If You Can't Take the Heat, Get Out of My Garage

I've been part of a co-op buying group that purchases bulk natural and health food items from Country Life Natural Foods for about 3 years now, ever since I have been milling my own wheat and grains for my family's breads. I started also buying beans, cereals, dried fruits, yeast, carob chips, and other goodies, since their prices are so good and the food quality is so high. My old co-op got way too big, and the coordinator--a very patient, giving, and kind woman--started needing to charge us a processing fee for items we bought, since it was taking her and her 5 children an entire day to sort and divide the order. Now my friend Christine and I set up our own very small, very informal co-op, and this month was my turn to place and receive the order.

Only 4 families ordered this month, but I keep forgetting--I have the fewest number of children, so my order was piddly compared to others'. If anyone needs 25 pounds of lentils or 50 pounds of brown rice, lemme know...we do an order every few months. :-)

The delivery truck, and J.D., the driver for our route, who is my new best friend. One of the nicest truck drivers I have ever met. One of the nicest GUYS I have ever met. We had a chat for about half an hour about cooking healthy foods and gardening...he's a fellow gardener so of course we had to go poking and pulling around Tom's and my veggie plots.

A total of 54 items...I'm guessing the total weight of our order was around 700 pounds. I considered this my cross-training activity for the day.

I divided it up and checked it in after J.D. left. He was kind enough to be very early, so I was able to receive and split the order while my girls were napping. It was actually a very peaceful job. I could have been inside playing on the computer or doing laundry, but instead, I was sorting 25-pound bags of organic oatmeal and beans--and loving it. Who knew?