The Orange Juice Story

We've gotten into a great pattern.  Jeff drops Ian off at religious school and then brings Sam with him to Wegman's to do our grocery shopping for the coming week. I write the list of everything we need and hope for the best.  Two areas Jeff needs "gentle" reminders in is looking at expiration dates and only getting the quantity we need, not stocking us up like we are getting snowed in for a month.   I've learned by trial and error to grin and bear it with whatever he comes home with.  Once I asked for a plain rotisserie chicken.  Jeff managed to find a KOSHER BARBECUE flavored rotisserie chicken.  Yeah, that wasn't really going to work in my soup.  No worries, Jeff offered to eat it all himself.  In the same grocery shop, the milk he brought back expired BEFORE the milk we were currently finishing in the fridge.  Again, no worries, because Jeff offered to start drinking all the milk as fast as he could.  And in this same bag of groceries, was not one (as requested), but three containers of Danimals - which Sam decided on whim she no longer wants to drink.  Again, not a problem, because Jeff offered to drink them all too.  Jeff was very busy that week.

I am not complaining.  I'd rather Jeff go to the grocery store, take Sam with him and let me get things done at home.  I've learned to look at the groceries getting unpacked and put away in our kitchen with one eye closed.  They tend to look better that way.

With that said, I got blindsided last Sunday.  We'd be breaking the fast on Wednesday for Yom Kippur and I came up with a fun idea to do breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes, scrambled eggs, potatoes, fruit, and blueberry muffins.  We don't normally keep Orange Juice in the house, but I wanted to add an authentic breakfast drink for us to have.  I made out the grocery list and sent Jeff and the kids on their way.

Later that afternoon, I opened the fridge and saw this unfamiliar looking container staring back at me.  What the hell was that!?!?!  I reached in and grabbed it.  It was none other than fresh squeezed orange juice.   Where in the world did Jeff manage to find that!?!?  Upon closer inspection I see that this "Fresh Squeezed" orange juice was squeezed on Friday!  So Jeff managed to find two day old fresh squeezed OJ.  And the best part was, this OJ was set to expire the very NEXT DAY!  Not on Wednesday evening when we'd be drinking it.   The kicker on all this?   Jeff paid $6.00 for this container of goodness. 

OMG!  I had to do it. I had to go there.  It was really killing me.  I had to ask.

Me:  "Um, honey, I am asking this with love, not because I am criticizing." (I've learned my lesson to start any questioning with this.)

Jeff:   "What?"

Me:  "Where in the world did you find this orange juice?"

Jeff:  "It was next to the fruit.  And you had fruit on the list."

Me:  "I also had eggs on the list and Orange Juice (that doesn't expire for months and costs a fraction of this container) is next to them too."

Jeff:  "Oh well." 

Me:  "And you know this expires tomorrow, right?"

Jeff: "It will be fine."

Come Wednesday, as we are setting the table, Ian comes running in the kitchen and says, "Cool!  Orange juice.  Can I have some right now?"

Jeff pours him a glass and very quietly, Jeff and I watch Ian drink it.  Ian finishes his gulp and puts the glass back down.  We are both patiently waiting for a response from Ian.  Yes, that's right.  We made Ian the guinea pig to see if this orange juice was still any good.  How much do we suck as parents?!?!

Jeff:  "What did you think Ian?"

Ian:  "It's GREAT!!"

I have to admit, it was the best tasting orange juice I've ever had.  And I am sure its not because I hadn't eaten in 24 hours, but because Jeff managed to find the section of Wegmans that sells freshly squeezed orange and came home with it.

*Thank you to Jeff, who let me tell this story.  The gag order, unfortunately, is now officially back in effect.