Everything comes in chocolate...except tomatoes

I'm having a rough time these past two weeks with my weight loss plan. I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be doing, I'm staying within my points, we've been walking 4 times the past week (which is 4 times more than we went walking the past two weeks!) and I still can't seem to get past this spot on the scales. It's starting to wear on me a bit. As I've been ruminating on this dilemma, I've come to realize that America is not a weight loss friendly place to be! Just about everything in our society is geared towards getting us to over consume, in one way or another. Ad execs aren't stupid. They know that we Americans love our food like no other place on the planet so food is what they use to sell their products. Okay, so they use sex, too, but that's not the point of this post so we'll leave that for another time. Back to the food issue. Have you ever noticed how many products use food names to attract us?
Take paint, for example. Check out some of the names given to various paint colors:

whipped strawberry

sweet melon

hint of cherry

raspberry sorbet

pumpkin custard

buttercup squash

golden butter

top banana

fruit compote

lime burst

sonic plum

grapolicious

rich chocolate

smoked almond

chocolate raspberry

sugarcane pink

My gosh, after having looked at those color choices, I'd have to take a lunch break just so I could focus on my decision! Then there's clothes. Clothes "colors" are just as tantalizing. How about a lovely sweater in a color called:

mocha

oatmeal

chocolate

pale ale

plum

berry crush

Godiva (that's just WRONG!)

or

candy pink

You could even pick up a coat to complement your sweater or shirt. Coats come in colors like:

hazelnut

or

melonade

Yummy, right? You can even dress your bed as deliciously as you dress your bod. Sheet colors come in:

chocolate

cinnamon

butter

mulberry

kiwi

and

tangelo

And bath towels! Just as tasty. You can have flavors...er, I mean colors, like:

cocoa

real pecan

chocolate truffle

toasted almond

lime zest

and

lemon twist

Starting to feel like maybe your furniture isn't good enough for your life's menu? Try buying a couch with one of these color fabrics:

honey

berry

cranberry

salt (yes, I said salt!)

and the ever present

chocolate

You can even have your wooden furniture finished in stains called:

espresso

cherry

walnut

maple

pecan

and

honey

You can have curtains and window shades in colors called:

chocolate (of course)

plum

eggplant

oyster

champagne

latte

pumpkin

and

wine red

Feeling kind of unappetizing yourself after you've lavished all that yummy goodness around the house? Don't fret. You can color your hair is all manner of tasty flavors like:

espresso

chocolate mousse

cherry cordial

caramel kiss

iced mocha

spiced chestnut

caramel glaze

truffle

chocolate macaroon

cinnamon stick

almond rocca

french eclair

praline

biscotti

tiramisu

butterscotch creme

toasted coconut

iced meringue

dulce de leche

and

creme brulee'

'Course, once you've done that, you'll need to find the perfect lipstick to complement your new color scheme. Try one of these:

peach luster

honey

mocha

raspberry ice

juicy apricot

candied apple

or

cherry desirable

Will the madness ever end?? It seems like I can't turn my head a quarter inch without encountering something that's been given a name geared to make me salivate! It's no wonder America is fat. And since I've sat here and typed out all these delicious food names, I now feel the need to go visit my kitchen. Wonder if I can convince myself that the bowl of cherry tomatoes I'm eye-balling is actually a box of Godiva chocolates? Yeah...I didn't think so.

At the behest of Shabby in the City, I am entering this post into Scribbit, Motherhood in Alaska's September's Write Away Contest . I hesitate to do this, as I have read Shabby's entry and mine simply doesn't compare. I'm telling you now, her post is outstanding. Actually, forget my post...head on over to Shabby's and read hers. She's managed to turn the subject of color into a world of envisioned wonder. Go read it - I think you'll see what I mean!

