Shopping for Donna

I have a friend going through some major health problems that make her so dizzy and woozy she has trouble driving herself anywhere, including the grocery store. Since I usually shop on Friday afternoons, I have added her list to mine for the last few weeks. In theory, this should be an easy task with a simple separation of items at the register. But our shopping habits are as different as they could possibly be: I'm a vegetarian, and Donna's allergic to fiber.

I usually spend more time in the produce aisle than anywhere else in the store, adding soy milk, almonds, and whole wheat pasta to my usual mushrooms, carrots, and organic bananas. These last few weeks, though,  I search through an aisle of pop tarts for the frosted cinnamon and chase Cadbury eggs across the cart. My worst nightmare is the hunt for the right frozen dinners in the freezer section. There are Stouffer's pastas and Smart Ones beef stew. Marie Callender's cheesy rice. And pepperoni pizzas--only the think crust will do.

Today I had an interview in Champaign(about an hour from here), so I shopped early at the local grocery rather than Walmart. That meant I couldn't get the pharmacy items Donna needed for her dog, so I had to pick those up at a drugstore on the way to her house. Now that I'm writing this, I think I forgot the cheesy rice dinners. The list this week went on for two pages, and I forgot to turn to page 2.