There is a place in Göteborg where every American runs when they are looking for things like Vanilla Extract (12 bucks a small bottle), Crisco (10 smackers a small can), dill pickles (1100 pennies a stork adorned jar) or refried beans (5 dollars). We go there knowing that it will not be cheap. And we know that satisfying a craving is worth every penny sometimes.

I was there on Tuesday with a close friend. I dragged her in there for moral support while I got Thanksgiving supplies. Basically, I went armed with a person who would say, "Well, of course you need that. It would not be Thanksgiving without it!" And she did it like a champ. Cranberry Sauce, Stove Top Stuffing and Cornbread were hastily flung into my basket. Then, we had a problem.

There it was. The mother of all MUST HAVES. The thing I needed more than anything else and could not live without. My arm went up to reach for it and I realized once again that it is hell being short. It was just out of reach. So, I did the jump grab, the tippy-toe reach and tried shoving my fingers through the bottom of the grated shelf to push it forward. Just as I was reaching for a pen to shove through the grate for added UMPH, she pointed out calmly that there was a step stool about 10 feet away. Hysterical! So, in the end I very non-climatically got my: CAN OF PUMPKIN PIE FILLING!