Sunday Sound Out

Several new readers have asked me how to access Julian's carepages. Go to carepages.com and create an account. It doesn't cost anything and I believe they only ask you for your email address, but you can't access the carepages unless you set up an account. Then to get to Julian's page, type in "juliansworld" with no spaces. That should do it.
Julian is still hanging on and fighting. He amazes me. Even more so, his mother amazes me. Although her little boy is dying before her eyes, she exhibits such strong faith. It's really inspiring.

I'm meeting a fellow blogger for lunch tomorrow! Any guesses as to who it is? I may or may not eat lunch, but I'm definitely getting some Tirimisu for dessert! I'll have pictures tomorrow night because whether my blogger friend likes it or not, I'm having our waiter take pictures of us! :D

Now for your questions...

(In regards to the video Clay made when he swiped Austin's camera...) But the real question...how did the mess on the floor get there? Was it Clay or Austin??!!?!?
I think it came with the house because it's been there as long as I can remember.

HEEELPP!! I can't see the videos you post!
You have to open your eyes.

(In regards to the video Clay made while swiping Austin's camera...) thanks for the video - who would have thought that your house was to quiet with 6 kids??? I was thinking for some reason that it would be a noisy house, but the video proved me wrong!
HA! The baby was sleeping, the other kids were at school and Clay was quiet because he was being sneaky. If I ever made a video of dinnertime at my house, I'd scare you guys silly.

Did you scream at him for wasting a fish?
Oh heck no! You couldn't pay me to eat fish, Kool aid or not. Besides, according to hubby and kids, the fish had freezer burn which really doesn't surprise me. It had probably been in the freezer for 4 1/2 years because when I'm at the grocery store I buy the healthy stuff. I buy fish, and lettuce, and tomatoes, and all sorts of wonderful produce. Then I get home, put it away, and promptly forget about it until it has positively liquefied at which point I throw it away. Very economical, no?

Just curious if your husband reads your blog. It drives me crazy when my wife tells our friends/families about the stupid things I do, you multiply that by thousands. Maybe it helps that you also blog about the crazy things you do.
Yeah, he reads it. It doesn't bother him. And yeah, you're right - I do almost as many stupid things as he does. Almost. He's a good guy though. He puts up with my mood swings. I mean, he would put up with my mood swings if I had them. Which I don't. Why are you yelling at me?!!!

The only thing I have to add is -
Good thing it wasn't that lady's $60 roast that he marinated in Koolaid!
Baaaaa! My poor reader and her $60 roast! You're never going to hear the end of it, huh? :)

(In regards to the Kool Aid fish...) What in the world was he thinking?
He tries not to.

I love Dr. Seuss. My favorite is Go Dog Go! (Do you like my hat?)
I do! What a hat! I like it! I like that party hat!

Why can't they just follow a recipe?
Because men think that following a recipe, reading the instructions, or stopping for directions is cheating.

Is there a due date for our part of the assignment?
It's an ongoing assignment that will run until May. And for those who asked if it mattered where you're from - not at all. You send a card/letter from anywhere. We're all looking forward to seeing where all the cards come from.

Maybe I have missed it somewhere, but what does Etsy mean????
I'm not sure if Etsy stands for anything, but it's kinda like an online craft show. People can sell their homemade items on Etsy (kinda like eBay or Amazon, but for handcrafted items.) We've done several reviews for Etsy shops on Mamaslike.

I don't really understand the UFO thing, though. I wish I could pause the slide show to see it better. It just looks like part of a stadium to me. Is there a story?
Soldier Field used to look like the first picture - a great building with very cool, Greco-Roman architecture. In 2003, they remodeled Soldier Field by plopping a big, stupid looking spaceship on top of it (in the second picture). Because of that, it's no longer a national landmark.




Dawn--you HAVE to be kidding that he used green lemon/lime KoolAid! Please tell me you are not serious???
I couldn't make this stuff up!

Just reading todays blog and Ive had an immediate picture in my mind of the poor lad Harry Potter when the owls delivered all of the mail in one day.
Haaaaa!!! I'm watching Harry Potter right now! That's pretty funny!

