Fish Stick Sandwiches...With KETCHUP???

So I got my hair cut tonight. My stylist, who I love, and I always have good conversations, mostly about our kids, who are similar in age. She was discussing her child's recent growth spurt, and as an example was detailing how much the child had eaten in one sitting. She explained that one of her favorite things to do with fish sticks is make them into a sandwich. (The child had eaten THREE in one sitting, BTW...growth spurt for sure!)

Sounds logical, stack them on some bread, maybe toasted, with mayo or tartar sauce, right? I thought I heard her wrong when she said "You know, you take fish sticks, put them on some bread, with some ketchup, and make a sandwich of them!"

That can't be right, can it? I've given up breading here on South Beach, but is there someone willing to test out this fish stick theory for me and see if fish sticks and ketchup go together? Because I threw up in my mouth a little bit when I thought about it. But I've been wrong before. Hell, I eat tuna and sourkraut pizza like it's going out of style, whaddo I know?

I would be SO grateful if, if the next time you partake of fish sticks, you would dip some in ketchup, or better yet, make yourself a fish stick sandwich, and get back to me on that? Thanks.

Back on the Beach

Did I tell you fine folks that South Beach is my diet of choice and that I started again with Fabulous Phase One on October 1st? Well, it is and I did. It is by FAR the healthiest lifestyle we have ever embraced in this house, and a great way to eat/live.

Eleven days = 8 pounds. And that's with a water-retaining steroid shot thrown in there! Life is good on the beach. Spare me the "it's water weight" stuff, though, because as long as the scale displays lower numbers every time I get on it, it can be organ weight for all I care. Less organs mean my jeans fit better, right? Water weight, organ weight, fat weight, whatever - smaller is smaller.

So I'm feeling good, losing weight, and staying on track. For now. The sugar addiction seems to be at bay for now, and the Strawberry Frosted Pop-Tarts in the pantry have even stopped calling to me. Same with the Nestle Quik and the cake mix, from whence cometh cake-mix-cookies (there are about 8 pounds on my hips just from those). They all are quiet now, and only good wholesome foods are allowed in my mouth. I was biting M&M's in half for Jackson tonight and trying desperately to keep all chocolate crumbs out of my mouth. Is that crazy or WHAT?

Anywho, so stay tuned to see just how fast I can lose all this weight. My Granny is turning 80 in December and we're having a big open house party for her. I'd like to need some new clothes for that. We'll see if I do, won't we? You'll have to stick around to find out!

Fatty Patty is on the way out, and Skinny Minny is moving back home, baby...

If Cathy Fell Out Of CyberSpace?

Weird to even consider it in 2007, but I think I may be. I think I really have classic internet addiction. Seriously. Sounds stupid and made-up, right? But it's a real thing, (google it, I'll wait) ... and I think I've got it!

It's too bad, because there are so many legitimate things that I really do "need" the internet for! Online banking, for starters. Going back to phone banking or waiting around for my paper statement sounds CRAZY. Not to mention paying my bills online - saves me a TON of money in postage every year! Keeping in touch with family and friends - another aspect I would sorely miss! Online research when a thought tickles my brain and needs an answer...where would I go, if not my beloved web? No Google? No Ask.com? No Wikipedia? Sounds like madness! And no one sends pictures of their kids in the mail anymore - they send 'em on email! Just like I do! Go back to snail mail? MADNESS!

But what is ALSO madness is that I cannot keep a clean house despite the fact that I am in it practically 24/7. What is madness is that laundry could easily be kept up on if I would stay caught up and do some every day. What is madness is that I waste my son's nap time every day jacking around on the internet when I could be getting 90% of my day's chores done.

The time I spend off the PC is spent primarily with my kids and my husband. And yes, that is most important, but what am I teaching my kids about keeping a clean house? About responsibility? About good use of time? Not much, most days. How well will that serve them in their future? My job is to raise responsible adults. I wonder how I would do on a job evaluation right about now? (Maybe that's what this is...I think I'm in trouble...)

I never seem to have enough time online (a classic web addict symptom) ... I have message boards (yes, plural) to check in on, to post on, to read on. I have three email accounts to check each day, which each have assorted and varied emails I must read and respond to. I have to check my hometown newspaper every day to keep up with what's going on there. One time I didn't for a while, and a friend's dad died and I didn't know it and felt like a real ass, so I can't stop doing that, right? I have to check craigslist - I need more free stuff for my house. And I have to POST on craigslist, to get RID of stuff to make more room for more stuff. I have to update my weightloss ticker (when I actually lose weight)...I have to enter the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes (hey, people win, shut up!)...I have to BLOG, don't I? Don't I? And as I tell Greg so often and so vehemently, the "web is my link to the outside world during the day". Yeah, it is. But isn't that a choice?

Hmm.

It's getting increasingly more difficult to make all this business make sense in my head, to justify the time I spend on here, and I think a change is on the horizon for me. The thought of it makes me queasy, no lie. Some of my very closest, truest girlfriends of my life exist to me only in this computer, I have never laid eyes on them or sat in the same room with them. Yet I have shared things with them that I haven't share with many, if any, people IRL. I would so desperately miss being a part of such a close inner-(cyber)circle, and would miss their friendship, their support and their help. Can I keep up friendships with them via snail-mail and phone? Sure. But I'll still be missing out on the every-day interaction that goes on, and eventually that bond will fade away. It's just the nature of it. OL friendships are fed and nutured by OL interation.

