Shopping For The Holidays!

The Morgan clan gathers for holiday season once again. Four of my family arrived yesterday, so now I'm just waiting for Edi and Paige on Sunday.  Daisy is more than ready to go with her fully stocked freezer, both fridges, fruit and veggie baskets, and liquor cabinet, she's so full that she's actually sitting lower in the water, hopefully we'll stay afloat.

Doing the final provision yesterday, proved to be just another typical day in the life of a "live aboard".  I left on the overloaded bus at 8am, as usual it was so full there was standing room only, I had to wonder where all the shopping was going to go on the return trip, I knew everyone had the same plan as me, 'stock up before heading out'.
The supermarket was fully stocked ready for the holidays, and as I awkwardly maneuvered my three tier cart around the store piling it high on all three levels with all the goodies I could lay my hands on, I wondered about transporting it from the supermarket to the bus, then from the bus to the boat, surprisingly that little chore requires quite a bit of effort.  Most of my shopping appeared to be bottles (no surprise there then), so it was all really heavy.
I finished as quickly as possible, I couldn't wait to get out of the store, I had quite a headache from the horrible noise they call music!!!  They play it so loudly, there's absolutely no melody, just screeching noise, like running nails down a blackboard, it was painful to listen to. "Why?" I kept asking myself, I couldn't believe anyone would actually enjoy it.

Once I had cleared the checkout I had to wheel the cart across the road to the bus, and crossing the road out here is really taking your life in your hands.  The taxi drivers are like hit and run experts, and every other car is a taxi. Simply getting on the bus is not easy, as twenty plus other people are also loading their shopping.  The bags and boxes gradually pile up in the space in the center of the bus, until it all spills over onto laps and floor space, then everyone attempts to find a seat, talk about  "how many elephants you can get in a mini" I was squished at the back with my legs up around my shoulders as there was no space on the floor.
The ride back to the marina was long, hot and uncomfortable, between the craters (pot holes) in the road, and the driver swerving every few seconds to try and avoid them, the journey was not a pleasant one.  Once back at the marina, the heavens opened (AGAIN) and down came torrential rain.   We all struggled to get our bags out of the bus and into the carts to wheel to the boats.  My cart was so heavy I could barely push it, and I was literally drowned, everything was soaking wet, it was like standing under a shower.  My good friend Arel was there to help me load all my soaking wet shopping bags onto the boat, it was the one time I was grateful for plastic, at least some of the groceries stayed dry.

Back on board, I changed into dry clothes, wrapped a towel around my wet hair and set about finding space for all the food and drink, and then collapsed with a glass of wine.  I have to tell you, shopping when you live on a boat is never easy.