I can't wait because I get to send Austin a letter from Austin, TX! Man, is he going to get a ton of mail!
Very cool! He just said, "I wonder if I'll get something from Austin, TX?"

How do you manage to have a water/ice dispenser on your fridge? My floor would be littered with ice and water.
When our fridge died a couple years ago, we looked and looked for one without the dispenser, but they were really hard to come by. Apparently they don't make many like that anymore. And I frequently have a puddle around the water dispenser.

Ack!!! the top of the fridge is my spot too!!! Where will we keep the knives?!?!?!?!?!
I don't know!!! I thought and thought about this, but I can't think of a better spot for the knives. Instead, I just took the bowl of goodies down so he doesn't have a reason to climb up there anymore.

Nice job with the video editing--it looked like you used Microsoft Movie Maker, is that right?
Hee hee, um yeah. I did a great job, huh? I'm just talented that way. My son had nothing to do with it. He didn't help me one little bit. No sirree. I figured all that out on my own, I did.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one with my vacuum sitting out when not in use.
Why put it away when I'll just have to drag it back out in 5 minutes...

Maybe you should decorate a cardboard box with pictures of veggies and stick the cookies in there. THAT would turn the kids away for sure.
LOL! Nope, actually I'm blessed with really good eaters. My kids love veggies.

How do you keep the kids from playing on the video games 24/7?
Are you supposed to do that?

And plus, YOU BUY YOUR KIDS COOKIES? WAY COOL! Hee hee hee!
I got them for Jax (who's obsessed with those cookies) because he'd had a really bad day and because we're going to be putting him (well, all of us really) back on the Feingold diet. His behavior has been really off lately and the diet (which eliminates artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives) helped with his behavior and self control tremendously when we were on it before. The main reason we stopped the diet is because we simply couldn't afford it. Why is it that healthy food costs so much more than junk? Anyway, we're going back to that next week, so it was a treat for him.

By name...How many ER visits, due to injuries, have there been for each child?
:::Snort::: Like I can remember all those???
Put it this way, we're on a first name basis with the doctors at the ER.

so do you have any good advice on how to have a girl? :)
Just give away all your saved girl clothes.

A question for next week... see, I am helping you out and it's only Monday!...where did you go to college and what did you major in (other than grammar, HA)?
Actually, I didn't go to college.

When you put up the questions for the Sunday Shout Out, do you cull them over the course of the week, picking out your favorites to save, or do you wait until Sunday and then go through all the comments to choose what to answer?
I go through all of them again on Sunday.

It seems like large families are prone to receiving negative comments. How do you deal and cope with these comments? From your blog, it seems you are able to find humor in them. Or at least deal with them in a humerous way. Do they secretly offend you or are you really that lighthearted? Will there be a chapter in your book about dealing with comments and defending one's family in a positive manner?
Negative comments absolutely do not bother me. I generally ignore them because they're from ignorant people who don't know what they're talking about. I don't have the time or the inclination to defend myself to a stranger who thinks they know everything based on the little bits I write on my blog. Or sometimes I publish them because they're just so darn stupid they're funny. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but this is MY blog and I won't be publishing stupid or mean comments that are intended to judge or insult me or my awesome readers.

Alright...last Sunday someone asked the question about how you do the line crossed through certain words with blogger. I was EXCITED! Not so excited for your answer! Share your secret :)! Pretty please with sugar on top, and whipped cream and a cherry....{see know I probably sounded like one of your children :)!}
OK, since you said, "please". You can either use < "s" > word you want to cross out < / s > or you can use < "del" > word you want to cross out < / del >. Just don't put the quotations marks or spaces between each character.

And I have a Sunday Shout Out question I have been dying to ask, and not sure if you've ever addressed it on the blog, and maybe it's even worthy of a complete post? How on earth do you feed a family of 8 dinner every night? I would love to know how you organize that, and what do you feed them??
Good question. Brooklyn had a late nap and is still awake, climbing on my lap right now. I'm having a hard time typing, so I'll pull together some tips and address this later this week.