Cousins, Cupcakes, Old Friends, Great Friends (Who Know Just What You Need), McGuire's Irish Pub and Sweet Baby Conner

Do you ever notice how, as you get older, you only see your extended family members at weddings and funerals? That seems to be what's happening to us. But we (i.e, some of "the cousins") are making plans to change that. These first two pictures are of 2 of my cousins, my sister and me. In the blue shirt is Sunshine (hey - no laughing...she didn't pick that name, her mother did. And actually, it kind of suits her. She's very bright and warm so shut it! lol), Kristie is leaning against the pole, my sister is the one in black and that's me with my head turned. Sunshine and Kristie are sisters. The four of us are in serious talks regarding a "cousin getaway". This getaway is to plan an even bigger get together with even more of our cousins. Maybe. If we can pull it off. Cousins Michael and Wallace have already expressed an interest to participate. I don't know if any other cousins have been contacted or would even be interested at this point. I really hope something good comes of this. We've all missed so much of each other's lives and losing Joey was a wake-up call. I don't want to feel such regret again and I think my cousins and sister feel the same way.
Moving along...see these cupcakes below? Sunshine brought these from Birmingham for me. Now do you see why I want to make sure we maintain a relationship? ha,ha just kidding! But anyway, these cupcakes are from Edgar's Bakery. If you ever hear any hype about Edgar's...believe it because WOW! They were divine. Totally divine. She also brought some cheese straws and a cream cheese danish. But honestly...cupcakes! Who could even think of anything else when there's cupcakes around?
Not only do you meet up with long long family at funerals, you often get to see friends that you haven't seen in ages. See here's the thing about my cousin Joey. I think he lived in the same house his entire childhood...for as long as I can remember anyway. He and his parents and his sister lived in a little neighborhood where just about all the neighbors knew each other. And I spent a few summer's of my own childhood with them. I loved visiting them. I loved that there were so many kids on that street and that so many families would get together for cookouts and such. It was great. I even lived with Joey's family a couple of times after I had Nicholas. (My situation was messed up - we won't get into that right now because it'd take way too much time and space, but suffice it to say I was floundering about as a very young adult and Aunt Ginger and Uncle Mike helped me out tremendously). Anyway, these neighborhood families are still in touch today, over 30 years after meeting one another. Can you believe that? It's astonishing. And heartwarming. And lucky for me because so many of them came to pay their respects to Joey and I was able to see them again. Joyce and Ted. Robin, Timmy and Paige. Cathy and Tommy. Terri. So many wonderful, wonderful people. As I sit here, remembering them, I'm wondering what it is they thought of me all those years ago. I wasn't wild, but you sure couldn't tell it from the outside. I struggled with loneliness, with the embarrassment of teenage pregnancy, with the shame of feeling I wasn't worthy of "nice" guys so I always picked "the wrong" ones...if I had mastered anything in my late teenage years and early twenties, it was the ability to make bad, bad decisions. But what the heck...look at all the experience and wisdom I gained from those mistakes, right? lol Still...I often wondered what these good, kind people thought of me or if they even did think of me through the years. When I saw them again, it was joyful for me. I felt so much joy in the midst of Joey's wake that I started to feel guilty about it! But I don't think Joey would have minded. He was always the life of the party and I think he might actually have been annoyed if he hadn't heard some laughter and seen some smiles at his wake. And these are people that he loves, too. (And before you start measuring me for that straight jacket, I have to tell you that I refer to him in the present tense on purpose - his body may be gone, but his soul and his spirit live on as far as I'm concerned). Anyway, I saw these people, I spoke with them and I felt so...at home. I got some addresses and some e-mails and a phone number or two. It was great to be given another opportunity to connect with them. I wish you all could know them, too. Joyce was even more beautiful than ever, Ted's hair was much shorter than I'd ever seen it (Joyce and I laughed about that - let's just say they enjoyed some big hair back in the day!), Robin and Timmy looked almost exactly the same, although Robin's hair was shorter, too. And Paige. Well, my gosh. Talk about a beauty. She turned out to be...perfect. Is perfect too strong a word? Nah. She's perfect all right. I always loved her when she was a child. She had the smartest mouth you ever heard. Sassy, sassy, sassy. I loved it. I'm told that one of her daughters acts just like her and I can tell you for sure that the other one looks just like her. Cathy and Tommy haven't changed a whole lot either. Cathy always looks so precious...smiling with all her heart. She and Tommy babysat my kids for me when my daughter was a baby. They, and their 4 daughters, were great to us. Terri's grown into such a beautiful woman, too. I'm thinking I should have stayed around the neighborhood - nobody there seems to have aged badly!! But I guess that reasoning doesn't really work since I think they all eventually moved away, too. lol Anyway, I'm grateful that I got to see them and I'm grateful that us cousins are looking to reconnect with each other and I'm grateful that e-mail is around to help us all stay in touch. I'm also grateful for my friend Susan. Susan knows me so well (and yet she still calls me her friend!). She and I have been friends for what? something like 11 years now? Maybe longer, maybe less...who can remember. She is the one I cry in front of when my feelings are hurt or when I'm upset about something or when I'm scared about something. Other than Randey, she probably knows me better than anybody (and sometimes I think she knows me even better!). Now don't get me wrong...my sister knows me well, too. But when you are 2 sisters married to 2 brothers, sometimes you can become too much involved in each other's business and that causes it's own set of problems. So Susan is my nearest and dearest friend in the whole wide world and I swear, I don't get why sometimes. We both say we're "High Maintenance" and that's why we don't branch out more with our IRL friendships. lol



