Everything’s bigger in Texas, especially my appetite

Slept in today–11 am TX time, 1 pm GA time–oops. Woke up to the sound of the smoke alarm–BREAKFAST IS READY! Had eggs and ham with hashbrowns. It was a good start of the day.
We went to the El Paso Saddle Company and big souvenier store. I didin’t find anything I wanted. I saw an Indian blanket I liked, but it was made in India. Oh, cruel irony, Columbus.
For lunch we went to Wienerschnietzel, a fast food chain of hot dogs. It was nothing special but I can say I went somewhere that had “the world’s best wieners.”

Dinner time was a trek to the desert to Cattleman’s Ranch.  It has been voted one of Texas’ best restaurants and I agree!!  They have a steak called the Cowboy that is 2 lbs.  I settled for the 10 oz NY Strip Steak.  While we were waiting for our food to be cooked (and possibly to be slaughtered) we went out on the Ranch and looked at their mini-zoo.  They had rabbits, ostrich, goats, Texas Longhorns and Buffaloes.  Our favorite was the snake pit.  It is a big cage with about a dozen rattle snakes inside.  We could see them slither around and one started rattling at us through the mesh.  Maran was scared and all through our walk we would grab her and make hissing sounds.  Also the buffalo sneezed water at Maran.  Back at the dinner table my steak came and in the first bite I was in love.   I have had steak before but now I realize the importance of cut and quality–like diamonds, steaks are a girls’ best friend.  I ate it all!!!  I don’t think I could ever have another steak in my life because it could not compare to this one.  I also had a baked potato.  For dessert there was apple pie. 

There was no eating after this point. I think you can figure out why.

A Cross Country Gastrointestinal Journey

Breakfast: Coke, coffee and potato burrito from a local stand. Yay!!! I love potatoes in Mexican food.
We drove around to different missions in El Paso. The blistering sun made us stop for a drink. I had a strawberry Fanta and a bag of Reese’s Pieces. The pieces were gone by the time we got to Mesilla, New Mexico. A little town with a square of restaurants and stores. We went to Peppers Restaurant, but it is also called the Double Eagle. I think it has one name during the day and another name at night. While eating there I realize that this is where my brother and his wife got married. I gave my sister a tour and recounted the event of about 5 years ago. I had tortilla soup as I was not super hungry. I had a Pepsi which I hate, but this one didn’t taste too bad, maybe I was imagining it was a coke and the mirage showed up on my tastebuds. The soup was good and it wasn’t too hot, but I kept coughing like a dork because I had a tickle in my throat. People were looking at me like I was some wimpy white person who can’t eat spicy food. It looked like I was over-reacting to the spices, but just a cough.
We found a shop called the Chocolate Lady. I bought a chocolate covered marshmallow. It was HUGE. On the car ride home I at it and I got a little sugar-shocked about 1/3 of the way thorugh. But I had to push through–it cost 2.50! The marshmallow inside was pink and it had a little strawberry flavor. I took a swig of left-over strawberry Fanta to wash it down. Problem was the Fanta had been in the car for 3 hours. I think it was about a 90 degree drink!
My sister-in-law made green chile enchiladas for dinner. I was very good and it was my first time having green chile enchiladas, I’ve usually had the red chile ones.
My brother took us around El Paso after dinner. We went by Fort Bliss Army Base. We went up some mountains and saw the sunset. He showed us Juarez City in Mexico from afar (it is too dangerous to go there because of a drug war). He showed us the Rio Grande, which is not even a stream because it is so dry right now. I also saw our tax dollars at work with the border fence. I guess we do need the fence since there is not treacherous river to swim through. My favorite is seeing the big fence and then 5 feet later there is no barrier–hello, they can just go around! We went to another mountain and it was dark so we saw all the city lights below. The mountains and desert are very pretty.
On the way back to the house we had a hankering for Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I had a strawberry glazed. My body is not objecting to my food choices–yet.
Who knows what food discoveries I’ll make tomorrow.

The Road to El Paso Food Log

Today was a day to go down in history of nutrition. A veritable cross-country journey of junk food. We started the day in Arlington, TX around 10 am. We went to Whattaburger for breakfast. I had a honey-butter chicken biscuit and tater sticks (hashbrowns) with a nice breakfast coke. The Honey-butter was AMAZING but the chicken was no Chik-fil-a.
We slurp down our breakfast cokes and have to stop at McDonalds for a brunch coke.
A few hours later we stop again. All through Texas they have Dairy Queens all right off the highway. The hot sun, the hilly region turning more into desert makes me feel like I’m dying of heat. We pull off and I get a nice Heath Blizzard.
We drive for more and more hours. It doesn’t seem that long (yet) because I’ve never seen this type of landscape before. I am amazed that I can see things for miles and miles because the land is flat and not obscured by trees. We go to a gas station and I get a sprite and fries from Mickey D’s and Starbursts. We are just not hungry for a meal all day. I finish off the candy and realize that my cup is empty–not even an ice crystal. We are about 2 hours from El Paso, so I eat a bag of potato chips (small bag) from last nights dinner. I pretend that I am thirsty and dying in the desert because there is no civilization in sight. I threaten to cut open a cactus for milk.
We finally get to El Paso and we go out for pizza with my brother and sister-in-law. This will be my only nutritious meal of the day: green chile and ricotta cheese pizza and ham and pineapple pizza. There was some salad–green stuff! I had 2 more cokes.
I would say that my calorie count was about 4 calories per mile and we drove for 700 miles today. I always say that if you are moving the calories don’t count (well, I say that when I walk and eat at the same time).
I think tomorrow I’ll have to drink a gallon of water to flush out the damage I have done.

MySpace or NoSpace?

