Is It Food?

I found this really cool graphic on Michael Prager's blog.  He wrote, "Fat Boy, Thin Man", a book that is on my intend to read to list.  If your interested in food addiction or how "Big Foods" are controlling how we eat, head on over and give a read.

I have a lot to say about how many foods today aren't really "food" but it's going to have to wait for another day.   Just wanted to throw this out there and see what you think. 

Book Review- Unsaid

Book Review - Unsaid by Neil Abramson

If you are expecting something literary forget it.

One word summation: Page turner (okay so it's two words, fire me)

This book was a gift from my vet. One of her clients gave her a copy and she couldn't put it down. She so identified with the main character that she bought copies for all her friends. I was a lucky recipient of one of the copies.

The main character is a veterinarian named Helena. Happily married to David, a big city attorney, and living and working in the country with her own group of damaged animals, she is diagnosed with cancer at the age of 37.

After she passes away, her devastated husband is approached by a woman that Helena worked with in a research laboratory before they met. She is trying to save a chimpanzee who is scheduled for a research experiment that will most likely take her life.

David, who is struggling with his own grief and trying to care for Helena's beloved animals, agrees to take on the case.

The story is told from the view of Helena as she is trapped between this world and the next. Unable to move on, terrified to face the animals she has helped pass on during her years as a veterinarian.

I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to anyone who loves animals and believes that they have the potential to communicate. The court room drama that unfolds left me with tears in my eyes.

133 Down 4877 to Go

It's Girl Scout cookie season again. Woo hoo!!

Every year the Girl Scouts offer incentive prizes. The "big" prize is always something that makes the girls salivate with excitement. This year is no different. They are offering an I-Pod Touch to any girl that sells 2500 boxes of cookies. That's a lot of cookie dough.

My girls sell together. So since they have to split their sales they plan to sell 5000 boxes so they each may have their own I-Pod Touch. They'll spend the next three months working side by side selling cookies but don't want to consider sharing one. I don't even try to understand teenage logic.

"You Can't Make Me!"

If I had a nickle for every time I've heard that in the last few months I could retire. We'll technically The Vet is right, I can't make her.

But (yep there it is again folks, some things don't change), I am only legally obligated to supply you with food, shelter and clothing and that can be arraigned. On the menu for tonight's dinner, by special request, sardines (protein), potato flakes (starch) and okra (veggie). Enjoy. Oh you don't like such foods. They assault your tender pallet. Bummer, you can't make me cook anything I don't want to. Bon Appetite.

One Year Later ( well almost )

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've posted.

Last night I couldn't sleep. What used to be a normal occurrence, rarely occurs today. So since I did most of my writing late at night, while the world slumbered around me, it stands to reason that not much happens in my blogger world anymore.

But last night sleep eluded me. So much has happened in my world in the last year. So many changes, none of them recorded for posterity (probably a good thing in some cases). But last night I read back over some of my older posts and enjoyed some fond memories. I started thinking about how much pleasure I got out of this time sucker blog. Inflicting my random thoughts and irritations on my faithful readers, sharing some good times and some not so good.

Blogging about why I'm not blogging is stupid and a waste of everyones time so I'm moving on.

Here's just a quick update in the cast of characters who live in my world (man that sounds arrogant).

Rusty's Mom: Still a homeschooling mom, dog loving, EMT, vet tech. 110 lbs lighter food addict, recovering alcoholic (yeah, you read that right). It took me decades to admit it, but I've given up the fight. My addictions don't define me anymore, but I'm still trying to figure out who the real Rusty's Mom is, my journey continues.

The Engineer: Still the same old Type A, perfectionist. Without food to hide behind, some of his quirks irritate the hell out of me now, but hey, like I said it's all a journey.

The Scientist: Still scary smart. 13 years old and is studying for her college entrance exams. But still the consummate teenager. Oh boy, what blog fodder she has been.

The Vet: Social butterfly. Walks around all day with a cell phone in her hand, texting. Does anyone under the age of 21 actually talk on a phone?

Baseball Boy: Finally decided that learning to read might not be such a bad idea after all. Once he put his mind to it, wow Mom that was easy, what was all the fuss about. He hasn't played baseball in a few years but wants to again this spring. But he still loves the game so his name remains the same.

Mickey/Malka: A little older, a little wiser but still curled up sleeping next to each other on the couch.

Daisy: Hasn't cost me anymore large sums of money but it's only a matter of time since she decided that she wanted to be an indoor/outdoor cat. Makes me nervous every time she slips out the door.

Additional cast of characters: Chickens, snakes, fish and a bunny.

I don't have time for this, but it sure was fun. Figures.

Meet Marty..