Anyway, Susan lives near where we use to live in the Florida panhandle so when we drove down for Joey's funeral, I was able to see Susan and spend a few short hours with her. And what did she do? She made me some genuine, homemade Red Velvet cupcakes that were out of this world. I don't even want to tell you how many I ate because WOW. It was a lot! But they were so flippin' good. See? That's the definition of a friend. She remembered that I said I loved my Grandma's Red Velvet cake and she made the effort to make it for me. And what an effort. Geez. Hope no one tell's Grandma, but I think Susan's got her recipe down pat because Grandma never made better, I can honestly say that. And then....Susan even made me some tomato gravy! Tomato. Gravy. Yes ma'am. My favorite breakfast food ever. I could have cried when I saw the pan! lol I, personally, don't know how to make tomato gravy (one day, I'll have to tell ya'll about my gravy making issues) and the last time I had any was probably way back in February when my mom came to visit. And I don't even remember when I had it before then. Man, I love that stuff. And my friend Susan made it for me. She's the best, you know it? And she wasn't done yet. Check this out.


Do you know what this is? It's a Peppercorn steak from McGuire's Irish Pub in Destin, Florida. And it is the absolute best steak in the world, bar none. Susan bought our dinner there last Sunday evening. It's my favorite restaurant (I'm a loyal customer, too. I eat there or at the McGuire's in Pensacola whenever I get the chance. Sure wish they'd put one here in Texas. Yummy!). Susan, Terry (Susan's husband), Randey and I all drove down to Destin, but not for McGuire's (I did think of you while down there Kat, but the circumstances of the visit were rather somber, especially coupled with the loss of Joey so I wouldn't have felt comfortable with trying to arrange a visit). We drove there to visit our grandson's gravesite. Our little Conner was laid to rest in Destin in November of 2005. Nick and Jodie always referred to him as their "Superboy" and named him Conner because that's the "real" name of Superboy in the comics. With all that had gone on, I hadn't had a chance to get something to leave at Conner's gravesite before we got there. I felt awful about it and Susan could tell. She suddenly insisted that she had to go to the store right that minute, no ifs, ands or buts. At her insistence, Terry drove us to Target where I found a Superman figure for Conner and Susan got a Batman figure to keep Superman company. Again...that's a true friend. Not only does she understand my need to leave a toy for my grandson who lives in Heaven, she even got him one, too. I know it probably seems a little strange for me to post a picture of my grandson's tombstone on my blog. Maybe it is strange. But I don't much care. This gravesite is all we have now. That and a few pictures of him and some precious, sweet memories. I hope no one is put off by seeing this, but if you are...don't tell me. It would forever change the way I feel about you (hey, nothing like stating my position clearly, right?).
As you can tell, Conner's gotten several Superman figures these last 2 years. His other grandmother made the mailbox so that she and others could leave little notes to Conner (my granddaughter loves this feature) and Jodie painted the lovely flowerpot and left it there during their visit home this past summer. As sorrowful as I feel at the absence of Conner, I feel an even greater joy at his having been born. I know that he's a perfect little soul who didn't have to spend time on earth before he got to be with God. But sometimes, I do miss that baby so.
Wow. Guess I've really run on and on today, huh? You can tell I'm behind in my posting because I seem to want to make up for it all in one day! Sorry about that. I'll try to keep the postings shorter than this in the future. Whew. I'm exhausted. Think I'll go take a nap now.

He's Asking for Water!!!