This is How I Get a Cookie

In keeping with the theme of crooks....
I discovered how Clay was getting cookies and candy from the top of the refrigerator. He's a monkey. (Sorry, this starts out with the camera sideways until I realize what I'm doing.)

More Dumb Crooks

I have a feeling I'm going to be do nothing but opening mail for the next few weeks! I think this is going to be fun seeing where all the mail comes from so I'm setting up a map for my blog. I'll mark the city, state, and country for each piece of mail he receives. That way everyone can see where they come from. I have the most awesome readers!!! Thank you!

Oh and a few of you asked when the project is due. It's an ongoing project, so as long as you get the cards/letters to us by May, it's all good. :) And it doesn't matter where you're from. The more places, the better!

Have you guys seen this? These two guys wheeled their roommate down the streets of New York in an office chair. Their destination? A check cashing store. Why? To cash this guy's social security check. Strange, but hey this is New York, right, so seeing a guy being wheeled down the street in an office chair is probably not the weirdest sight you'll ever run across in this city. Here's the thing though... The guy in the chair was recently deceased. Yep, that's right. These guys wanted to cash their buddy's social security check so they propped his dead body up in a chair and pushed him down the street to the check cashing place. Hey, it worked in Weekend at Bernie's, so why not? "Why don't we just pretend he didn't die? Just for a bit!"

At what point do you get so desperate for $355 that you think taking a corpse to a bank would be a good idea? And these were not teenage punks we're talking about here. These were men in their 60s. Men who should have had a modicum of wisdom. Men who should have, somewhere along the past 65 years, learned that most people can tell the difference between a live person presenting a check to be cashed and a dead body that doesn't speak or move, sitting slumped over in a chair. Can you just hear their conversation?

I think he's dead.

We should call 911.

Yeah. Although.....

What are you thinking?

Let's cash his social security check first. It would be a shame to just let it sit there uncashed. It's not going to do him any good now.

But won't he have to cash it himself?
Hmmm, you've got a point there. Well, let's take him with us.

Umm hello? He's dead. How are we going to take him with us?
We'll just push him in this office chair. It's got wheels.

Good idea! But what if the teller realizes he's dead?
We won't actually take him in the store with us. We'll just leave him sitting out on the street. No problem.

People never cease to amaze me.

Where do You Live?

My oldest son, Austin, is doing a project in school for social studies. The class is studying geography right now. I was hoping some of you might want to help him out. If you're interested, here's what you can do to help...

* Either send a post card or a letter.

* Write the date on the card or letter.

* Write where you live (town, state, country).

* Write a little about the area where you live.
SOME SUGGESTIONS:
What major cities you are near, what your area is known for, any famous people from your area, what you like about your area, landmarks/tourist attractions, climate/weather, major industries, population of your town, etc.
(If you write in a language other than English, please provide a translation.)

* Place a photo of yourself or family or house in the envelope if sending a letter.

* Mail it to
Dawn Meehan
PO Box 66274
Chicago, IL 60666

Thanks for your help!!!

Why is the Fish Green?

My husband cooked dinner tonight. He put some white fish fillets on a baking sheet. He looked around for something to use as seasoning. After perusing the spice jars and the shelves in the refrigerator, the best idea he came up with was lemon-lime Kool Aid.
Yep, he poured a packet of sugar-free lemon-lime Kool Aid on the fish and baked it.
I walked through the kitchen, as he took the tray out of the oven, and saw the neon green fillets.
"What the crap did you put on the fish???"
"It's a surprise."
"Seriously! What IS that???"
"Seasoning."
"Ummm, I have to run some errands right now. I'll be home after dinner."
I took my oldest daughter and we ran out the door went to the mall to exchange some clothes.
My husband called me shortly after we arrived at the store and said, "You were right. The fish was gross. We're eating pizza now."
In case anyone has ever wondered if lemon-lime Kool Aid would make a good subsitute for fresh lemon juice, the answer is a resounding NO.
I only wish I'd thought to take a picture of this culinary creation.

