catheroominations

if I still lived in kentucky, I could play powerball.
now I can’t win 340 million dollars.

don’t you miss the days when your mom would make your lunch when you were a kid? I do. other kids always wanted to trade me for their icky lunch.

my mom always had the variety pack of lunch-sized bags of chips. sometimes I would take my potato chips out of the bag and put them between my peanut butter and my jelly. my sandwich was almost always on white bread, and I used to love how it would stick to the roof of my mouth, especially when I had deviled ham sandwiches. I loved that meat spread product. now it kinda reminds me of catfood, but back then, yum-frickin’-ee.

and (oh, god, I’m old enough to say this) in my day, we didn’t have those baby carrots, or the readymade bags of already cut carrots and celery. oh no. my mom had to peel and cut them herself. and we also didn’t have zip-lock bags. she had to wrap the longer side of the baggie around the outside of the contents to “fold” in the freshness.

I got those pudding snacks…the ones not in plastic, but in the short little cans that you peel the lid off of. they probably stopped making them after so many children slashed their tongues on the lids. if pudding snacks were not on the menu, then it was zingers or hostess cupcakes. sometimes I even got foodsticks, which no one remembers, but I lived for those things.

my drink of choise choice was those small bottles of orange, purple, or red punch. remember those? they were super sugary, and the edge of the bottle was so sharp, you had to use a straw most of the time. the straw also helped to avoid the colorful mustache.

as we all know, lunch bags were much cooler than lunch boxes, once you hit third or fourth grade, but my mom didn’t give me those regular brown bags. if the bag was brown, she decorated it. sometimes I got cool ones with prints on them. I seem to remember yellow ones with smiley faces on them, but I might be making that up.

yes, my mom’s school lunches were boss. (note to self: look into starting a business where a mom-for-hire comes to your house every morning, makes you a delicious bag lunch, and hands it to you as you leave for work.)

as much as I hate to end this flashback to my childhood on a sad note, one not-so-happy lunch-related incident cannot be overlooked. it occured while I was in kindergarten. I was walking down the aisle on the bus getting ready to start my day in mrs. freeman’s class, when I tripped and dropped my lunchbox (cinderella, I think). it spilled open and my thermos rolled out. when I picked it up to put it back, safely behind its metal arm that snapped shut (which apparently wasn’t so strong afterall), it sounded like my punch was full of chipped ice. unfortunately, it wasn’t ice…it was shattered glass…crushed into tiny pieces, like my childhood bliss.

what’s wrong with this picture?

well, let’s see. it appears that taco bell is jumping on el bando wagon, and offering some lower calorie alternatives these days. you can order your food fresco style, which replaces the cheese and salsa with their fresh fiesta salsa – “a zesty mix of diced tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.”

take a look at the grams of fat column for the items made fresco style. the ranchero chicken soft taco isn’t so bad.

thankyouverymuch, but I think I’ll stick to the full-fat options…they’re healthier.

stop running for the border and run for the proofreader.

imagine if the trailers for “the shining” went something like this

I mistook my word of the day today for my horoscope:

Word of the Day for Sunday October 16, 2005
lackadaisical \lack-uh-DAY-zih-kuhl\, adjective:
Lacking spirit or liveliness; showing lack of interest; languid; listless.

it’s almost 3 and I’m still in my jammies.

OK. This psoriatic arthritis BS has got to get better so I can do “The Happiest Race on Earth.” A half-marathon that goes through Disneyland. How cool is that? Since I’ve had to bail from the Nike Women’s Half-Marathon (sob!) next weekend, this is just the thing to motivate me to get back on my feet. It’s nearly a year away, and if I still can’t run by them, I’m going to find someone to give me a foot transplant, dammit!

Zippity doo da! Who’s with me?

10 perks of drinking coffee

1. keeps you alert
2. slightly increases metabolism and adds endurance during physical workouts
3. reduces the risk of type II diabetes
4. improves short-term memory (uh…what improves short-term memory?)
5. reduces the risk of liver disease
6. prevents degenerative diseases like parkinson’s
7. prevents the formation of gallstones
8. prevents certain cancers, like colon cancer and hepatic cancer
9. helps to relieve bronchial asthma symptoms
10. helps to reduce jetlag on long flights

so, go out and save a life, buy someone a latte. I recommend the pumpkin spice latte from starbucks. it’s like a happy autumn harvest in your mouth. an additional benefit: pumpkin spice lattes provide 50 to 60% of your daily calcium requirement, depending on the milk you choose.

but before you order this scrumptions concoction from your favorite barrista (who knows you by name), the diet conscious may want to consider this:

a grande with whole milk and whip has 480 calories, 190 of which are from fat. you do get the 10% boost in daily calcium.

a better choice is to order your grande with nonfat milk and no whip, which has only 290 calories, and zero fat.

now, aren’t you glad you checked my blog today?