But there is a part of me that is yearning to be not attached at the ASS to this chair. Part of me that wants to see if I can find some sort of physical activity I enjoy more than I enjoy having saddle bags (computer-chair-shaped-saddle-bags, bytheway). Part of me wants to just shut it off and be DONE with it. The worst part of an addiction is the feeling of being a slave to something outside yourself. It's what I hated about smoking, what I hate about sugar (which I am currently de-toxing from again), and what I hate about the web. Damned addictive personaility, anyway. Good thing I never tried meth or coke!

I have a friend who took the leap. She left the message board we had in common. She made a clean break. Her computer time is very limited now, and is monitored by her husband via password, at her request. We miss her, but from what I can tell she is VERY happy with her decision, and is doing all the things she should be doing. I am happy for her and have spent a great deal of time thinking about her decision.

I wonder if that would work for me. I know Greg would put me on password if I wanted that, but part of me kind of thinks that's like trying to take an alcoholic to the bar and then giving them just two drinks? Is it possible to do part-time computer when you have a full-time addiction? I'm not sure. I definitely think I would like to try that before I give up the PC altogether. I just can't imagine going back to having NO web (maybe that's just the web junkie in me talking...two drinks are better than NONE, right...)

And do I just sound like the BIGGEST LOSER ever BLOGGING about this? I could have cleaned three rooms of my house in the time I've spent typing this. Thus is the nature of the beast.

More on this later...right now I have emails to check and REALLY should get UP and get some housework done. I wonder if I will. Wagers on that? Any takers?

Yeah, me neither.

Trip To Urgent Care

So Greg badgered me until I went in today for this rash, which did not go away and was really pretty unbearable. And new spots were cropping up on my hip and back. So I went.

He (the dr.) said pretty much what I thought he would say:

"We have no way of knowing what's causing it, unless you specifically know what's causing it. It's systemic because you have it all over you, not just in one spot. So ointments aren't going to do much"... (He was right about that shit) "... Are you taking an antihistamine? Ok, so take Claritin during the day and take a Benedryl at night, and here's a shot in the ass of steroids that will hurt like hell." Ok, so that is paraphrased, but I can't quote him verbatim because I understood approximately 40% of what Dr. Vijay said to me, bless his heart.

Anyway, he said the shot might hurt ("sting" I think he said). And it did. He is DAMNED good with a needle, I felt very little at injection time. But by the time I got in my van to come home, it felt like a contraction in my hip, for those who've had that experience. Yeah, it felt THAT good. I was actually breathing through it and visualizing a pain-free hip and hive-free legs and feet. Good to know those childbirth classes have been worth their price!

So seven hours later...I'm still itching in spots, took my Claritin which I think gave me a headache (never taken one before, and never had a headache like this one..suffice it to say I am NOT "Claritin Clear"), and I can't take the Benadryl until I'm ready for bed because it does the same to me as about 5 shots of schnapps. Seriously. Greg thinks it's hilarious. Me, not so much.

I made myself an oatmeal bath last night, and used regular oatmeal since I'm out of Aveeno oatmeal baths, which I ground to a powder in my Magic Bullet, which I LOVE (that's another BLOG)...and it just didn't do the trick. Something tells me colloidal oatmeal and Quaker are not exactly the same. What else? I've tried hydrocortizone, Lanacane, Aveeno Soothing Mentol Lotion, warm baths, cool showers, ignoring, crying...what seems to work the best, but is ripping up my skin, is SCRATCHING. I'm not spreading it because it's not dermal, it's systemic, meaning it'll pop up where ever it wants to whether I scratch or not. So much to Greg's upset, I scratch. And scratch, and scratch. I fight the urge for hours, use creams and drugs and water and sleep, and then, finally, I give in, and scratch, with sweet abandon and great fervor. In fact, shortly I think I'll give in again and go scratch, my ankles are itching like mad.

I have NO idea what's causing this, but it sure sucks. Let's hope it stops soon.

Freakin' RASH, Man...

NO, not THAT kind of rash, but I seriously itch like a mofo, and it's not improving with time.

Started last night, the tops of my feet and my ankles were really itchy. But I wore socks and tennis shoes all day, and sometimes that irritates my feet and ankles (yes, that tells you how often I WEAR shoes all day, doesn't it?)...I ignored the fact that I had been wearing ankle-less socks and tried to ignore, ignore, ignore the itching, with no luck. Then my legs started itching, and my arms. Mostly now it's my inner thighs and my calves and the tops of my feet and hands. Last night there were pretty big hives, today the hives aren't as obvious but it's still red and itches like MAD.

Can't take Benadryl yet b/c Greg is at work and I am here with the kids...and Benadryl makes me LOOOOOPY...so maybe later...wish I knew what was causing this, though...

I'd show you pics, but the pictures I took accentuate the POOR shaving job I have been doing lately. There are a couple on the back of my calf that have been missed at least twice, maybe three times. And you'd see that I shave my upper thighs only when I am in a bathing suit in public with strangers, and we all KNOW how often THAT happens, right?

So just trust me when I say it looks red, blotchy, and it itches like MAD. Just what I wanted for the weekend, huh?