Am I ever tempted to just nip in?

Yes. Of course. I'm only human!

I was chatting to a friend yesterday about the blog and she was full of praise, but then she leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered: "But aren't you ever tempted to, you know.... just nip in....?"

She was of course referring to an illicit trip to the supermarket. And yes, I must admit that although I've been enjoying my challenge so far, there have been moments when I've been tempted to execute a supermarket raid, perhaps in disguise with one of those long brown macs usually favoured by flashers. And dark glasses. Like a D-list celebrity at an airport.

I haven't, obviously. That would be letting the side down. But I don't mind admitting that old habits die hard.

I fell to pondering about what exactly I've been missing about Tesco and chums, and came up with the following list of moments when I have, for just a couple of milliseconds, hankered after those brightly lit aisles and blipping tills.

• On my way home from work I pass not one, but THREE huge Tesco Extras. It's like running a daily commuting gauntlet. A bit like that programme Total Wipeout with Richard Hammond where the contestants have to boing over three huge balls - but with the supermarkets as the balls. It's especially hard when we've run out of something and I know that a five minute detour into the supermarket could save me a 30 minute walk into town on my lunch break. Currently, for example, we've run out of washing powder. On the bright side this means I've not had to do any washing (or ironing) for the last few days but on the not-so-bright side I'm now running out of pants.
• Sometimes I've found myself really craving a Morrisons salad bar lunch. I know I could probably knock up the elements myself at home (pasta salad, coleslaw, sweetcorn and those little crispy croutons) but it just wouldn't taste the same. And the bollocking I occasionally got at the checkout for trying to cram too many little potatoes in mayo into a regular plastic tub thingys used to brighten my lunchbreaks no-end.
• When it's raining pulling into a supermarket car park and making a mad dash for the door (I do that stupid 'lady run' that as a child I used to mock my mum over - sort of a straight-legged trot with arms clamped to sides) is so much better than having to face a walk into town or dashing (lady-running) from shop to shop.
• I used to have a naughty little habit where sometimes (okay, okay, at least once a week) I'd grab a supermarket cheese and onion sandwich and a bag of Cool Original Dorritos on my way to or from work, just as a snack. And I don't know whether it was the cheap bread, the fact that they were cut into triangles, or the specific ratio of cheese to onion and mayo, but those sarnies are impossible to reproduce at home. And I miss them.

But the good news is that most of those reasons are stupid, glutinous or lazy, and there are only four of them, so generally things are going well. And I do have quite a lot of pants so I reckon I can last a few more days before hitting crisis point.

Finally I'd like to apologise to the lady who prompted this post - I had promised her today's blog would be about making more ethical toilet tissue choices but I've become side-tracked by her question. Don't worry Georgina - the bog roll is still on it's way and will be on here tomorrow!