Update on Julian

I just got another update from Julian's Care Pages. My skips a beat every time a new update comes in. Mimi is one amazing woman. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be as strong as she is in this same situation. I had to copy her latest update here...

So ,how did we get here? Here it is January 8th 2008 (wow 2008??) , our family of 6 humans,1 cat, 2 dogs, 3 lizzards and a bunny is about to be amputated of one of its main limbs.The rest of the body won't ever work the same. Unlike the lizzards and their tails, we all know it WILL NOT grow back. The wound itself will heal but something will always be missing. The body will have to find a new balance, and for sure lean on something for support... A friend? or two? try thousands!!! For sure we will need a rock. This rock , I have personally grown to rely on more and more along this journey .
Long ago ,I believed rocks were just an annoyance on a soccer field,they made you trip, you skinned and bruised your knees on them,and they could send you to the hospital if you got one thrown at you! Just a matter of perspective.
Then this Psalm just keeps floating in my head since Chris brought it up in Sunday school...
"Find rest, O my soul in God alone, my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress, I shall not be shaken. My salvation and my honour depend on God, He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people, pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge"Ps 62:5-8
God is my rock...What a concept... Strong, unshakable,unbreakable, what an amazing support to lean on when you are the most broken!
HE can be strong and unshakable for me, and caring, loving and gentle for Julian. Who else can bring you such peace and comfort?
For those who have been following Julian ,I hope that if anything,you turned to HIM for support or even it made your faith stronger than ever. I am afraid that with Julian not being healed on this earth ,it will bring anger to some hearts and God will be blamed. God, the one who let me have 4 beautiful boys, the One who gave Julian such a beautiful and amazing soul,God , who gave me the strength ,patience and wisdom to get thru every single day of this journey so I could care for Julian, his brothers and still be able to share my little king with you all...So thank God for our little King,thank God for what he has taught us and is still teaching us daily (that you dont have to be big to be brave),thank God for His will to share this little guy with us...I know I thank God for Julian and for his brothers...
Good night...
Mimi

Dumb Crook Caught on Tape

My oldest son got home from school today, walked into his room, and immediately reemerged, ranting that Clayton had been in his room and had touched his things. Being ever sensitive to his concerns, I said, "Did you see him in your room? No? Why do you always automatically assume that Clay has gone in your room. Clay was with me all day. He didn't go in your room!"

My son, ticked off that I didn't listen to his daily rant, stomped back into his room. About half an hour later, he came out and thrust his video camera at me.
"Yes, he was in my room! And he's so stupid he stole my video camera and then filmed himself walking around with it! You can see his feet and pajamas in the video! Here! Look!"

Lo and behold, it is indeed a video of Clay walking around with Austin's video camera. It's like one of those "dumbest crooks caught on tape" videos.



In case anyone's interested, those new Flip cameras are easy enough for a three year old to use.

Sorry Austin. You were right. Your brother's a punk.

Then this evening, he told Joe, "Can I call someone?" (on the phone)
My husband asked, "Who do you want to call?"
"Sally," came his matter-of-fact reply.
Confused, my husband asked, "Do you know anyone named Sally?" (we don't, for the record)
"No!" came my son's indignant reply.
"I see," said Joe.
Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
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Say an extra prayer for the Averys tonight. Julian is on oxygen and was only taking 9 breaths a minute last night. :( And as Mimi says, "Always kiss your kids goodnight. Even if they're asleep. They know."

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I forgot to put this in my original post and had to come back and add it. Does anyone here donate blood? If not, consider it. It's a great little break from the kiddos ;) among all the obvious benefits! Manic Mom is doing a contest on her blog to encourage people to donate blood. Check it out here!

And finally, we're back to posting on Mamaslike. Check out the cute dog beds and Etsy finds here!

Have You Hugged Your Fish today?

Hallelujah the kids went back to school today! Before they had to go back to the grind, we decided to take them to the Shedd Aquarium downtown, where we met up with friends, for a last hurrah.

