When I was little, I had a friend named Xochitl. She must've had a hell of a time in school. Hippies.

Christmas tree lights all rolled onto their holders. That will fill another box. Then I need to decide how and where to store all the new outside decorations.

Home Depot was having a sale on tubs this weekend, for under $5, 20 gallon.

I like to think I keep my computer pretty clean. Blow out the keyboard with compressed air probably once a month, wipe it down with computer wipes. But I just vacuumed the keyboard. OMG damned cats. The fur just kept coming and coming. Ridiculous.

I have to take my keyboard a couple of times a year to clean all the keys. It gets so gross, what with the hair (mine & the little guy's), sticky fingers, dust and schmutz.

It gets to a point where I don't even want to use it. Plus, the cleaning process satisfies my ocd tendencies.

Happy Belated, msbelle!

Kathy, it's so wonderful to read about your progress--and even moreso about your joy in each new milestone. Thank you for including us on your journey. You're inspiring in more ways than one.

Oh, well, some things I have to forget about.

take away my pasta and I cry. See also: bread.

Yeah, giving up the wheat was hard. Couple that with giving up potatoes...well, rice gets boring, after a while. I'm surprised, actually, how little I've come to miss garlic mashed, fries, and salad and baked. Marinara and tomato-based sauces now smell toxic to me and it makes me a little sad. Plei made rice flour pancakes for me and found me rice-based treats that helped with the transition, and we've found rice flour pasta that, if cooked sufficiently, is a reasonable substitute in mac&cheese. Because life really is a lot more worth living with occasional mac&cheese. Even if it's made with rice flour penne, goat cheese, cottage cheese, and asiago.

It comes down, though, to feeling like crap all the next day after I have a half-cup of mashed potatoes or a handful of fries, and knowing I did it to myself. I make that decision occasionally, but it's deliberate, with full knowledge of what I'm giving up for the treat.

Have you ever tried mashed cauliflower (w/garlic and butter)? I found that a tasty alternative to mashed potatoes and frankly, they were on par with one another. (Don't know if it is contraindicated.)

I just made some couscous and it was pretty delish.

I'd had a little tub of fancy pearl couscous for a while and finally decided to bust it out tonight. Veggie stock, lemon, garlic, fresh minced tarragon, broccolli, sauteed mushrooms, green onions, peas, some curry and cumin and chunks of feta and it's a bit of alright.

That was damned easy. Maybe I should try quinoa next, since I now know how to pronounce it.

I too used to think it was pronounced qwin-oh-a. But I love it anyway.

ION, my freezer is ridiculous right now. See, I like to keep TJ's indian frozen dinners on hand for when I don't want to deal with chopping for salad (yes, that lazy.) Anyway, there was a period of time when they were out whenever I went. So I keep forgetting I have plenty and buying more. I have something like 10 boxes. I eat maybe one a week. Yeah. Plus I was hungry when I went today and ended up with 2 bags of gyoza to boot. Damned samples and shopping when you haven't eaten all day.

I have slight food stocking issues (not sure why, like to be prepared? Plan on something then get bored with it? ) but when I moved, I managed to clear a lot of it out. At least my canned goods supply isn't that bad. Apparently, now it has moved to frozen food.

I don't like quinoa. I'm not sure what it is about it, but the only times I've liked it have been when it was mixed in with some other grain. When it's just quinoa plus vegetables and beans or whatever, I don't like it. It just tastes weird.