Sugar

I don’t like food in general, but I do love sugar.  Sugar in any form will do.  Candy, chocolate, ice cream, custards, puddings…..yum.  I don’t care for sweet tea or coffee, which is strange for a human fly, but do love a good milk shake.  Upon occasion, I’ve been known to eat candy and sugar products in place of meals.  Nothing like having a handful of Hershey kisses for lunch, especially the caramel filled ones. 

As I was downing my third sleeve of Peeps the Saturday before Lent, I thought to myself, I need to stop; this can’t be good for me.  So that day I decided to give up sugar for Lent.  I’ll just stop eating all the candy and really pay attention to the sugar content in all other foods and try not to be so excessive.  Piece of gluten free cake, right?  That evening, I told my daughter what I had decided to do.  She looked at me and said “Mom, isn’t sugar your major food group?  You can’t eat much of anything else.”   Oh my gosh, she’s right.  It is my major food group.  I’m allergic to so many foods.  What am I going to eat?  After my mild panic attack, I thought ok, I can do this.  There are plenty of things I can eat……right?

Do you ever read the labels in the grocery store?  Do you know how much sugar is added to pretty much everything?  Unbelievable.  And do you know how hard it is to give up candy?  The very first night I was at my parent’s house for dinner.  I stood in the kitchen talking to my father absent mindedly tossing M & M’s in my mouth.  It was such a habit.  I collected myself and told myself to stop.  I did much better for the next week or so, only eating things that had low or no sugar added.  I even tried the sugar free Peep.  I’d like to say I took one for the team, the Peeps people need to pull those atrocities from the shelves across the world.  I didn’t even bite all the way into the fake Peep before I was dry heaving into the garbage bin.  While I realize people have dietary/health issues and there is a market for sugar free candy, sugar free Peeps are just wrong.  I immediately fired off a scathing e-mail to the powers that be at Peeps.  They must have been thinking who is this crazy woman??

Alas, I have fallen a bit off the wagon.  On the flight to Singapore a few short weeks ago, the stewardesses handed out ice cream bars and it would have been rude of me to say no, right?  Vanilla ice cream topped with caramel covered in what was like a Nestle Crunch Bar.  They were so good that my husband made me keep the package it came in to see if I could find them here in the States.  Of course not, probably for the best.  I have been good at work though.  Work is a place where I would have most of my sugar.  It’s really hard to walk into my supervisor’s office and not pick up a mini Reece’s or a Rolo.  Today I was in Target and figured, while I am here, I might as well get the kid’s their Easter candy. Well, our Target just upgraded to include a grocery store and they have moved everything, so I was all over the place.  Zip lock bags were not near the dog food aisle anymore and it took me a while to find the kitchen department.  I ran down my list and totally had forgotten to pick up a few stuffed bunnies.  (At work we are collecting bunnies to give to the kids at Connecticut Children’s Hospital.)  I had to wander the store again to find them.  For all my efforts, I grabbed a Reece’s peanut butter egg….I thought it would be better for me than three sleeves of Peeps.  Don’t know about that, but it sure tasted good. 

Well, Lent is almost over but my quasi sugar fast is not.  I really don’t need to be eating so much candy, no one should. I’m not saying I won’t eat all the kids stale Peeps or the left over Reece’s bunny in the four pack, but I am really going to try to monitor myself.  No candy at work, no Gummy Bears(the good ones in the gold pack)in the car, and no ice cream in the freezer.  I think I can do it, I think……

Turkey Update.....

The turkey loves us.....I came into the office today and there he was, standing in the parking lot.  The ladies told me he hung out all day in front of he office door, not letting anyone in or out.  Jen when out to shoo Tom Turkey away and he stopped, turned tail and dropped a big poop.  HA-take that!  When Barb went to lock the front door at closing, she saw Tom holding another lady hostage at her front door.  She ran at him and shooed him off to release her  from captivity.  This morning when my manager came around the corner she saw the turkey in full feather display in front of the doctor's office door holding the nurses off, and one of the ladies was in the car honking her horn and flashing lights to try and scare him.  Dave went out with his golf umbrella to shoo him off.  My manager called Lenny, our maintenance man.  I swear he has a super hero cape under his clothes, he is an amazing man.  And there is nothing like sitting at your desk, looking up and out the window to see Lenny's feet run by with a broom chasing turkey legs.  Too Funny.  Long story short, Lenny was successful in moving the turkey on to greener pastures.  And Chris wants me let everyone know that the turkey did not eat the multi-grained bread she tossed at him, he bypassed that and took off after her instead.   Never a dull moment.....

Turkeys need insurance too....

We had two turkeys come to the office today.  Around lunchtime today, one of my co-workers came in and said there were two wild turkeys out in the parking lot.  The insurance world can sometimes be a bit dry, so to see two fowl feathered friends was highly exciting!  We all ran to the windows with our cell phones to take some pictures.  Where did they go?  Chris and I braved the rain and went out the front door to get a better look.  They were on the move towards our office.  Chris ran back inside and came back out with FOOD!  She wanted to feed these dang things, like geese at the park.  Don't do it Chris, no good will come of it.  She started tossing whole grain bread at the male who in turn started making the moves on her.  Tom Turkey was gobbling quite loudly, walking quickly, then he was charging at Chris!  See I told you not to feed him!! We ran in the front door to the rest of our coworkers laughing.  Now the turkeys were at the front door and pecking at it.  One of the ladies in the office has chickens and turkeys on her property.  We made her go out and talk to them, try and get them to move on.  Well that didn't work, Tom chased her back in.  Next, Dave tried and the turkey didn't even let him open the door all the way.  Good grief!  What's going to happen if we have clients stop by?  We left the turkey guarding the door as we all meandered back to our desks in hopes of him becoming bored tormenting us and move along.  About a half an hour later, we did have a client stop by to sign some paperwork.  I overheard my coworker ask her how she made it in through the turkey.  She seemed surprised and said that she didn't see any.  Oh good, I would hate to have one of those things peck at a client.  As she was walking out, she quickly turned and came back in the building--RED ALERT RED ALERT the turkey is back, I repeat, the turkey is back!  Chris!!  You should have never fed them, now they will never leave!  We snuck the client out the side door, and the receptionist did the same to get the mail.  When I left for the day at 3, the turkey was still holding his post, so I too slid out the side door.  Working where we do in Avon, tucked back away from the main roads in a wooded area, you never know what might pop out to say hello.  We've seen a bear cub, only to realize after 15 minutes of staring at him playing in the stream that his MOM might be somewhere close.  There are snakes that sun themselves in the summer, a creature living in the bushes by the mailbox and something funky swimming by the dam.  And we had the year of the turtles.  Witnessed the mom laying eggs one spring and by September we were rescuing the little guys running across the parking lot.  But the turkeys have taken the cake, never had we have anything charge us or hold us hostage in our own office.   Maybe they needed a tenants policy for their nest or needed to add a piece of jewelry to their schedule....can't wait to see if they are around tomorrow : )