Sob story

Today I tell you a tale of sorrow, woe, and angst, the story of my post-call trip to the grocery store. I've mentioned before how sleep deprivation predisposes me to enjoying a leisurely shuffle through the aisles daydreaming of tasty things to eat, and today was no exception. I got home early, before lunch even, so I planned my weekend menu over my bowl of cereal. I was particularly excited today because of the Thanksgiving sales. Here I come, half-price butter!
However, I came to a halting realization as the squeaky clean doors slid open, welcoming me to all things food. I. Forgot. My. List. Noooo!!!! I rummaged through my purse a bit more, muttering to myself like a crazy lady, but alas, the list was not to be found. Forgetting my list is an unfortunately common occurrence, but it's so much worse post-call. My brain really wants to conserve energy, so it cuts production to essential tasks only, which do not include remembering things I wrote down! Ugh.
Now I'm left to wander, like a stranger in a foreign land. No joke, I circled the produce section four times, looking to and fro, trying to remember that I needed butternut squash. The produce stocker guy was starting to stare. Oh, did I forget to mention that I still had on my fleece, scrub pants, crazy non-blow-dried hair, and about half of yesterday's make-up? I'm sure I was quite a sight. I decided on the strategy of just going up and down every aisle, thinking that maybe visualization would trigger memories of items on my long-lost list. This kind of worked; I only forgot three items altogether. But yeesh, in addition to aforementioned produce rambling, I went back and forth in the dairy section three times before I remembered the butter which had only half an hour prior excited me so. Not to mention that I realized there was no sugar in my cart once I was in line but was just too lazy to go back for it. And then someone had the audacity to park a maroon mini-van across from my maroon Pathfinder, which was initially quite confusing to my new-baby-giraffe, no-sunlight-since-yesterday eyes. Whew. I'm finally home. But now I don't know if I can get up from my desk to cook anything. Maybe I'll just take a quick nap in this comfy chair first.
Moral of the story: Not all who wander are lost. Sometimes we've just lost our lists.