Where is the blog??

The Princess and Hero are traveling, and the blog may not appear for an undetermined amount of time. Then again, you never know. Unlike some lucky people who are going to warmer climates for the holidays (we do not know any personally, or we would be inviting ourselves along), WE are heading right into Winter Storm Draco, which would not seem nearly so scary if it didn't have a name that sounded like a cross between Drano and Dracula.

How to eat healthy around the holidays -- we think

We have a holiday tradition in our household that involves the local grocery store, a grocery cart, several bags of cute holiday-wrapped candy, and very little willpower. You can probably discern what this tradition might involve.

Some people may have tried to circumvent such temptation by going about their shopping trip with a handheld basket instead of a grocery cart the size of the Louisiana Purchase. But consumer research suggests that people who shop with a basket are actually MORE likely to make impulse purchases -- but only if they are holding the basket with their dominant hand. Honest. I wish I had known this sooner. All this time I've been carrying baskets with my nondominant hand. Think of all the impulse purchases I've missed out on!

The research of course implies that to avoid buying more than we intend to, we should carry the basket in our nondominant hand, in the hopes that the other hand will calmly, rationally, start picking up loaves of 17-grain bread, organic/dairy-free/wheat-free/vegetarian/calorie-free beets, etc. and place it in all someone else's bas -- I mean, in our basket.  

Recently I read some tips about how to consume more healthful foods during this time of holiday overeating. The first tip was what to eat for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving. The sensible advice given in the article was: Have a slice of pumpkin pie for breakfast. 

I liked this author immediately. Not that I am particularly fond of pumpkin pie, but might not the principle extend to, say, chocolate cake for breakfast? Her reasoning went something like this: You KNOW you are going to want that pie sometime during the day. Yet in an effort to behave yourself gastronomically, you will eat sensibly all day, telling yourself you will NOT eat any pie, and believeing yourself until about 10 p.m., when a little voice says, "You DESERVE this pie," and in the pie goes. Boom! You have just gone 350 calories over your limit that day. Whereas, if you consume the pie first thing in the morning, you have already factored those calories into the day's equation, and you can set about being virtuous the rest of the day.

This rationale was soundly denounced by my coworkers, who declared that were they to choose such a course, they would STILL have a second piece of pie at night.

Yet the idea fits in nicely with my own personal philosophy of rewarding yourself BEFORE you have really done anything to merit the reward. And if it theoretically works so well the day after Thanksgiving, why not EVERY morning? Indeed, the Hero is lobbying for just such a lifestyle change, citing another group with similar wise, healthy eating habits: the Shakers.

After watching a documentary on the Shakers, he announced that the Shakers were the wisest people ever, at least in respect to their breakfast meals, which according to the documentary included apple pie EVERY DAY. 

"Apple pie for breakfast! EVERY day!" He was in awe.

Sadly, the Shakers have pretty much disappeared into  history now, and with them this fine idea of eating pie for breakfast. I can think of only one improvement to make upon their ritual: Have breakfast all day long.

This week

The Princess apologizes for the scarcity of blog posts this week. What started out as promising topics turned out, upon reflection, to be better relegated to the recesses of her imagination. And the Hero has not provided much material for her, being engrossed in pursuing his master's project in sonification, which is a word the Princess suspects he made up.

We sincerely hope next week will bring more exciting topics to pursue, or we may have to start making things up. It's not as if it hasn't been done here before.

Born to be...me

Dear Coast Guard,

This letter is in reply to your radio ad currently airing in Maryland, in which a very deep, confident-sounding male voice makes a stirring case for joining your establishment. In the ad this individual says, roughly, the following:

"I was not born to take it easy. I was born to test my limits--physically and mentally. I was made to stretch myself, to meet every test laid before me. To know who I am, to seek the edge of my abilities and then push myself beyond them. I was born to excel, to achieve. To exceed expectations. I was born for the United States Coast Guard."

I must say, this ad has stirred something deep inside my soul. It is difficult to describe, but I believe it can be summed up in one word: Laziness. 

Frankly, all this talk about pushing personal limits makes me really tired. I really WAS born to take it easy. To grab the Fritos that are lying within my reach. To be comfortable in the realm of my current abilities and to stay well away from their edges. My idea of pushing myself is to go pick up the mail that came through the mail slot in the door and is now lying on the floor. Stretching myself occurs only around Thanksgiving.

And not to be snarky, but what is all that "I was born to excel, to achieve, to exceed expectations" stuff? I am all for improving one's vocabulary, but your ad sounds like a thesaurus entry for "succeed." 

No, you are not talking about me in your ad. But should you get really desperate, you should have no trouble finding me: I'll be on the couch. With my Fritos nearby.