I resolve to not gain 20 pounds, no matter how much I enjoy grocery shopping here.

Anytime I start to miss living in the cities, grocery shopping makes me realize how lucky I am to be living in Duluth.

First of all, you can buy groceries in Duluth at 5pm without waiting in an agonizingly long line after an hour and a half of negligent bumper carts with people who are ALWAYS IN A HURRY. Really, it's true! If I absolutely had to choose between an excruciating root canal and a trip to Cub Foods anywhere in the metropolitan area at 5pm on a weekday...it would be a really difficult decision. I shudder at the thought.

Second, people are sooo nice here. They smile. They say "excuse me." They move, if necessary, to allow others to pass through the aisles rather than shooting "tough shit, asshole, I was here first" looks at anyone who dares cross their path.

This evening, my cashier at Super One--bless her dear heart, though her latex gloves make me a little nervous--held up the people behind me by spending nearly five minutes flipping through the weekly ad, desperately searching for a coupon to save me a dollar on the orange juice I was purchasing. When she finally found what she was looking for and realized it was the wrong item altogether, she gave me the discount anyway...you know, because of all the trouble she put me through. The people behind me didn't even complain!

Don't get me wrong. I love to visit the cities, as long as I don't have to do any grocery shopping there...or driving during rush hour...or shopping on a weekend...or driving in construction...well, you get the idea. I even rang in 2006 in Burnsville, with some of my favorite people in the world. Aside from the painful, champagne-induced hangover, the weekend was fabulous.

Happy new year to you all!