brit_columbia

 Through some oversight on my part, we ended up with no shampoo in the house except for Pantene, which I was forced to use twice this week even though it makes my head itch. I had no choice-- there was nothing else. Pantene is my husband's shampoo. I normally use Dove, but although I thought I had some bottles of Dove shampoo in the storage closet, further inspection revealed them all to be conditioner.

After days of not being able to get to any stores, I finally found myself in a drugstore last night waiting for a prescription, and while I was waiting, I strolled up and down the long and very well-stocked candy aisle fondling assorted packages while muttering to myself like a demented person. My mouth was also watering, but as it did not deteriorate into outright drooling, I don't believe anyone noticed. Anyway, I found it necessary to talk to myself to prevent myself from loading up my basket with a couple of kilos of candy and chocolate. It was dinnertime, my stomach was rumbling, and the candy was a mix of tried-and-true favorites alongside new and exotic confections that were entirely new to me. The temptation was mighty indeed. Let me give you some idea of what I was up against.

Dark chocolate dipped mango pieces. Orange flavored Jelly-Bellies covered in chocolate. Dark Kit-Kat. Aero Bubbles with dark chocolate on the outside and milk chocolate on the inside. Double-dipped chocolate covered peanuts. Gummy Coke Bottles. Sour Gummies in assorted flavors encrusted with sharp, crystalline sugars. Licorice Allsorts. Maltesers. Soft chewy nougat full of different kinds of roasted nuts.

*slurp* The slavering is starting again! Funny how memories can do that.

I reached out and touched them all but didn't buy any because my one sided conversation with myself went something like this. "No! Do NOT buy them. I don't care if they're half-price. You know you'll eat them all yourself by midnight. NO! Put the gummies back! You swore off gummies, remember? After you ate them for breakfast two weekend days in a row? Before coffee and everything? Let go of the Licorice Allsorts right now! We both know you're buying them for yourself, not the nephews. Drop that bag before it's too late. Yes, I know it's the wrong place, but just drop it, quick. If you really, really still want the chocolate covered orange jelly beans in a few days, you can come back and buy them next week.

I am proud to report that I was able to distract my candy-brain with the necessity of going to buy more shampoo, so instead of going back through the candy aisle a second time (always the clincher), I hustled myself off to the shampoo and conditioner section. Unfortunately, nothing was on sale there except Pantene. And I certainly don't love Dove enough to pay full price for it. But then my eye fell upon the kids' shampoo. Only a buck ninety-five and it smells like candy? I was sold! It was hard to choose between the strawberry and the melon, though. They both smelled equally delicious. They both featured different Disney Princess, too. In the end I chose the melon one, mainly because it smelled more like mango to me and my mind was still on those dark chocolate dipped mango pieces that I had not let myself buy.

So I came home with this shampoo and now, every time I crave candy, I go into the bathroom to unsnap the lid of my Disney Princess shampoo and breathe the fruity scent until it passes. Sometimes I wonder if I ever really grew up. What does it mean to grow up? Are there any other so-called adults out there who love sour gummies and use Disney Princess shampoo just because it smells like candy?