For those of you following along with my cousin's progress, I'm so very happy to report that he had a GOOD day yesterday. The doctors have been pleased enough with his vital signs to start bringing him out of the medically induced coma and he has been responding! According to Karen's update, Joey has been asking for water!! I'm kind of choked up just thinking about that. He's come such a long way! Obviously, he has a long, long way still to go, but wow! I'm telling you guys, this entire situation has been such an eye opener for me. I'm 44 years old and never before have I ever witnessed such an awe-inspiring display of the power of positive thinking. While I don't want to take one single thing away from Joey's medical team, I am convinced that Karen and her unwavering belief in God and Joey's recovery are what have carried him to this point. The next time someone asks me what defines a hero in my eyes, I'm going to tell them about Karen. Seriously. Her strength and determination have impressed me like no one ever has before. I want to thank all of you guys for your love and prayers. Please feel free to visit the website and leave more words of encouragement, if you are able (the website address and link are near the top of my page. I know that some of you have had a hard time getting the link to work so I've written out the web address, as well). Terri and Tammy have left more than one message each and I love them for that! I know that all these messages help Karen now and will help Joey as he reads them during his recovery. The response all of you have shown has really left its mark on me. I thank you, I appreciate you and I will always treasure your kindnesses.

Here are a few pictures that I've been meaning to post for a few days now. They are of some of the swag I got during my sister's visit.
How do you like this teapot? My stepmother and dad bought it for me because Wendy (my SM) thought it would look great in my girly room. And she was right. I love it, it looks just perfect. That room has quickly become my favorite room in the house. It just reeks of femininity. I fully expect my brother-in-law, who will be visiting in a couple of weeks and staying in that room, to have garnered a whole new appreciation for "pink" by the time he leaves here. lol
Check out this horse's head. Kind of puts me in the mind of The Godfather, when I say "horse's head", but really, it's a nice little ole' statue. What do you think, Jayne? Like it? It cost all of $4. They were having a big Sidewalk Sale in downtown Weatherford. Glad we checked it out!
I really like this wreath. It's actually metal "loops" that have been welded together and then this garland of leaves has been woven through it. I like it so much that it's still sitting on the floor in my bedroom. lol I've really got to figure out where I'm going to hang it soon. Preferably before Randey looses a toe from walking into it!
I finally own a soup tureen! Yeah, I know. Big deal, right? Well it is to me! I've never, ever owned one and a couple of weeks ago, I got a wild hair and decided that a soup tureen was a must have item. We looked high and low during our shopping trips when my sister was here. I found quite a few...a lot without their ladles, some with price tags that would have required I obtain insurance on them before I even attempted to load them in the car (who would have thought a silly little soup bowl could cost more than my first car?), and I found some that were just too flippin' ugly to own. Then I saw this. It was as if a shaft of golden light was streaming down from the heavens, bathing this tureen in a warm, golden light while a little angel whispered in my ear "Here's the one you've searched for. Pick it up, cradle it close to your heart, give it a home and treasure it always". Okay. So that's bull. It didn't really happen quite like that. I saw it, I checked it out, the price was good, the fact that it was on sale was even better so I bought it, I took it home and it's still sitting on my counter because I don't actually have a suitable place to store it yet. Guess I need to buy a china cabinet next. lol (Just kidding, Randey, if you're reading this).
And finally, here was my favorite purchase of all. A double-dip, hot fudge sundae from Braum's. Yum-meeeee! I wouldn't mind eating one of these a day for ever and ever and ever. It was so good. And low calorie, too! What? What'd you say? I'm telling you, it's low calorie. Listen, I can call it that if I want to. And I want to so shut it, monkey!
That's about it for now. I guess I'd better stop blogging and start getting ready. Randey leaves on another TDY tomorrow and I think he wanted to go run around and have some fun today as a family. This will obviously require that the boys get their butts up out of bed and pretend like they know us. I'd better head on upstairs and begin the "waking process" (which basically consists of me standing in their doorways yelling!). Please continue to pray and think good, positive thoughts for Joey and Karen and their boys. And again, if you get the chance, please hop over to the website and leave a message. I know I keep harping on it, but I have just become so absolutely convinced that all of this positive energy actually works! I've been a bit of a cynic in the past but now I've "seen the light", so to speak, and I have been amazed by it all. Thanks for joining in and helping. You guys amaze me, too!

