Dear Dairy: A Warning Letter

Dear Dairy,

Please don’t make me do it.  Do not make me break up with you.  Please do not be the reason for my son’s eczema, because I be forced to end our almost 32 year relationship.  I thought things were going so good between us.  But frankly–it’s not me, it’s you.  You, apparently, could be contributing to my Little Man’s super dry and scaly neck, his red knees, his red and bumpy elbows. 

You have one week to shape up.  One week for me to empty out my fridge of all of your delicious goodness.  One more week of the best breakfast ever (cottage cheese, banana nut cheerios, raw almonds, and cinnamon).  One more week of your cheesy goodness.  If Little Man is still eczema-riddled, I will be forced to quit you.  Don’t worry, I will not cheat on you with any of those other “milks”.  You know–rice, almond, soy.  But there will be no break-up sex.  I am telling you right now, you will not be welcomed back into my open bowl, glass, mug, salad, burger for at least another 6 months. 

Heed my warning, Dairy.  This is no idle threat.  I do not want to do it, but I will.  Because Little Man is way more important to me than all your wonderful-ness.  I do not know what I will eat for breakfast.  I do not know what I will do all summer long without you topping my burgers.  But I have been through break-ups before.  And I will be OK. 

I will always love you,

Michelle

Favorite F’s

So, here’s the deal with this–I saw this blog on If I Had to Pick Five –she gave me the letter “F” and I need to come up with 10 things I love that start with that letter.  Oh boy…here goes!

1.  FOOD  I LOVE Food.  I mean, I have a blog category for it.  Granted, there is only one blog there, but I anticipate that that will change.  I am prepared for more Food blogs.  I love new Food, I love new recipes, I love trying new Food.  One of my favorite things about travelling?  Yup, Food.  I am lucky I am not morbidly obese, such is my love for food.  I could also probably make up a whole list of “F” Foods to complete this blog if I wanted to!!  (French Fries, Five Guys, Frank’s Gourmet Grille, Frankfurters, Fruit, Feta, Filet mignon, French toast, Fudge)

2.  FICTION  I LOVE Fiction (really, reading in general).  For those that read my 100 things, you know this already.  You also know that my computer is sucking my life energy and it has been affecting how much I read.  But I still love to get lost in a good book.

3.  FACEBOOK  I LOVE Facebook.  There.  I said it.  When I first started, I didn’t really get it.  I don’t know when that changed, but I am at the point now when I check Facebook before I check my email.  

4.  FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS  I LOVE FNL.  It is one of the best, if not THE best show on TV.  I had the pleasure of seeing the 3rd season on DirecTV already, but I am sad because now I have to wait until who knows when to (hopefully!!) see the 4th season.  I will be devastated if this show gets cancelled.

5. FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS  I LOVE Funniest Home Videos.  My husband and I watch it pretty regularly.  We most enjoy people Falling (another F).  I am a PT, I probably shouldn’t find humor in people injuring themselves.  But I do.  And it keeps me in business…so…win/win.

(F is hard….)

(also, my first Five things involve either sitting or eating…it is REALLY a wonder that I am not morbidly obese)

6.  FIREWORKS  I LOVE Fireworks.  Really, really LOVE Fireworks.  The problem with a lot of fireworks are the crowds.  I don’t love crowds that much.  I don’t tend to go to the Grucci Brothers Fireworks in New London because I don’t love battling the crowds.  And the crowds and/or people you are with can make or break a good Fireworks experience.  My top favorite Fireworks?  Sitting on the beach in Naples, FL on July 4th, 2008 with my husband on our honeymoon.  Oddly, there were a lot of people there, but being on the beach, watching the sun set….all of it made for some really great Fireworks.  My runner-up Fireworks?  Gardner’s Lake Fireworks.  My in-laws live right on the Lake.  Bob (as in Furniture Bob) put on a great show and we were surrounded by great people.  And we were comfy.  And probably drunk, which helps.  Unfortunately, I don’t think he is doing the Fireworks anymore…so that is just a good memory now!