Sunday Sound Out

How did you get your fountain working so well?!?!! I have used 2 different brands on a few different occasions and I can't ever make it look as even as the pictures! Any secrets??
We put 14 ozs. of cooking oil in it. It has the same effect as Alli.

Any new family additions this year? Another baby(twins, perhaps?), or maybe a dog or a cat? 2008 will be gr8.
I'm considering getting a Chia Pet.

I do have one semi-serious question, but financially we are getting drained with one child and me staying at home (well sort of I teach at our Parent's Day Out/Preschool) how do you make financial ends meet, that is before the blog?
It's called "creative financing". That's when you go through your bills every month and decide who you'll pay and who will have to wait.

I need to know though what did you have on that all the kids including the younger ones were all sitting still? Or was that a split second thing?
The Simpson's Movie. Yes, I know. Good quality stuff there.

I do have a question for you though. My son got a rootbeer off of the shelf this evening, dropped it to the floor, and puncturing it so that it spewed. EVERYWHERE. My question is, HOW am I going to get all of this stinky stuff cleaned off of everywhere?
garden hose

When you all go out for pizza, how do you decide what to get on it?
Seriously? We ask everyone what they want. Crazy, I know.

If you were to do a Mayo Fountain, what would you use to dip into the fountain?
BLTs?

Enlighten me, How do you do the cross through when writing on Blogger?
Like thise. Wait, no, like thiss. Oops, I mean like this!

A question for your Sunday sound off: Will there be a book tour when your book comes out in the near future?
Yep! :)

I know of 2 people who took these fat pills. Both had er...uh... "oily" accidents. One of them was at work and she had to go home to change. Her chair wasn't pleasant to walk by let me tell you! When she changed jobs we let her take her personalized chair with her.
Did it look like Jerry's couch after Poppy sat on it?


Go you for doing WW, but really, I've seen pictures and I have no idea why you're doing it?!?!!?
ROFL!!! That's pretty funny. BTW, you're my new best friend, Manic!

Have you tried watching that yo gabba gabba video again?
Duh! Why didn't I think of that! That's the best weight loss program out there!

My husband is skinny and does not get it either. I just had my 4th, 7 months ago and now weigh 180 pounds! I am trying to eat 2000 calories a day since I am nursing...You think 2000 calories is plenty, right? I am starving!!! I am only on day 4.. SO STARVING!!!! Any suggestions for a low calorie food that actually keeps you full?
I hear styrofoam fills you up pretty well. And, for what it's worth, I was always starved when I was nursing my kids too. I never lost an ounce while breastfeeding.

My husband even noticed how many diet comercials there are lately! LOL!!! I have been noticing all the other food ads. LOL!!! We are both trying to loose weight. Maybe your husband needs to "diet" with you. ;)
HA! My husband polishes off a half gallon of ice cream every two days. There's no way he'd give that up.

First of all, to your many readers, it's "lose" weight, not "loose" weight!
Thank you! I've really been biting my tongue on that one.

So I started focusing on good quality foods in smaller quantities and my hubby loves it. We'll go out and buy a $60 roast and make it the way they do on TV and find that there's plenty for several days and it's truly satisfying.
$60 for a roast?!?!?! For that price, Emeril had better come cook it personally!

As I was sitting here reading the blog again I had a great idea. You need/want motivation for loosing weight.........just think they are going to put your picture on the back of a book for the world to see!
That is one of the biggest things that's motivating me!

Do you ever suffer from insomnia and if so any good cures??
I never have until these past couple weeks. For days now I haven't gotten to bed until 3:00am or later and then I just lie there unable to sleep. When else am I suppose to write? I'm really getting crabby from the lack of sleep. It's a good thing I have such a nice, considerate husband who understands and tries to help me out instead of one who says that I don't have a real job and won't bother to watch the kids so I can write. <---- read with immeasurable sarcasm.

Want to come clean my room too? I'll provide the liquor!=)
Throw in babysitting and I'm there!