Latte Obsession

I am obsessed with this espresso/latte maker. Despite popular belief, this was not an impulse buy either. Randey and I had looked at this machine one day while we were at StarBucks. We checked it out for awhile, debated if it was really any good and if it was worth the price. We couldn't reach a decision, but we talked about it for most of that day. I sure did want a good espresso maker. We'd bought several of the "Mr. Coffee Cheap Home Versions". They weren't that great. The first one we bought was okay, I guess, but I think it was actually the novelty of having homemade latte that made it seem better than it was. Randey and I had agreed that we were done with buying the cheesy ones. But anybody who knows me knows how cheap I am when it comes to shelling out money. This was a tough decision for me. Well, Randey goes TDY for a few days and I found myself thinking about this machine again. I got online and did a little research. Turns out, this machine actually got great reviews. And what's just as important, StarBucks got rave reviews for their level of customer service for those who had questions about this machine. So there I sat. Randey out of town. The internet telling me what a great machine this was. My debit card screaming "I'm here for you, babe". I did the only thing I could do. I went and bought it. And I am so glad I did! This thing is so easy to use, makes fabulous espresso, foams milk like nobody's business and is sitting right there on my kitchen counter so I can make myself a latte anytime, day or night! How great is that? I kept the box it came in. At first, I kept it just in case I needed to return it. Now I keep it because anytime I go out of town for more than 2 days, I'm bringing my machine with me. It's become one of those things I don't want to be without. It's, well....., an obsession for me now.

Gorgeous Godiva Chocolates!

Talk about a random post!
I was going thru the pictures on my computer and came across this delicious looking image. I had taken this picture for a scrapbook I'm doing about "my favorite things". Godiva chocolates definitely qualifies as that! I gripe at Randey for supporting my fat habit, but wow! Godivas! Come on - who in their right mind could say no to them? I like to think of them as "The Breakfast of Champions". Nothing like a hot cup of coffee and a couple of pieces of dark chocolate heaven to get your day started. Hmmmm, hmmmm, ummmm. My goodness. Let me break the calendar out so I can see when the next birthday or holiday or any kind of special occasion is where I can expect another box of these treasures! Looks like the 4th of July is coming up...how can I make Godiva chocolates a necessary part of Independence Day...ah heck, I'll probably have to wait until my birthday. Oh well, anticipation only makes it that much sweeter, right?

That Mythical Creature "Good Customer Service"

