Dear So and So

[Catrin]

Vegetables...I need more of these in my diet. My current diet gives me great blood-sugar control, and I feel great so I really don't want to change things. However, I know that I am missing out nutritionally...so this discussion is helping to spur my curiosity.

[OakLeaf]

I've never even heard of rappini

AKA broccoli raab or broccoli rabe. Love me some bitter greens!

[malkin]

according to my son, the monkey, it's better to power yourself up the underside of the tree because if you slip you land on your feet. I have seen him do it.

I, on the other hand am not strong enough to do that, I was just aping for a photo. I did not get a coconut there, although we collected them and my nephew opened two up and we ate them at another beach.

So what were you doing wrong on your climb? (Apart from not sending a monkey in the first place?!)

Brewer found a coconut on the ground and spent the next several days breaking all the hard objects in our hotel room trying to get into it.

[alexis_the_tiny]

according to my son, the monkey, it's better to power yourself up the underside of the tree because if you slip you land on your feet. I have seen him do it.

Hmmm, thanks, Mimi, for that new knowledge. I always figured that as long as you scramble up a tree fast enough before a teacher or parent can come give you what for for climbing a tree in your Sunday or school uniform dress, you're gold. But, you seem to be doing it right in the photo though...

[Owlie]

Oak, I'm willing to bet the carrot thing is psychosomatic. Enzymes (or any protein) aren't going to last long in your digestive system. If your stomach acid doesn't get them, the peptidases will. I know that I get the "woo! I ate veggies! I feel great and healthy!", though not with carrots. I don't care for them. (Yay oral allergy syndrome.)

I will say that I do better on a higher-protein diet, but I'm not going to stop eating grains, or the occasional cookie, doughnut, slice of cake or anything else.

On a related note:
Dear friends--
Stop trying to get me in on your calorie-counting, meat-cutting diet thing. I like meat. I am not going to stop eating it. Food should be enjoyed, and counting calories is not going to let me enjoy it. I have enough problems. I don't need to add my meals to it.

[Crankin]

My opinion is you can go nuts with any type of eating plan, but yes, I agree that focusing on glycemic index and complex vs. simple carbs makes the focus a little different than saying "no carbs" at all.
On the other hand, restricting my intake of bread, pasta, bagels, etc. has helped me stabilize my weight enormously. And I haven't eaten things like donuts in years. I'm not saying I *never* eat bread, but the longer I go without having it 3-4X a day, the less I crave it. And it's made it a lot easier to just say no to any white flour stuff.
I think all of this becomes a bit more important, once you pass a certain age. For me, it was somewhere between age 35 and 40.

[Reesha]

I've been eating pretty paleo for the last two months and my partner and I went out to this ridiculously amazing Italian restaurant for dinner and I had pasta (handmade, oh god so delish) for the first time in months. My stomach was not amused. I've had the gurgles and cramps all night.

[Owlie]

I was pretty much vegetarian for a 6-week period one summer (by force--there wasn't any fridge space for meat and I was too squeamish to handle raw meat that year). My parents took me out for a steak dinner the night after that final. I was very unhappy that evening. I've never heard of it happening with grains, but I wonder if it's a matter of your digestive system going "Hang on! What is this?" if you haven't eaten it for a while.
My vegan best friend would have to start introducing small amounts of cheese into her diet a month before breaks because her mom thought she was just vegetarian...

I'm just a little suspicious of diets that revolve around the idea that some food group(s) are concentrated evil.

Anyway:
Dear BF:
Your girlfriend may have been gotten by the bodysnatchers. That is the only explanation for the fact that she bought running shorts last week and decided to clean all the things this week.
Sorry.

[limewave]

Dear Men,
Really, you don't need to race each other to open the door for me. One of you can open the door, the other can buy my coffee
~Limewave

Dear Self,
It's okay to enjoy a little attention.
~Limewave

[Bethany1]

Dear IRS,

It's one thing to know I probably owe you money but did you have to flood my basement and break my heater on the same day?

I can see you doing that after taxes are due, but this is a bit premature isn't it?


Broke, Cold and Wet

*Edited after the heating guy left*

Umm...did you have to fry the motherboard to the heater so I don't have central heating until Friday? That's really mean.

[alexis_the_tiny]

(((Bethany))) That's cruddy. I hope it all sorts out for you. Sending lots of warm virtual hugs your way.

[Sky King]

Dear ex of my DD,

as I cannot be a helicopter mom, I am expressing my thoughts here instead. You just proved to me what I have thought all along, you are immature, a jerk and a few other bad words. I am so thankful that she has recognized that her life is better without you and I will be so happy when this week is over and she no longer has to interact with you.
Dear Daughter, you are amazing, I love watching you grow, go to the avalanche training, even if it means you won't get all the deposit back on the apartment. Your new life is way more important that a few hundred dollars.

[bmccasland]

Dear Project Manager,
Do not blame my office because you put the cart before the horse. Just because you have document B scheduled to be signed prior to document A (which I'm responsible for). NOW you figured out there's a two month disparity - is NOT my office's responsibility. I don't appreciate you citing my office for the reason the schedule is blown.

And now thanks to you, I get to do a major rewrite because the project description and construction schedule is rearranged, as well as all the environmental coordination.

In the future, plot the date you want to go to construction, and work back to when all the stars need to be aligned and allow for alignment time than trust a scheduling program which results in document B signed prior to document A.

Bless your heart.

[Pax]

My mom hasn't been feeling well again, this has been happening off and on since last summer. She FINALLY agreed to go to the doctor (she is a retired nurse who hasn't been to a doctor in 15 years), we went to urgent care on Monday, they referred her to a primary care doc for an appt. yesterday.

Long story short, the doc walked in and saw her O2 sats (83) and took a listen to her heart and lungs... then he called an ambulance to transport her to the ER. She's in congestive heart failure.

She was admitted to the hospital, they've started a million tests and so far we have severe aortic stenosis, and a hemoglobin of 6.5 (12 is normal).

Looks like minimum of a valve replacement and possibly a bypass. If anyone has some positive vibes, good wishes, or prayers to spare, pass them our way.

[OakLeaf]

((((((Pax & mom)))))

Sending healing vibes to her - and calm and strong to you both.

It can be so hard to understand, respect and especially discuss a parent's choices as they age. I'll be thinking about you...