Mike Johanns: Saturday Service

"I am his ATM, and he gets twenty dollars a week, whether he needs it or not," she said.

On work days, they pack ham sandwiches and spend their half-hour lunch in his office. On Saturdays, they grocery shop after they clean.

"He cleans constantly," Stephanie said, smiling. "He gives me jobs; he says, 'Okay, Steph, here's what you have to do. Do the counters.' When he was running for governor, if I was five minutes late getting home, he'd pull out the vacuum and start vacuuming."

Once when the grocery bags were still on the counter, he unloaded the Windex and started spraying the windows. She laughed: "He's a compulsive window washer. If we go on vacation, he washes strangers' windows."

This reminded Johanns of a chore for his list: "I have a pair of shoes that have to be resoled."

"Oh gosh, honey, that's pretty boring."

At Safeway, they pushed their cart through the door, rolling purposefully toward the produce. Stephanie had her coupons, buy two, get one free. A Safeway employee cut open a watermelon for Johanns to taste, unaware that the man licking juice from his fingers was the nation's top agricultural official.

They bought sugar-free Oreos. "We both try to stay away from sugar, although he cheats," Stephanie said. Wheeling down the cereal aisle, Johanns picked up a Cheerios box and looked at the picture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture food pyramid: "This is what we need, more whole grains."

"You found your pyramid?" Stephanie asked.

"Isn't that cool?" Johanns smiled.

Later, in the parking lot, Johanns loaded the grocery bags. In their trunk lay a "Welcome" mat.

"We are so daggone boring," Stephanie said.