I was going to start this with "Whatever happened to good customer service?" but now I'm starting to wonder if there ever was such a thing. I mean, surely there was at one point or how would we all be so sure that we're not getting it anymore? Can't miss what you've never had, right? I can vaguely recall going to a restaurant, asking the waiter/waitress a question and getting a knowledgeable answer. I'm thinking those days may be gone forever. The other day, Randey and I were in Ft. Worth and decided to try out an Italian grill (one that shall remain nameless for now). Boy, I love Italian. I love the music, the history, the sound of the language...all of it. But most of all - I love the food. Give me a big ol' honkin' plate of spaghetti and I'm in heaven. I have a rather special fondness for chicken parmigiana, too. I even like a little homemade lasagna every now and again. Ummm, ummm, ummmmm. Oh, but I digress. Here we were at this nice little restaurant - a place neither one of us had ever been. We go in, the atmosphere looks pretty good, the place smells divine (imagine a big fat opera singer belting that word out and you might get an inkling of just how good I thought it smelled) and the staff seemed pretty friendly. We were seated and our waitress hustled right on over to take our drink order. Now I luves me a good margarita. Yessir. But maybe not with Italian food. The rest of the drink menu didn't appeal to me either. But a beer! - now we're talkin'. A frosty cold one. Oh yeah. So I ask Dina, our lovely waitress, just what beer did she have on tap. I think it's important to ask that because you just never know - you might discover the beer of your dreams that way. That's how I discovered Raspberry Wheat beer - at McGuire's Irish Pub in Destin, Florida. If I hadn't asked what was on tap, I'd still be ignorant of the delights of fruity beer. Anywho, Dina, our lovely waitress, was not the bottomless well of information one might have hoped for. Her response to my query? "Ummm, let's see...we have, like, Coors light, ummmm, Bud...light maybe, and ummmmm yeah, like, some kind of Shiner. I really don't know what all we have...ummmmm, I'm trying to think....yeah, that's all I can, like, picture in my head." Hmmmm. Yokie, dokie. I can get Coors and Bud at Wal-Mart. No special delights hiding there. So I settled for unsweet tea. As it was shaping up, I thought I might be needing my wits about me anyway. Then came time to order dinner. The menu featured something called "Grilled Chicken Diavolo". The short description is "grilled chicken breast served with spaghetti and spicy marinara". Ooohh, lah, lah, hold me back. I asked Dina, our lovely waitress, how to pronounce "Diavolo". Dina did not disappoint. That's not to say she knew how to pronounce it, but more like she certainly didn't deviate from the level of service I had already come to expect from her. Her response; "Ummmm, like, I don't really know." giggle, giggle "I, ummmm, think you say it, like ummmmm, Diablo or something like that." As it turns out, she was fairly close. Not exactly accurate, but not as far off as she could have been, I suppose. Confidant that she could convey my order to the kitchen without mangling it beyond recognition, I placed my order for that there Devil Chicken. (Randey ordered the combo - which is so funny if you know how little Randey actually eats when we go out to dinner. Most of the combo ended up in a to-go box.) At last, the food arrives...and it's DIVINE (see previous note about the opera singer). The green beans that came with the chicken weren't worth having, but the chicken, spaghetti and marinara sauce were...well, my gosh, there aren't enough words to describe it. I usually only use "orgasmic" to describe Godiva chocolates, but I'm thinking the devil chicken rated it, too. Well thank goodness the food was good and there was plenty of it. Because Dina, our lovely waitress, had apparently gone on break. Or maybe she retired, I don't know. Enough time passed that when she did eventually stop by to say hey, I damn near didn't recognize her. The time had not been good to her - hair was a little grayer, a few more wrinkles, she looked like she'd lived a hard life since last we'd met. We hadn't fared much better. I suspect Randey and I both looked a little shriveled, probably from dehydration due to a severe lack of refills on our iced teas. We had long ago sucked and crunched the tiny little ice chips left from our teas and had even resorted to licking the condensation off the sides of the glasses. Perhaps if I hadn't been so intent upon snorting, wolfing and raking that de-licious marinara sauce down my gullet, I might have been able to signal for help before the dehydration left us on the verge of extinction. (I don't know what Randey's excuse was - looks to me like he could have launched an expedition to locate our missing waitress. I mean really, when it comes to eating, which of us do you think has more free time - me or Jack Sprat himself?) But he didn't and I didn't and our waitress took advantage of our lax attitudes and disappeared. Dina could head to Vegas with that disappearing act. Hell, maybe she did. She was certainly gone long enough to have made the trip. Now here's the point of my story (yeah, I was starting to wonder if I'd ever get to it, too)...the food was really, really good...so good in fact, that I didn't do more than shake my head at the less than stellar level of service we received. I have become so used to bad service that it no longer phases me, at least not like it used to. I used to get down right irate and would ask for the manager and then write letters to store owners and corporate offices and anybody else who would listen. Now, as long as the food is good, I just accept bad service as being normal. I used to rant and rave that if everyone would stand up and refuse to accept bad customer service, there wouldn't be any bad customer service. And now...well now, I'm just one of the herd. I keep my head down, focus on munching my way on down the trail of life and let the mediocrity of America's service industry become the standard. It saddens me to know this is how I've become. But what the hell...the food was pretty freakin' good.

So I stopped smoking. Now what?

Okay, well I stopped smoking 16 weeks and 6 days ago (but who's counting, right?). What happens now? Will this almost uncontrollable urge to eat everything in sight stop soon? Will I continue to grow larger and larger and larger until one day I find the only thing that will fit me is a queen size bedsheet? I went clothes shopping the other day, mainly because I was down to one pair of pants that I could zip. I was shocked to discover that my clothes weren't suffering from an unexplained laundry mishap. They hadn't shrunk. I had grown. A lot. A whole lot. In my mind, I'm not fat. In my mirror, well let's not go there. Not only are my clothes not mysteriously altered to a smaller size as per my previous belief, but apparantly my mirror isn't reflecting an inaccurate vision due to some glazing error. I'm just fat. When did this happen? When did I go from "fluffy" to "fat"? And is this condition permanent? And have I reached the fat boiling point that makes me actually take action to change this? Tune in tomorrow...