I remember the first time a customer asked to see the nutritional information for one of the muffins - that was the day I stopped eating stolen pastries for breakfast!

I long ago stopped getting pastries at Starbucks; when I first went on a diet, I pulled up the nutritional information on all that. The coffee drinks are bad enough: over 200 calories for a flavored latte! But the food is unbelievable.

It's remarkable how much information is available online for that sort of thing, now, though. And very useful for those who are trying to eat healthy: I know that if I get the Panda Bowl with mixed veggies and the chicken with string beans at Panda Express, the entire meal is less than 400 calories, far better than the same thing with the orange chicken instead. Even though I love the orange chicken.

A few years ago, I had tonsilitis pretty badly, but also a ton of school work to do, and was basically dosing myself with DayQuil to keep myself seeming well enough to finish all the work, until I could get it done and rest and heal properly. One effect of the tonsilitis was that it hurt like hell to swallow anything other than really soft foods. So I was going through the day on pretty much a coffee and a Starbucks muffin for breakfast and lunch, and clear broth for dinner. And I gained weight.

I think that my new Main Squeeze, Zyrtec, is pretty effective at stomping the allergies.

Sadly, it makes me INCREDIBLY sleepy. Of course. Because it would be too much to expect an effective drug that doesn't turn me into a pile of gronk.

I tried making my own scones for the morning, but I think they were even worse than the Starbucks ones. They were soooo buttery.

Well, I always knew the pre-made drinks were bad, but since I always thought they were too sweet anyway, I only ever get nonfat lattes, so minimal calories there.

But now I see how I might have unwittingly lost 10 lbs in the last few months, between giving up processed foods for lent and my increased hiking. I'm thinking that even in the minimal processed stuff I was eating, there were tons of calories. Which I knew, but to see it printed somehow really drives the point home.

I suspect teaching Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told would not fly well with certain parents.

But damn, it's an awesome show.

I shudder to think what a cookie I buy downstairs at work is.

The Specialty's cookies? Don't ask, seriously. 600+ calories, depending. Though I like the fact that you can see the calorie counts for the sandwich & salad ingredients, and add and delete as you see fit. (Online ordering, of course.)

I think I can build three new Rubys from the cat hair that was under my bed.

Also, my new neighbor's cat is named Ruby. I see mass confusion ahead.

So, you know how when you pack a carry on when you are not checking a bag, and you have one baggie for all the liquid stuff the TSA cares about, and another container for the stuff they don't, like eye shadow and bar face soap and your tooth brush?

I'm leaving for the airport straight from work tonight, and my other container is sitting in my bathroom still.

Specialty's!