He's 3 years old and at least 3 1/2 feet long. Right before he sheds he likes to lay in his water bowl. That's what he's up to here. Curled up tight as he can and jammed in snug as a bug in a rug. He is a corn snake and a typical orange color. He is lovingly cared for by The Scientist.

You see last summer I signed all three kids up for a pet care program at the local library. I should have known better. I figured they had an assortment of the pets so what else could there be, right? Will I ever learn? These are all rhetorical questions since I've been been down this path before.

It was a 4H program and the kids really enjoyed it. On reptile day The Scientist came home with all sorts of grand ideas about reptiles, especially the snakes. Her latest obsession was born. Immediately she wants to get her own snake. Are you kidding me, a snake!! I'm not afraid of them, I just don't consider them pets. They're more like a wild animal to me. I'm more a mammal kinda girl. But The Scientist will not be dissuaded. So I send her on a mission to learn all she can about snakes, hoping (but secretly knowing better) that she will burn herself out and get over it. A month or so later The Engineer takes all three kids to a small local zoo that was having an open house. I'm at work oblivious to what's happening. Later that night I hear how The Scientist found an error on a sign attached to the snake cage. She took her findings to the owner of the zoo who was very impressed with her knowledge of snakes. He gave her the inside tour of the zoo and offered to give her a baby snake when one became available. The Engineer was impressed and I was stunned when he reversed his decision to let her get a snake. What the heck, I was depending on his resounding "NO WAY" to get me out of this.

The other part of the deal was we weren't going to foot the bill for this little critter.

Tell me, do you think that a snake still technically qualifies as a critter? Never mind....

Somewhere along the line The Scientist and The Vet got a regular babysitting job. Both had been working together and saving their money. It wasn't long before The Scientist had the cash for a snake. All along she had been researching reptile rescues and corn snake forums (all her research showed a corn snake to be the perfect first snake) so when the cash became available she knew what she needed and was all set when the zoo called and said, "We have one for you."

If you'll follow the time line you'll see that this happened late last summer, and that they offered her a baby snake, which is what she got. Back track to the first paragraph and you'll see Marty is 3 years old. It doesn't take a math wiz to figure that Marty wasn't her first snake. Her first snake was a baby girl. Her short stay with us is a topic for another post and another layer of fodder for her to share with her therapist when she's thirty.

Back to Marty. About one week after Marty came to live with us The Scientist and The Vet were laid off from their babysitting job. The slump in the economy knows no age limits apparently. Fortunately, after the initial start up fees reptiles are pretty inexpensive to keep. Well, as long as they are healthy. I'm in denial about vet costs for reptiles, so I'm not going there. We have a bag of frozen mice in the freezer that will hold for a while so he's happily fed without tapping into my budget.

So Marty has grown on me. He loves to wrap around my neck and crawl through my hair. He's even rested his head on my glasses a few times. He's a very gentle snake. Easy to hold and is especially fond of The Scientist. He's certainly not cuddly but he's not a wild animal either. I have some better pictures of him and hope to add them soon enough. And of course like every animal that finds it's way into our home, he has his own set of stories to tell.

Honey I'm Home....

Did you miss me? I sure missed you guys. It may be hard for some of you to believe but I have been without a laptop for all this time. I had limited access to a PC off and on but nothing steady. I've had to weed through literally hundreds of emails in the last few days. I also learned a few things over these last few months...

1) I can live without email. In fact, I enjoyed not being a slave to the call of the ping.

2) Blogging rocks but it is a time sucker.

3) I missed my forums, instant access to information and I had a lot of overdue books at the library.

4) When you're saving your money for something you thought was so important and other things happen (a hole in our roof, 6 new tires on two cars in one week, and a car accident that totaled The Engineer's car) you realize what really is a priority in your life.

Some good blogging fodder has passed but I'm sure I'll get you caught up in the next few weeks but in the mean time let me give you a quick update..

My new laptop is Window's based. As much as I would of loved a MAC I just couldn't afford one. I'm happy just to be back to the 21st Century.

Speaking of 21st Century, I still don't have an I-Pod or a Kindle but I'd love one. They're next on my list.

I'm working full time again. With prices rising almost daily and The Engineer not getting a raise last year and not expected to get one for another two it was just getting too tight for comfort.

I had to give up volunteering at the vet's office. I hope to go back when the kids are a little older.

I did get a new cell phone with a QWERTY (did I spell that right?) keyboard. Texting has slowly crept into my life as a result.

OA update: I celebrated 10 months of abstinence on March 3rd and I've lost 76 lbs.

We've added additional critters....details to follow.

I survived another season as a Cookie Mom.

The Scientist, The Vet and Baseball Boy (who doesn't play baseball anymore) are growing like weeds.

Anyway folks, that's enough for now....time to get dinner started.