Looking through Cindy's drawers did not help at all.

September 2, 2010

Here we are on day two of my life changing ways.  Yesterday, which was day one if you are not good at math, I did okay with the diet part.  I did not eat any chips or popcorn-type substances, and I did not add any salt to my food.  I never really do add salt, but I do love me some chips.  They are dead to me now.  Though I do miss them so.  Why did they leave me so soon?  Okay, where was I?  Oh yeah, salty.  So far so good.  Beth has vowed she is going to try to cook more at home and started last night with a delightful chicken/mushroom/pasta dish.  It was going to be a Marsala kind of chicken thing, but bottles of Marsala wine sell in the range of $19-$29, and what if you mess up?  Also, what if you accidentally drink all the wine before you start the chicken?  We are not wine drinkers, but Beth might turn to a life of booze now that she knows I won't be dying off sooner than later.

As for caffeine, we have been together a long time, so parting will take some doing.  My normal day caffeine intake was 20oz coffee in the morning, 12 oz Diet Code Red late morning, and possibly a Lipton Green Tea (also diet) in the afternoon.  The Lipton has about 1/3 of the caffeine of the Code Red, so I thought I would begin with the morning coffee and the afternoon tea.  Yesterday I was on pace until the afternoon blew up around 3:00.  Some Target visitors came in unexpectedly, which threw off my day's plan and made me run to a second Lipton after the visit.  Who's weak, yeah it's me.  I may have turned out okay if my office partner had kept more change in her desk.  I was going to purchase a 20oz decaffeinated beverage from the pop machine-cost $1.25-but I only had one dollar and one nickel.  She had two nickels in her drawer, and we had together a bunch of pennies.  The machines do not take pennies.  So here were my choices:

1. turn in the pennies for silver-too much trouble
2. go to the sales floor and purchase an 8-pack of Gatorade-too much trouble
3. shake the machine until a drink fell out-dangerous
4. drink tap water-dangerous
5. grab another Lipton from the already purchased package in my office

Ding ding ding ding!

Daddy's little helper got me through the rest of the day which concluded with me leaving work 90 minutes late. 

Whenever visitors come in, the last thing they always ask is if they can do anything to help us.  How long do you think I would be employed if I told them to stop visiting? 

Since none of my life changing ways include becoming unemployed, I better not go with this option.

I guess it is obvious that the less stress life-changer did not go well yesterday.  Until I got home that is.  CJ and Beth were their normal fun-loving selves, and good mood and serenity were rather quickly restored.  CJ was aware of Katie's comment about beating your children as a stress reliever, so he did keep hugging me to make sure we were cool.  We will always be cool.

I have also decided to play little to none PS3 to see if that helps with my symptoms.  I catch myself gritting my teeth and saying bad things to the game sometimes, so perhaps it is not the best thing to do for relieving stress.  That has left me with extra time this morning until I have to be at work around 3:00.  I keep thinking about eating, so I will have to check with the doctor to see if getting fat is a good part of my new routine.  I am distracting myself with crossword puzzles and the Internet.  I know puzzles containing cross words do not not sound relaxing, but they really can be.  However, there are some puzzles that make me feel rather stupid. 

Currently, I am trying to figure out, without using the Internet, an 8 letter phrase for confident words.  It starts with "I".  I am smart?  I can do it?  I run fast?  I so funny? 

AAARgh!  None of these fit!  THIS IS NOT HELPING!  WHY DO I TORMENT MYSELF SO!  ALL THOSE YEARS OF EDUCATION DOWN THE DRAIN!

Uh, anyone for a pedicure?