I'll take my avocado with a side of mexican food please

I know you're all pins and needles waiting to hear about the diet. I would be too. Diets are intriguing and the fools I mean people who sign up for them are worth studying a little bit. Count us as the fools who signed on and if what I've heard is true--that the first 48 hours are the hardest--then we're almost in the home stretch. I've heard those are the hardest because the majority of people are used to consuming more food than most diets allow and I'm here to tell you that is absolutely right.

The food itself is not bad at all. It is in fact tasty now. Of course, so are carrots at this point. Celery even. Just now for a "free" snack, I had almost a whole cucumber and three celery sticks. These are the days of filling up on free stuff until our stomachs shrink and we are making the most of it. I had half an avocado with my lunch and it was fantastic. Just salt and pepper on it and I felt like I was eating prime rib. It did make me long for some chips a little bit so I just ate another stick of celery and that totally satisfied me. I'm sure you know I'm kidding.

So far I'd recommend the program if you can do it. Cost-wise we will break even. We have used a cash budget for about two years now and so I know exactly how much I spend on groceries which helps. Since the kids don't eat what we eat, (we've tried and given in...I'm no parenting expert,) the food they eat is not expensive. Your basic mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets, apples, etc...that's what they eat. To save on the produce that we eat on Nutrisystem, I have been going to Sprouts and barely spending anything at all. Where we might actually save money is that Sean eats out when he is on trips. Well he used to eat out every meal but now he will take the prepackaged food and just order a salad at restaurants. Bless his heart. At least I just eat my little half-cup serving of food in front of the children. He will be eating it with the guy he's flying with and that guy will likely be eating something really tasty. Pray for Sean and his resolve.

I'm kidding. We don't need prayer for that. He can be like a snapping turtle when he sets his mind to something. It's me who will need help in the accountability/will power department. Okay enough about our new found method of eating.

Yesterday we went to the Arboretum along with about 36,000 other people and took pictures of the kids. It was the busiest I've ever seen the place because it was a pretty day sandwiched in between gloomy rainy days around here. Just typing sandwiched made me hungry. Bless my heart. I could really go for a grilled cheese right now.

Here's a sneak peak at the Arboretum pictures.

By sneak peak I mean the pictures I took with my camera and the real ones that Sean took with his fancy camera will show up here sometime in the future. His will be light years ahead of mine quality-wise. But then, you already knew that.

Since we are total suckers for free babysitting we left Joy with Mimi so she could have a good morning nap. Even though it was just the big kids we were constantly pulling them off the pumpkins, (apparently that's frowned upon by the Arboretum volunteers, who knew,) and sanitizing their hands. I'm on the paranoid side of things since they haven't had their swine flu shots yet and with Charlie having her lung issues and then Joy having hers, I'm being more careful than usual. I know they'll probably all get it anyway but it won't be for lack of effort on my part.

When did I turn into a pessimist?

Anyway.

Go enjoy an avocado and even enjoy some chips while you're at it. Just don't tell me how good it tastes. Remember I'm not in the home stretch yet.