What's your opinion on children with siblings vs. only children?. Do you think your children are better off having siblings or do you wish they were only children so you could pay more attention and focus on only one child? Would your children be more cooperative if they were onlies, does it not matter, or are they actually more cooperative, working as a team?
Well, since I don't have an only child, I can't answer this. People choose the family size that's right for them. I can't imagine only having one kid in my family. I do know that parents of only one child never have to answer the question, "Who started it?" though.
Or is this one of those "if a monkey bit you" questions?

I love the wooden thing with the bins that slide in an out...did the hubster make this or something you purchased? And if purchased, from where?
Ikea!

Dawn, did I miss something. Did Julian pass?? I read all your posts but I haven't seen an update lately about Julian since the one where he was able to celebrate christmas.I hope he is okay and still fighting strong.
No, I'm sorry if I made it sound like that. Julian's still hanging on, sleeping a lot and having some seizures, but still giving smiles. :)

So, do all six of your kids have their own room? Wow, you must have a big house.
Ummm, not exactly. We have about a 1000 square foot house and the kids share rooms.

Speaking of...is Brooklyn expected to become an older sibling sometime soon...?I'm sure she'd love a younger brother(have to keep the pattern going...boy, girl, boy, girl, etc...)Speaking of the pattern, how did you manage to have six kids with an equal number of girls and boys AND going in alternating order? Quite a coincidence, I would say!
We planned it that way.

For a child with five siblings, Lexi sure does have a lot of stuff!
That mess was comprised of all three girls' belongings which are all stored in one little room.

I also remember he used to use his diaper as a pocket. Is this something I will get to look forward to or was Donny the odd one out?
I don't know. Phil and Lil do it.

I let her daddy convince me that Santa just had to bring her Moon Sand as well, which I am now convinced comes straight from the offices of some one that has never, nor will ever, have children. They probably have nice, white furniture and carpet up at Moon Sand Central, too. You know what they don't have there? Yep. Moon Sand.
My husband just asked me to buy some Scotch Guard so he could make his own moon sand. @@

If you could have only had ONE of your kids, and had less(hopefully!) of a mess, which kid would you have had?
Well, "anonymous", this is by far the dumbest question I have ever read. You obviously don't have kids.

Enter at Own Risk

As I tucked Lex in last night, I feared I might trip and break my leg. I didn't end up breaking any bones, but I think I might require a Tetanus shot in my near future.

This is after we'd been cleaning for twenty minutes. Yes, I know it looks like Toys R Us threw up in here.

So, that's what the floor looks like!

The thing is, it was cleaned like this less than one week ago! ONE WEEK! Why do kids feel the need to be surrounded by every toy they own? I should have taken a picture of Lexi's bed before we cleaned! That girl had everything but the kitchen sink in there. Seriously, I don't think there was more than an inch of mattress left for her.

My husband still insists that we should take out all the toys, furniture and carpeting in the house and replace them with cement floors complete with drainage grates, small piles of straw on which they can sleep, and a little trough for their food. And whenever it gets messy, we can just take the pressure washer to it.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has a house with these kinds of messes on a regular basis.

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I just got an email that I'd like to add here. The following message was on Julian's carepages and I like the idea of hugging our own children tomorrow, not only to honor Julian, but to take a moment out of our busy lives to show our own children that they are loved and cherished.

"I think Saturday, January 5th at 11:00 am should be National Hug JuJu Day - if we could all hug JuJu all at once and let him know how much we appreciate his message to us and to our own children. We should then in turn - hug our own children in honor of JuJu. Last night I was looking at my 2 year old son who is also fighting a life threatening disease and watching his face, his eyes, his nose, his mouth....and I thought of Julian and you, Mimi. You have touched us all in a way that we will never forget. We will miss you JuJu and we will miss your updates Mimi....but we will always love you and remember how much one little boy touched so many lives out here and so far away.

Always in our thoughts, prayers, and in our souls forever. LOVE to the Avery's. Lisa, Nicole and the little man, Collin."

Have a Cookie, Honey

Wow! Almost 200 comments on my last post. Maybe I should rip apart another diet plan tonight. ;)

Oh yeah - I had started to read a comment from the person who had originally written about Alli and Brooklyn jumped on my lap and it got deleted. I'm sorry. It wasn't deleted on purpose and now it's bugging me because I really wanted to read it!

