Susan's Blog

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Gone With The Whinge

[Ben took this photo!]

Sitting here in my parents’ Cape house on their porch. They are here now, all is right in the world, thank God. They are watching a movie I’m not interested in. We are here to check teh internets, as Max would say. It has been so good for me to be without Precious, I must say. I live in the present when I’m here.

I am so proud of the boys. They are without their usual hobbies (mostly teh internets related) because our lovely rental hath no internet, and so they are forced to do other things. Max has been honing his photographic talents, and I am amazed at his beautiful eye! He loves to do insanely close close-ups of things, not people (except Benj, who is kind of a thing!) He is such a good-natured soul. He will fight you at first when it comes to doing anything different or eating anything different, but if you gently push, he will do it and usually likes it. Well, not food, but everything else.

He and Ben were watching Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, and suddenly they just shut it off and announced that they were making a movie! With Ned’s help they filmed a stop-motion frame-by-frame of Ben scooting along the grass. Tis very cute.

Ben has gone back to drawing story after story. His animation is fantastic. It’s too bad so much of his content is violent, but it is violent like Pulp Fiction; kind of cartoony violent. Is that better or worse?

In the water Ben is fearless and oblivious to the cold. He and Ned shared a boogie board today and actually rode a few waves that way. I used the board for the first time, even though the water was 58 degrees. It was so hot out that I was frying, so I didn’t mind the extreme cold of the ocean. There was fluffy, grasping seaweed everywhere, which I just hate. Plus a lot of rocks to walk over to get to the sand bar, and I cut my foot. So back to the blanket to read and work on my illicit tan.

Nat has been a little less eager to swim, even with his brand-new wetsuit. Ned kept joking that the wetsuit was defective because “it never gets wet!” Until Nat finally initiated it yesterday, when it was a balmy 60 degrees in the water. He and Ned were out for a pretty long time today. He has one very well on this vacation so far. A few outbursts, but two out of three of them were totally understandable. Today there was a brief shriek and I think it may have been an expression of discomfort with all that sun.

When they come back to the blanket from swimming, they always have to eat. I’m the designated Fooder. I make everyone have fruit first before their oreos, goldfish, and pretzels. I drink Diet Coke with Lime and one or two Atkins bars. Yes, I’m back on Atkins and the universe has righted itself again. I don’t know how you other people (carbivores) do it. Eating carbs made me crazy. All I wanted to do was eat and eat because I could never eat enough (too many calories). The only thing I could eat that I didn’t have to count was carrots! I felt like a horse. Do I want that? Neigh! I tried it for four days and by the fourth day I had eaten 1,000 calories by lunchtime — all in fruit and “non-fattening” things! I was in danger of becoming an exercise bulemic because I kept going on long, grueling bikerides or bellydancing to burn off what I ate!

Back on Atkins I am sane again. I am full after I eat, because I eat protein! Soy, turkey, eggs, cheese. I can imagine all the voices of Gerald O’Hara, Rhett Butler, and Ashley Wilkes, egging me on: “Protein, Katie Scarlett! It’s the only thing that lasts, the only thing worth die(t)ing for!”
“It’s from this that you get your strength: the red meat of protein!”
“Something you love better than carbs, though you may not know it: protein!”

“Protein! Protein! Protein! Atkins. I’ll go back on Atkins. I’ll think of some way to get thin again. After all, tomorrow is another day!”

Sure it’s boring but I’m never hungry. If I have to lie(in the sun), steal (a few moments for myself), cheat (and let Ben win at arm wrestling) and kill (time blogging), As God is my witness, I’ll never go hungry again!

8 comments

I jut like the name”Susan”,therefore,I readed your blog.Almost every American family has two and more children,I think it is good for children and I envy American children because I’m a chinese people who are growing up in a typical chinese family with only one child.
I kown today is US Independence Day.
Have a good holiday!

— added by ?? on Wednesday, July 4, 2007 at 9:34 pm

Everyone is different. Knowing your own body and how it responds is the key, I think, to finding a path that works for you.

I did find that dvd on belly dancing on netflix and it ought to be in my hot little hands in a day or so. I can’t wait to see what my husband thinks, although I don’t think he will know much about it until I am ready to bare my midriff!

— added by Mom on Wednesday, July 4, 2007 at 10:00 pm

Ah, summer. Gotta love the beach. Had a friend in college who had a little house on Cape Cod, it was a little peice of heaven- even in October, when we went to go clean it up and close it down.

I was surprised about the carrots. Carrots are pretty high in carbs for a veggie. It was one the veggies I couldn’t eat when I was pregnant- made my BG skyrocket. Now asparagus… there’s a vegetable. And spinach. I think my docs would live happily ever after if I spent the rest of my life eating broiled skinless chicken breats and spinach. 😛

— added by Joeymom on Wednesday, July 4, 2007 at 10:19 pm

Your description reminds me of a vacation our family took in Virginia Beach when I was about 13. The smell of the salty ocean water, the post-swim snacks on the sandy towel. That is a really good picture of you and Ned. You look wonderful S(usan)carlett.

— added by MarkZ on Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 10:27 am

hey-you and Ned are so cute. I would love to see a photo of you two when you were dating!!!

— added by Anonymous on Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 6:10 pm

I eat carbs, sure, but I try to have a protein-rich/low-carb breakfast — I function better for the rest of the day if I do that.

And ah, 58-degree water? I miss that. It’s “cold” at Barton Springs where it’s 68 degrees year-round. When I was growing up in NH, we couldn’t go swimming until the water temperature was in the 50s. I tell people in Texas that and they shiver. 🙂

— added by Julia on Sunday, July 8, 2007 at 9:54 pm

I live in your neighborhood (read your writings in the tab), and I just happen to be down the cape, and I came across your blog when I googled “back on Atkins,” which I am. Wierd. Anyway, good luck with the diet because most people who don’t have a problem with carbs just don’t know what it feels like to eat some salad, and then some clearflour bread and cheese, and then the leftover quesadilla from anna’s and then a serenade chocolate and then a slice of leftover party favors cake…and…I think I need to move if I want to lose weight.

— added by Walid on Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 10:05 am

Hey, Walid,
I hear that Panera Bread, which is coming in at the Zathmary’s, has a great lo carb bread for their sandwiches!!! Don’t give up yet! And also, Cheesecake Factory’s Lo-carb cheesecake is wonderful.

Next time you see me say hi.

— added by Susan Senator on Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 10:42 am