Sushi anyone?

You would think that by now, I would know better.

Never go food shopping on an empty stomach. Especially - and here's the kicker - less than two hours after a four hour bike ride when all that I've consumed since getting off said bike was chocolate milk and a recovery bar.

Yeah.

I swear that my eyes were as big as saucers upon entering Ralph's.

Like a kid in a candy shop? You have no idea.

But in my defense, I walked into the store with one purpose, and one purpose only: sushi.

Sure, I could have gone to a sushi bar restaurant - but that would have required dressing up (from my cargo pants and flip flops), sitting down, reading long-winded descriptions, ordering, waiting, waiting, and more waiting, and then finally getting my meal.

And at that point, I just wasn't interested.

No - instead I wanted to curl up with lots of sushi, in our new bed (so comfortable), watching the Tour of California and reading my latest book (second time going through World Without End by Ken Follett - fantastic!). Toss in a diet coke and a random Mini or House Monster, and I'm yours forever.

I entered the store, and was immediately distracted by flowers. Flowers you say? Yes, flowers. Most notably, the wonderful selection of freshly-cut Tulips. I'm a sucker for beautiful plants and flowery things, although I don't have the greatest track record with them. The nice way of saying that I'm a plant killer.

Clearly, the lack of sustenance was distracting. I couldn't eat the flowers, and although they were beautiful, I had other, more important things to do. Before I added a colorful bouquet to my basket, I turned on my heel, er flip-flops, and made my way to the sushi bar.

Behold! There it was, in all its glory! And so many selections too!

I stared for no less than 8 minutes at the vast array of sushi available. Not really - it was probably around 5 minutes. I may have drooled a little, but no one else was there to witness my antics.

What to choose? What to choose?

I knew that Nathaniel wanted something spicy with shrimp and rice. I made a bee-line for the Inari Rolls - one of his favorites, which coincidentally are named after the Japanese God Inari, who was believed to have a fondness for fried tofu. Little does he know that his favorite sushi treat are no more than the dreaded tofu which he claims is flavorless. If he only knew...

And then it was my turn. What to choose?

There were so many distractions, and they all looked good. I quickly crossed out any rolls. No eel, exnay on the California, and definitely not anything spicy. Instead, I went for the nigiri and then box tuna.

Then it hit me: would this be enough? A quick scan revealed no shrimp lettuce rolls, and I already had plenty of nigiri. What about the rainbow roll? True, the innards contained California roll, but the outside was covered in sliced tuna, salmon, and avocado.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

I quickly left the counter before I changed my mind. Salmon box tuna looked awfully good...

I should have gone directly to the counter and paid for my purchase. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200, go directly to jail! Oops - wrong game. But in principle it's correct.

Instead, I made a grand tour of the store. Swedish fish? Yum! Ben & Jerry's? Even better? Tomato Basil Wheat Thins? Right on!

But in spite of how much I wanted the treats, I knew that I had yummy stuff in my basket, and even better things waiting for me at home. Sure, I had bike for a long time today and even though Swedish Fish were seemingly calling my name, I had plenty with my sushi.

Besides, I knew there was a ritter sport somewhere in the house. All bets were off if Nathaniel decided to eat the entire thing himself. I've been known to tackle him for lesser things. Chocolate and buttery wafer sounded really good. Yeah. And a tackle would be justified.

Plus, the clock was ticking, and I didn't want to miss my favorite Versus commentators (Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwen, for all those curious) do what they do best.

So I avoided all sweet temptation, and checked out.

But it was a challenge.

Especially when faced with the wall of candy in the check out lane. Yeah, I know that stores put it there specifically to target little kids (at least that's what I tell myself when I pass it by...will I reduce myself to acting like a 5-year-old and cave by purchasing an overpriced bag of peanut M&Ms? Or will I be strong resisting all temptation? It's always a bit of a gamble. Especially when I don't have something like sheet cake or treats in my cart).

Luckily, the old man directly ahead of me distracted me by asking lots of questions about my sushi selection. I think he was more surprised at the price than the fact I was eating raw fish.

"You pay that much and they don't even cook it for you?"

He sounded really surprised.

Then again, he managed to get all his seven items for under $10. My dragon roll was $9.99. Nice.

Suddenly the extra PB Cup seemed like too much of a guilty pleasure. I was already having my fill with sushi.

Next trip, perhaps.

Then again, next time I'll probably be better prepared and shop on a full stomach. I think I'll be able to cut back from 4 sushi trays to 2, at least. And in that case, I'll have plenty of room for desert.

Swedish Fish anyone?