Regular or decaf, diet or sugar, work or play, vacation or stay at home

It seems like since my last two blogs several topics of discussion have come up. Should we choose nutrasweet over real sugar? Should we choose caffeine over de-caf in our coffee? Should we leave town over the Memorial weekend or stay at home? Should we go to work today or stay home and have fun (or work at home)?

It's a weird day. Mark and Christina only have one final today, so they have a very short day at school and didn't need to be out of bed till 10 am! Tim's busy work schedule has suddenly evaporated--there are jobs on the horizon, but nothing is ready for him to tape (he is a drywall finisher) until next week.

We could go camping, but it's supposed to rain everywhere within 500 miles of here over the weekend. Besides, the kids have "plans" this weekend and are not really willing to go anywhere. In some ways, it was easier when they were little! (I'm sure moms of preschoolers will disagree!)

So, we are left to contemplate, is sugar better than the substitute? As a diabetic, I often partake in foods/drinks with Nutrasweet or Splenda. I like Splenda better, because it is made from real sugar. I do eat sugar, but try to be careful about my intake and watch my blood sugar. (Adding a unit or two or more of insulin helps when I indulge in the real thing on occasion.)

Tim, though he may not like to admit it, is slowly adding de-caf to his evening coffee--at least at friends' homes. He usually drinks regular instant, and insists that this does not have the power that brewed caffeinated coffee does. Not being a coffee drinker, I do not normally engage in this debate, but I have found that if I drink caffeinated pop after, say, 4 pm, I may have trouble sleeping all night long.

I like drinking water--although I like my water jazzed up a bit. My favorite is H2Oh!, which is carbonated flavored water. I don't like any sweeteners added to water, but I don't mind the carbonation and flavor. Maybe I'm weird. Tim likes it too, so it is almost the only drink we can share. (I don't do coffee--he doesn't do diet.)

As for the work or play debate, Christina had a short day yesterday at school, so when I picked her up we were off to job search! She is 15 1/2--a bit young perhaps, but she can be very responsible and pleasant and SHE LOVES TO SPEND MONEY. So, time for her to earn her own shiny pennies, I say. I told her I remember when my mom took me out to job hunt when I was 16. I landed my first job as a waitress at Big Boy, and that was an eye-opening experience for me. It was hard work. I had to work with and for difficult people, but it was good for me and I met a lot of wonderful people there too. My favorite part of the job, I have to admit, was coming home and rolling all those coins I had earned in tips. (I think waitresses now get mostly bills. I was very, very happy if I got a few dollar bills here and there. Now it's very common to see at least a five-spot on a table for the server.)

I guess there are always things to debate in life. We are debating now whether or not we will heed the weatherman's gloomy forecast for the weekend. The sun keeps tempting us to come outside and play, then just as we do, it hides behind the clouds and the heavens open up with a flash of rain.

Keeps life interesting.

Till next time,


Suzi