Weekends and Supermarkets--Delightful.

I love weekends. I know many people love weekends (some people have even been known to sing about them), but I feel uniquely qualified in my ode to weekends. I didn't really have them for a year or so... so I love them even more now. Even with my 5-hour shift at the baby store on Sunday, I still felt like I enjoyed a satisfying, full weekend. Dave and I cleaned the house top to bottom, I pulled some more of the seemingly endless weeds and baby maple trees out of my flower beds, I cut the very first flowers from my yard and placed them proudly in a vase on my dining room table, I brushed Runa until I had a pile of kitty hair about equal to her size, we bought a shovel so we can plant vegetables this weekend (mmm, tomato sandwiches) and pruning shears so I can tame my climbing rose bush. Dave mowed the lawn and cleaned out the garage. Perhaps this seems menial to many of you, but it was delicious.

Dave AND Runa both bought me cards for Mother's Day, which was very nice. I also got to see my own adorable Mom on Saturday on my parents' way home from Holland. They attempted to enjoy the bounty of tulips at the annual Tulip Festival, but, um, they were about a week late for the bloom. I laughed until I cried as my Dad recounted their trip, sans tulips. The lack of tulips got them to my doorstep a little sooner, so I can't complain. We had carb-filled diner food for dinner and got to catch up a bit. It made the weekend even MORE delicious!

I don't feel particularly pregnant these days. Just a little sleepier, a little fatter, a little more thirsty... And a slave to my cravings. This morning--cranberry juice. Must have cranberry juice! Delicious.

Because farmers are my peeps I get some very interesting facts and data via email. This week the topic is supermarkets, and who doesn't love supermarkets?! Here is the 411.

Supermarkets

• While Piggly Wiggly was the first self-service store opened in 1916, the first supermarket to open was King Kullen Grocery Company in New York in 1930.
• Based on 2006 data, there are 34,019 grocery stores in the United States. In total, grocery stores boasted $499.5 billion in sales last year.
• A typical supermarket carries an average of 45,000 items.
• Consumers make an average of 1.9 trips per week to the supermarket.
• The majority of grocery store customers shop on Sunday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Supermarkets began electronically scanning products in 1974. The first item scanned in a commercial environment was a pack of Wrigley chewing gum in Marsh Supermarkets on June 26, 1974.
• Retailers are responding aggressively to diverse and changing customer demands and are offering meal solutions in multiple forms, including:
  -Hot-service counters, 89.2 percent
  -Self-service refrigerated cases, 83.8 percent
  -Made-to-order sandwiches, 71.6 percent
  -Soup bars, 67.6 percent
  -Catering, 62.2 percent
  -Separate checkouts for prepared foods, 58.1 percent
  -Salad bars, 56.8 percent
  -Sushi stations, 52.9 percent
  -Snack/juice/coffee bars, 50 percent
• The supermarket industry continues to reach out to fast-growing market niches. As many as 83.9 retailers offer ethnic foods and 72.4 percent feature a natural/organic food aisle or section.

Source: Food Marketing Institute