surprising conversations amongst strangers

So we've all had a cold this week and colds make me want to eat soup. I rarely eat soup even though I really enjoy it. Warren loves soup. I think it's a yankee thing. So anyway, while in Farm Fresh on the soup aisle (Which is quite the swanky grocery store even though most people there are buying spam and hamburger helper, no idea how they really stay in business.), I happened to hear a conversation between two young girls- twenty was probably a stretch for either of them. One of the girls picked up some soup and turned it around to read the label and said, "Oh, no, this has MSG." I found it interesting that someone of that age even knew what MSG was and cared enough to try to avoid it. She was right, MSG is horrible for you.

Oh, and I do realize how Farm Fresh stays in business- $9.79 gluten free pretzels, $5.29 gluten free cereal, and $6.29 rice bread. Seriously, I think all the celiacs and those who choose to eat gf in the area are keeping them above bankruptcy.

the surgery

So the whole thing went well. I had no complications during surgery and have yet to have any complications afterward. The whole thing is still somewhat surreal to me. Did I really have an organ taken out? Have I really had two surgeries in the last three years, one being a major, albeit common one? Yeah, I think I did because I have the one rather large scar and the more recent four little ones developing.

Yay for modern medicine. You got a problem and yo they solve it. hehe....

Gallbladder

So who really needs one anyway? Should it be a big deal that they're going to take an organ out of me? There are a few organs that seem to be nonessential.... like your appendix... gallbladder... I've even heard of people living without their spleens. Part of me wonders what the long term affects are of removing organs. Who are we to choose which ones are important and which ones are not? How long ago was it that we thought the earth was flat? Even still, I am quite at peace with willingly giving up an organ.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

P.S. Awesome verse.

It's official

Umm.... so yeah.... I don't normally criticize myself in such a public forum, but it's official now: I'm a bit of a chunky monkey. Okay, some of you may be rolling your eyes, but I swear that I'm only a few pounds to being in the morbidly obese category. I'm not really sure of how it happened to be honest. I think it's just a combination of small events that have added up to make a big event. Benjamin no longer requires me to stroll him for hours on end and a pound a month over a year adds up quickly. This is a big deal when you're short. Five pounds puts me in a different size clothing! I'd like those sizes to decrease rather than increase.

So I'm making myself accountable to you, dear reader.

He makes all things new

I love Spring. Plants are blooming again, people are out grilling, and you can hear the happy shouts of children all over your neighborhood. Can you not help but smile when you hear a child laughing? Spring makes me happy indeed...

Warren was deployed last summer and I left to visit my family for a couple of months. During this time, HR underwent a serious drought and when I returned, my yard literally looked as if it had caught fire. Everything was black! I had to chop everything down and hope for the best this Spring. Before I left, I dug up some older plants and planted two hydrangea bushes right up front. These two sad plants crumbled to the touch when I came back home. I left them in the ground and still hoped for the best.

About three days ago, I was outside fiddling round in my yard while Benjamin napped and alas, my favorite plant had teeny tiny leaves coming from the ground. I immediately thought of this verse and the ever popular song verse, "He makes all things new". If God can bring this plant back from complete ruins of the severe drought last year, imagine what He can do in your life with regular waterings.




Revelation 21:1-8

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."

While doing my research for gluten free foods, I stumbled upon some very interesting articles about ingredients in fast foods. I would not necessarily label myself as "granola", but I am definitely above the average mark for attempts at providing my family with healthy meals and snacks. We do have our occasional fried chicken, but I am from the South, so you are going to have to work with me on that one. :)

McDonald's: I've never been a huge of of Mcd's, but I do enjoy their steak bagels and sweet tea. (Of course, who doesn't like their tea? You'd have to be some sort of weirdo to not enjoy it. I've mentioned before that I think they put small amounts of crack in it.) Here is the general run down of their ingredient list and I'll try to not be too scientific:

• The fried chicken has sodium phosphates. Yes, sodium phosphate is a foaming agent. Then they also add an ingredient which minimizes the foaming. Odd. I guess you'd have to find this ingredient hovering around the soap at the grocery store. Or Lowe's. I know, let's all go to Lowe's next time we want quality ingredients for our kids. They even have a military discount.
  
• Several of the salads have glazes that contain an ingredient used to trap ground beetles. This ingredient is considered safe for human consumption, but not legal for use in cat food because it hasn't been declared safe just yet. Is PETA warning people not to feed their pets salads from here? I think they should seriously look in to it since it could turn in to a real problem for our feline friends.

Burger King: It's a good thing we never eat here.

• The salad itself is basically okay, but the dressings contain titanium dioxide. Yes, that's the same stuff in your sunscreen. Is it particularly sunny inside a BK? Or better yet, are they really doing an experiment for the gov't on the potential affects of ingesting sunscreen and decreased sun damage? I'm doubting it.
  
• Most of their food contains MSG and they hide it in their ingredient list by disguising it as other ingredients. Pretty typical of fast food restaurants.
  

Taco Bell: Warren loves this place. There is not much to be said that isn't known to the general public already. You get what you get with this place. You don't go there expecting good food. Most of their food contains MSG as well.

Wendy's:

• The chili contains silicone dioxide, which is used to prevent caking. The base of this chemical is silica, which is a form of sand or powdered glass. Yummy.
• Again with the salad dressings containing sunscreen and MSG.

So, to recap, if you want a little sunscreen in your diet, your best bet would be to eat some salads. Or better yet, if you want some really great sand, check out Wendy's because I hear it's simply delicious there. Oh, and the best one, if beetles are eating your roses this summer, just stop by your McDonald's and pick up a salad and just use it like mulch.

Saved by Grace

This was never posted for some reason... guess I forgot to post it. :) Update: Warren is now at his new command, crappy eval in tow and no award. The lion's den was escaped though.


Warren was saved by grace... Very interesting story, actually. The whole ordeal that was hugely blown out of proportion is coming to an end next week. Warren does have to go and see his boss, but isn't as bad as it could have been. He simply gets a letter that says he made a mistake and that he should have known better. Mistakes do happen, we're all human.

The interesting part of the story involves the people sent to investigate and help Warren. The helper was actually a retired Catholic Bishop (not sure why he's retired, but nonetheless...) who trained Warren and his guys on how to operate a particular program on their ship. (And just for the record, the mistakes that happened centered around poor training to begin with.) He was there for a week and calmed Warren's nerves during this extremely stressful time. You could say that they are now "shipshape", if you want an actual nautical term. The second interesting man would be the investigator they sent over. This man was crucial in determining if Warren would be in serious trouble. Warren knew he really had to impress him with his "mad skills". (Mad skills are the equivalent of really good skills. It's slang, I know.) The day of the meeting, Warren was speaking with the new chief's mate, which is like the XO on a Navy ship and apparently he knew the investigator, so he wanted to talk with him before the investigation began. By the time he sat down with Warren, it was all basically smoothed over. This was a HUGE blessing for Warren because he was seriously sweating this interview.