I am thinking about cancelling my MySpace Account. I just checked it today and my mood is listed as “Janey is excited about the Christmas Season”. No one has added me as a friend in months and the apps on there are trashy.
I am totally dedicated to Facebook and the “cleanliness of it”. Meaning peoples crappy music/graphics/glittering angels don’t get in the way of me reading the comments or profile info. I prefer my stalking to be on a white background and easy “wall to wall” links.
I will probably cancel MySpace by the end of the week. I first have to salvage my old blog postings. I shall put my “greatest hits” up on the Wordy Press.

Amazing Race!!

Yeah, the Amazing Race is back on! Sunday television lives again!

Top Things to Be Grateful for on a Cold Winter’s Night

5. Slippers. They keep your toes warm, but unlike socks they don’t get wet or pick up pokey things off the floor and stick to your feet. I like the slippers with a hard sole so you can wear them to the mailbox or to the grocery store (or to church, like I did on accident one Sunday). They look and feel like shoes so you can get away with going in public.

4. Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows. Makes a great night snack and marshmallows have no fat so you won’t feel AS guilty as some snacks. Also, it has less caffeine than a coffee so you don’t feel jittery but soothed by the warm milk.

3. A heating pad. I have a fear of electric blankets so I have this awesome heating pad with automatic shut off. If I fall asleep with it on I won’t die in a fire because the heating pad turns off after 30 minutes. I try not to use it every night because I don’t want it to hurt my back. I have a sister (who shall remain nameless) who uses hers everynight and it looks like she has giant red rectangle on her back. She has a heating pad outline tattoo.

2. Something to snuggle with. We all have our preferences with this one. I currently enjoy my Hillsdale College blanket. It is made out of material that feels like a big old sweatshirt. I also like to snuggle with my kitty, Fluffykins if he doesn’t do A.) Sleep directly on my head or B.) Bite my feet everytime I move. Otherwise he makes a great 2nd heating pad.

1. A good book. Hopefully your room has a comfortable enough temperature for you to be able to keep your hands outside of the blanket. Sometimes I have to use the flashlight under the covers strategy to read in bed. My current bedtime book is my new Quest Study Bible. I’m rockin’ it New Testament style and this Bible has all the notes and references of a regular study Bible but they place everything in question form. It is much easier to read and it doesn’t have 50 footnotes per page and then only 5 verses like the study Bibles.

Slap Chop

Did anyone proofread this man’s script before they put it on TV? There are about 4 fantastic lines, can you guess my favorites?

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The Wilderness in TN

Hanging out at the Wilderness a hotel witha waterpark inside. There are some cool waterslides and the rooms are suite style. The place is huge!!!
Having fun so far, except for the dry skin from the chlorine and the winter cold.
I think all the water pressure goes to the waterslides because the shower sucked! There’s no flow, no flow, Jerry!

Where did this problem go?

There are so many problems in the world and people give blame and if someone solves a problem people debate whether it was even solved at all (or made worse).
When I was a kid I remember a commercial by Whisk. The problem it showed was very serious and it strikes fear in the heart of wives–RING AROUND THE COLLAR!!!
Now, is this a problem that still exists in the world? Or did Whisk solve this problem? Or is it a problem that will rise up again and we find out that people have still been struggling with it?
The commercials had such a dire message. It was a warning to the women that if you don’t take care of your husbands’ ring around the collar they will lose their jobs. What caused ring around the collar? Is is just sweaty necks? Hard water? Dyes from other clothes? Where did it come from? Did America become aware of how dirty their necks were and began paying attention to giving it an extra scrub in the shower?
One theory could be the divorce rate. There are less women who stay home and do their husbands’ laundry. So maybe Ring Around the Collar is still running rampant but the collapse of the American family causes it to go unnoticed!
This is a problem that obviously requires at least $125 million to investigate the unknown epidemic. I will be appealing to my senators and representatives and making sure that I get my piece of the “stimulus plan”. I’m sure I’ll get it. They pay millions for crappy park benches.

Cobb Family Traditions: The Trinity of Food

Some families enjoy the Christmas Goose or Turkey. Some go with some Shrimp on Christmas Eve. At the Cobb Family there are 3 staples that must be in place to have the Cobb Christmas dinner. They are: Ham, Mashed Potatoes, and Scalloped Corn. If any of these three are missing there is an uproar. Do we like scalloped potatoes? Yes, but there better be a bowl of mashed potatoes, too. Scalloped corn is basically creamed corn mixed with flour and eggs so it is very fluffy. As a result of these 3 items being the anchors of the Christmas meal these are the first to be gone during the left-overs season. Some family members will pick their favorite and just have a bowl of one dish, like a large bowl of mashed potatoes for lunch. The ham is usually converted to ham sandwiches with mustard.

Now there are 3 other things that must be at the Cobb Family Christmas festivities or you’ll have a riot and many trips to Meijer (the grocery store) to pick up supplies. They are: Coke, homemade Caramels, and homemade FUDGE! There has to be a steady stream of pop flowing through Cobb veins to keep them awake and able to put puzzles together until 2 am. Caramels are wrapped in wax paper and you cannot just eat one. Fudge comes in a variety and it is up to the baker to decide what they’ll make that year. We usually get a chocolate or chocolate-marshmallow. Then someone gets their “weird” fudges like maple or amaretto. It is also fun to see who will not check the fudge’s temperature correctly and mess up their batch. We usually have a batch of “frosting”–too soft fudge and “Brown Sugar Crystals”–fudge cooked too long. We’ll eat whatever we get. We will also eat “fudge crumbles” the little chards of fudge at the bottom of the pan from cutting the fuge up. One year my sister got a tupperware full of “fudge crumbles” as a gift from another sister.

Other family constants: green bean casserole, cinnamon jell-o salad, and Chex Mix