On Eggnog

Dan: whatcha doin'?
Laura: lookin' up the origins of eggnog on wikipedia
Dan: ...Eggnog is an excellent source of magnesium...

A friend of mine from highschool recently created a group on facebook that was essentially a countdown until Obama leaves office. I thought it an odd thing to do, and asked her why she thought a facebook application written by some dude in Redmond, WA was going to somehow speed up time and get Obama out of the office sooner. To which she and her friend replied... in ALL CAPS SOMETIMES AND LOTS OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!! that Obama was essentially the Antichrist in their eyes, and a countdown was needed for wives of the military to rally together and console each other until he was unceremoniously jettisoned from his oval shaped office 4 years from now.

Now, I'm all for trying to effect positive change. I think it's great to make your voice heard if you disagree with someone in office, especially he most high on the hill that is capitol. But a facebook app? Really? I responded to her and her friend, but I doubt anything I said got through. With a husband in the military, she is understandably at the whim of her emotions, trying to make order out of chaos when he is shipped off somewhere overseas and create a stable environment for her daughter. I get that. What I don't get, and kept trying to beat into her head though was how a countdown helps. It's essentially complaining about a situation in which she has no control, and will never have it. I challenged her to think about doing something constructive during this time to deal with her feelings of loss and betrayal at not having a republican president for the next four years. She promptly turned off comments though, so I am posting it below. Maybe I can help the world with a blogspot app. Hehehe....

So, you have a choice before you. Now that the candidate you don’t like is in office, how do you plan to respond to it? You can’t control what he does by creating a facebook group that lists the things wrong with his strategy and policies. You can’t control what he does, period. You CAN, however, control what YOU do, what you teach others, and the behaviors you model. As an American, you certainly have the right to put your fingers in your ears and yell about how much you dislike Obama, but at the end of the day, what has that gotten you? Some wasted energy and time, but no results. Why not use his presidency as an opportunity to hold your children close and teach them the ideals you hold most dear? Teach them to be in the world, but not of it, where applicable. Model the behavior you want them to emulate, because at the end of the day, it’s our families and children we’re most worried about, right? The fear of policy being set that could affect our children negatively down the line consumes many of us. Why not use this time to focus on teaching your kids to believe in and live what you think is right in their every day dealings, instead of complaining about what you think could have or should have been? On facebook? Really?

Ok I added that last part for my own benefit. but you get the idea.

LT isn't sure she got her point across

So.Hungry.Must.Eat.Keyboard.

(Sound of Laura crunching on a delicious M Key and a succulent 4 key. Don't forget SHIFT! It gives the flavor depth.)

Nathan has been nursing non stop lately. The books say they do this when they are having a growth spurt, or about to hit some kind of mental milestone. So, to fuel his development, he needs moo juice from mommy pretty much all the time. I'm tired, and I'm hungry! Oh and I fell off the bandwagon, or got back on, or whatever euphemism they use to describe my FAILING. Oh I FAILED all over it so bad, I needed a washcloth to wipe off the FAIL.

fail  /feɪl/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [feyl] –verb
1. to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved: The experiment failed because of poor planning. ME!
2. to receive less than the passing grade or mark in an examination, class, or course of study: He failed in history. ME!
3. to be or become deficient or lacking; be insufficient or absent; fall short: Our supplies failed. ME!

Um...so I had some sugar. Make that a lot of sugar. I was euphoric. I was crazy. Hey Columbia! Who needs Cocaine when you have Sugar! Rethink your strategy, guys! I'm here to help you develop it! Mira! Lo tengo azucar!

So, today I will try to recover. I hope I can make it back.

LT is off to eat a cow

From HowStuffWorks.com

Do you relish hiding behind doors or leaping from dark corners to scare people? Rethink your clownish tactics if you're tempted to frighten a vulture: It'll vomit on cue, spewing forth puke that smells like rotting flesh and burns like acid.

I thought this might come in handy some day.

The more you know.

