it was kind of peaceful not making a decision for a few minutes. Sometimes having some forced time to reflect on your life is a good thing. I was able to ponder where I am going, not just for a gallon of dairy-free milk, but with my creative ideas. Hopefully, by the time my husband gets his beautiful new teeth, I will have made a choice of how to retire without driving myself nuts.