Actually, I think there are a lot of good, healthy, eating plans out there. I think any number of them can work for you IF you stick to them. That's the hard part. I absolutely believe that frame of mind is the most important factor in obtaining successful results. I did Weight Watchers after I had my third child and lost about 40 pounds. I've tried it several times since and I didn't lose much of anything any of those times. The difference? I wasn't committed to it those times. Plain and simple. I don't remember where I read this before, but it was about the difference between losing weight and quitting drinking or smoking. You can quit cold turkey and stop drinking or smoking altogether. You never have to have another drop of alcohol or another cigarette. You can't do that with food. You have to eat every day to live. Can you imagine an alcoholic trying to quit and yet having to take three small drinks every day? I'm not saying that losing weight is harder than quitting drinking or smoking or anything else, but after reading that, I saw weight loss in a different light. It can be a really, really hard thing for some people.

There's no one ideal diet that works for all. I think you have to do what works for you, find what motivates you, and stick to it. (Easy for me to say, huh?)

Then there are the constant challenges. My kids love to watch The Food Network. It's killing me this week.
My husband, bless his heart, offered me a cookie last night.
"Do you want a cookie, Hon?" he asked pleasantly.
At this point, I shot laser beams of death from my eyes into his skull. It slowly dawned on him that offering me a cookie was probably not one of his better ideas.
And then there are the commercials. Oh the commercials. Come to Arby's for our French dip. Have a hot, delicious cheeseburger here at McDonalds. Try our new menu at Fridays.

Seriously, is it just me or are there a million food commercials on in the evening designed to make you run to the kitchen and grab the quickest, most calorie-laden food? And speaking of commercials, why, oh why do there have to be erectile dysfunction, herpes, and other such commercials on in the evening when my kids are watching TV? My six year old was sitting next to me watching TV tonight when a tampon commercial came on.
"What is that, Mommy? Is that like lipstick?" she inquired.
To which I answered, "Go brush your teeth, Sweetie."

Pizza Anyone?

Day two on Weight Watchers and I'm not dead yet. I guess that's a good sign. I should start looking like a super model any day now. (Hey, whatever motivates you, right?)

So, I was reading your comments about different diets (or eating plans or whatever you want to call it) and I came across one that mentioned a product, a pill, called Alli. Have you guys heard of this? I was curious so I checked out their website and read the following statements. Seriously, word for word, these statements were on their official website.

What are treatment effects?
alli™ works by preventing the absorption of some of the fat you eat. The fat passes out of your body, so you may have bowel changes, known as "treatment effects". You may get:

gas with oily spotting
loose stools
more frequent stools that may be hard to control

The excess fat that passes out of your body is not harmful. In fact, you may recognize it as something that looks like the oil on top of a pizza. Eating a low-fat diet lowers the chance of these bowel changes. Limit fat intake in your meals to an average of 15 grams.

Start trimming fat from your diet now, even before you begin taking alli. Then pick a day to begin taking alli, such as a weekend day so you can stay close to home if you experience a "treatment effect". Make the timing work for you. If you're getting ready to travel or attend a social event, hold off on starting with alli until the event is over

You may feel an urgent need to go to the bathroom. Until you have a sense of any "treatment effects", it's probably a smart idea to wear dark pants, and bring a change of clothes with you to work

You may not usually get gassy, but it's a possibility when you take alli. The bathroom is really the best place to go when that happens

Can I have a show of hands of everyone who wants to take a pill that will make you poop uncontrollably and will make you have "oily gas" that looks like the grease on top of a pizza?!! I think that visual alone is enough to make me stop eating for good.

And tell me, if you have to eat a very low fat diet while using this pill to avoid an oily gassy crapathon, then why bother taking the pill at all? If you're eating a healthful lowfat diet, then you don't need some stupid pill. Just my opinion, but seriously who, who, WHO would purposely take a pill that would make everyday seem like you're getting ready for a colonoscopy? I think I'd rather stay fat and not have to bring a change of pants with me everywhere I went.