LT is handy

On Harmony having not gone trick or treating with us

Laura: I wonder how Harmony would have handled it?
Dan: Oh man, can you imagine? Scary masks and people in dark clothing? Oh the pain!
Laura: You think? That bad?
Harmony (Dan): Aaaaaoooooowwwwwww it's the apocalypse! It's finally upon us! And they brought candy!

~~~~~~~~~


In other news, the no sugar thing is going well. I've stopped having the crazy cravings and have my intake of carbs under control. I'm not 100% sugar free anymore, but don't eat deserts or sugar flavored anything if I can help it. It's going well. I've dropped a few lbs. and am seeing a trend, so I may stick this out for a while longer if possible. W00t.



Halloween was less difficult that I thought it would be. There were enough distractions when we were out that I wasn't focused on the candy. Dan, however, was laser focused on obtaining candy "for Nathan" whenever possible.











What a sport. I drug this hat out from under Harmony's teeth and this shirt and vest were left over from a talent show in Vegas last year. A sweaty executive was dancing to YMCA in that very shirt this time last year. Sweet.



I had planned to go as Sarah Palin, but waited until the last minute hoping that WalMart would have the right glasses. They didn't, of course. Plus I would have had to do my hair, and find some kind of pants suit that actually fit. Um.... yeah. So, I threw on another one of my left over sweaty Village People outfits, and was off.























Then on Saturday, Dan and Andy got up and made home made sausage. I giggled a bit at the visual of that, but after having tasted it, I shut my cake hole post haste. Let's hear it for home made ground up pork stuffed into intestine-like casings! Yaaaaaaaay!

And fnally, Halloween Pics and a few others are posted here. Updated Nate pics here.















LT is trying to stay within the lines

So, I'm still here. Going cold turkey off sugar has been hard. My body was screaming for it for a few days, and the problem was compounded by the fact that I am still eating simple carbs from time to time. I do my best to eat complex carbs, but sometimes it can't be helped if the food I am eating contains flour or something. So, the screaming has quieted down to occasional yelling, and sometimes bickering. I can handle that.

A happy side effect is I've started dropping weight. Nothing major, just a pound or two, but HEY! that makes this a little easier.

In Nate Dogg news, he rolled over the other day! It was so awesome, I about peed myself. I kept picking him back up and putting him on his tummy to watch him do it again and again. He remembered how to do it each time and giggled with glee after seeing mommy wet herself in disbelief. Then today, he stopped. It's like he totally forgot. He just sits there and cries like he has no choice in where he sits or doesn't. Well crap.

I have to go pick up candy at Walmart for the trick or treaters tomorrow night. We live in a very kid-laden neighborhood - they're everywhere - and right now, all I have are splenda packets. That might get me an egging, so I'm off to get some Reesie's cups or something. I hope to God the kids take them all. I might do something unholy to those peanut buttery sin pies if I get an hour alone with them.

Nate will be going as a bee, I as Sarah Palin if I can find the right glasses (did I mention I colored my hair red/brown?), and Dan will be going as a geek. We figured that would be a good solution since he won't have to buy a costume, can just throw on one of his many Microsoft shirts, and not shave for a few days. Maybe drink a few red bulls before hand to get that edgie twitchy thing going on, and carry his C# programming book with him or something.

Excellent Smithers. It's all falling into place.


LTTTTTTTTTTTTTT wants caaaaaaaaandy!

Laura: (holding Nathan) He's been crying a lot tonight. I wonder what's wrong...
Dan: He craves the flesh of man.

~~~~~~

Dan: (listening to IPOD on speakers): What is this song?
Laura: This is Kool and the Gang!
Dan: Kool and the what?
Laura: Kool and the Gang... the original rappers!
Dan: What... like L.L. Cool J?

LT sez: Dont' call it a come back. She's been here for years.

A friend of mine recently quit sugar and was going on and on in her blog about great she felt. I, of course, thought it was great for her, but thought it didn't make sense with my lifestyle because really... HOW would I eat my daily requirement of brownie batter and coffee with a half cup of honey in it? They require a key ingredient that I wasn't willing to give up.

That is until last week when I kiiiiiiiiiiind of hit bottom. I went to bed one night and my last thoughts before drifting off were talking myself out of going downstairs to make some brownies, and to wait until the morning. I would find some excuse at that point to head down and make "breakfast brownies" or something.

Yeah... that was a new low point.

I'm addicted, plain and simple. I told Dan. I gave my last brownie mix away, and I made a pact to quit. And I did. This is day 3 and the cravings are getting a little easier to manage. I can't quit carbs completely since I am still breastfeeding little dude and need those carbs to make moo juice, but I *have* switched to complex carbs and avoid the "white stuff" as much as possible.

I am full, but like my friend said, I'm not satisfied. My body still feels ravenous even though my stomach is full - a side effect, I'm told, of cutting off my sugar carb intake. It will take another few days before that feeling goes away. In the meantime, I want to kill people, so you'd best all watch your backs. And OH MY CRAP why did I pick this week of all weeks?! The week before Halloween!? ...like taking a bunch of recovering alcoholics to a frat party. What was I thinking?!

Sigh... so hopefully I will get through this, and will be a bit more balanced and less getting caught in the kitchen at midnight with cake batter all over my face, chest, and abdomen.

LT is riding the Splenda train

Nathan is going through something...a growth spurt? Teething? Maybe his bat wings are coming in.... I don't know. But it means he isn't sleeping well. Which means I am not sleeping well. I am a freaking Zombie in the mornings this last week, and it's all I can do to drag my sorry carcass out of bed.

I am seriously considering calling in sick this afternoon just so I can sleep a little. Assuming Nathan lets me that is...

Oh, and he's also learned that he likes me. Like... a lot. And if I am out of his line of sight he starts screaming. As soon as I am back, he stops.

Lola used to do that when I first got her. I'd put her in her cage and turn my back to her. She'd whine and whine and whine. The second she stopped, I turned around and pet her and rained down the affection. It took about a week of that, and she got it. Whining = no mommy. Quiet = lots of happy mommy. Check.

Yeah, Nathan hasn't gotten that yet, or if he has, he doesn't care. Maybe because I am not comfortable putting him in Lola's cage? Hmmmm... maybe there's another way.

LT is calling in dead