7.  FRIENDS  I LOVE Friends (specifically MY Friends).  My Friends are great people.  I love them.  They make me laugh and keep me grounded.  I couldn’t get through a week without my them.  

8.  FELINES  I LOVE Felines.  Well, I don’t usually call them that, but for the sake of the F’s…  I am an animal lover, but if I had to pick, I would say I am a Feline person.  I have always had a Feline, except when I was in campus housing in college.  I have always been a one-Feline family.  I sometimes wish I was a two-Feline family.  I wonder if my Feline, Tiki, wouldn’t be such a wench if she had a buddy to keep her in check.  Also, in the future, I am only going to be male Feline person.  This is my first female Feline, and she is definitely not the loving Feline I am familiar with.  I think the males are better lap cats.  Or lap Felines.   

9.  FLYING  I LOVE Flying.  I really love it all, even check-in.  I like the waiting for your plane, it just builds up the anticipation (I don’t, however, love waiting for a delay, or waiting on the runway for 2 hours.  Just to clarify.).  For me, anytime I have Flown, good times have followed.  It is classical conditioning.  Flying=Good Times.  My heart rate spikes a little at take off.  I react the same way I did when I was a kid when I am in the window seat (I am actually disappointed if I don’t have a window seat).  I think I would actually like to be on a plane right now!

10.  FUTURE  I LOVE the Future.  The idea of what is to come gets me very excited.  I cannot wait to see how my life will unfold.  There are a lot of possibilities and opportunities and I am so excited for all of them!!

Five Guys? Yes, Please!

As some of you may know (mainly because I have been talking about it for the last two days), I took myself out to dinner at Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Mystic tonight.  I have been on a burger hiatus for about two weeks preparing for this burger.

Yesterday, I looked up the Five Guys menu to prep for the visit.  I sometimes get a little overwhelmed if there is a long line of people behind me and I don’t know what I want.  Luckily, the menu is pretty straightforward.  The take-out menu fits on just half a page of paper.  

So…you walk in the door and it is your pretty straightforward “diner” like atmosphere.  Red and white tiles, tables and a “bar” that runs around 2 walls.  You are welcome to help yourself to peanuts while you wait and you are welcome to throw the shells on the floor.  And you are welcome to some kind of near death reaction if you have a peanut allergy.  I wouldn’t recommend this place for the peanut allergic out there.  There is a sign on the door that warns you not to take the peanuts home due to neighborhood children who may have peanut allergies.  They don’t seem to care as much about those people who walk into the restaurant with a peanut allergy–so take heed!

I felt well prepared when I ordered, thanks to my extensive research.  I went with the bacon cheeseburger with tomatoes, pickles, ketchup and mustard.  And fries.  Lots and lots of fries.  Now, let’s clarify that the “little” burger choices are in fact your regular burger, and the “regular” burger choices are in fact double burgers.  Very misleading…  

I opted for the “regular” burger to so my first experience would be the full experience (Go Big or Go Home!!).  Henceforth, though, I will be going with the “little” burger because I just ate a LOT of meat.  But it was good meat.  It was a really good burger.  I kinda loved it.

The fries…the fries deserve their very own paragraph.  The main part of the restaurant has sacks of potatoes piled it up that they use for their fresh cut fries.  The blackboard announced that today’s fries were from Idaho Falls, Idaho, in case you were wondering.  The “cup” they put the fries in is pretty much a formality, b/c there are so many stinking fries that they basically just run loose in the bag that they serve the food in.  One person can’t and/or shouldn’t eat a regular order of fries on their own.  I can’t even get my head around a large order of fries.  Anywho, turns out fresh cut fries are pretty delicious, even more so with a little malt vinegar…YUM.

So, I will be back.  Though I won’t be as much of a glutton next time.  And it is definitely something you should try…but if you are like me, you might want to take a look at the menu and pick your toppings first!!