So in beginning to think about pregnancy, I have been thinking about all the eating/drinking things I need to change. The biggie for me is caffeine... (and sushi)... but mostly caffeine.
I have been going back and forth over whether or not to completely cut it out, and if I do should I start now? I really don't drink THAT much... it is mostly just Dr. Pepper. I LOVE Dr. Pepper, and unlike coffee, I cannot just switch to decaf.
I actually found out a few months ago that caffeine-free Dr. Pepper does exist.. and I got super excited... until I realized that the closest store that sold them was in a different state.
Which begs the question of why? Why is there caffeine in soda?
I love my Dr. Pepper (DP from now on), but I don't want to HAVE to have it everyday. It is not good for my health, it is not good for my teeth, and it is not cheap like water or sweet tea (my second favorite drink). But because I drink it as frequently as I do, if I don't have a DP by 11am, I have a migraine.
When did it become ok to add addicting drugs with full on withdrawal symptoms to our beverages? I have quit caffeine 2-3 times over the past 10 years, and it usually lasts about 2-3 weeks (well a month if you consider the week of miserable migraines while I quit) until I want a soda, usually a DP, and as soon as I have one, I have to go through the whole withdrawal process all over again.It is frustrating.
Is it too much to ask to have soda without extra drugs readily available?
At a restaurant the only caffeine-free soda ever available is Sprite.. which really isn't soda. You can get diet everywhere, but not decaf.
In the stores, you can usually find regular coke in decaf, but anything else you find in decaf is also diet, and I HATE diet.
This caffeine addiction is soo epidemic that "The Headache Medicine"- Excederine, has caffeine in it. (There are many days when I am out of DP when I will just pop an Excederine to get rid of the headache). It is frustrating.
I am not saying we should ban the use of caffeine or anything like that, but I think it is a little shady of the soda companies to put a flavorless, unneeded addictive substance in their drinks and not give you a choice.
So my plan is to start special ordering Caff free DP, and stocking up on it... and then try quitting once again. Maybe once I start special ordering it, it will be more readily available in my grocery store and I can stick to my quitting.
We will see...
March 14, 2012
In the Battle of Crochet vs. Knitting: Crochet Wins
So I started this post a week and a half ago, and stopped because I wanted to add photos... and never did. So I am going to add photos and updates before I post this. (this is why I am practicing a blog so I can get in the habit.)
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Last year I decided I wanted to learn how to create things with yarn. I wanted to be able to have a hand-made blanket for my children that I put love and effort into and made with thought just of them that they can keep forever. I still have blankets and quilts made by grandmothers and great grandmothers for my parents and grandparents. I feel as this got a little lost in the last few generations, and want to bring it back for my kids. I honestly didn't (and in some ways still don't) know the difference between knitting and crocheting, except that one uses one needle and one uses two. So I decided to learn how to knit (since that is what they all did in that one episode of Grey's Anatomy)... I made it halfway through a scarf before giving up, and had decided that I have my mother's crafting ability and there was a reason this skill was lost.
This weekend we visited my in-laws house and my mother-in-law (who is much craftier than my mother) taught me how to crochet... OMG... it is a MILLION times easier. The funny thing is they aren't all that different. I still cannot tell by looking at something if it is crocheted or knitted. The main difference in my mind is one uses one helpful hook for making stitches, and helps you keep the stitches on and grab the right stitch, and one has 2 needles that are difficult to manage, and the main concentration is making sure they do not fall off of said needle. In the 4 days week and a half I have been crocheting so far, I am almost done with have finished a scarf (it started out as a blanket, because that is what my husband wanted me to make, but I decided that it is more important that I feel as if I can finish a project, so I changed it into a scarf.)
The Pink scarf is my knitted scarf. I worked on it on and off for about 6 months before giving up. I will say, I taught myself how to knit, and not knowing that tight stitches are not best, I made very tight stitched, so it took a long time and was difficult.
The multicolored scarf is crocheted, I once again made very tight stitches which makes it harder, (apparently I like it hard....). This took me 2.5 weeks (working on and off).
So that being said I put my 2 cents into the knitting vs. crochet debate, LEARN CROCHET! It is sooo much easier.
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Last year I decided I wanted to learn how to create things with yarn. I wanted to be able to have a hand-made blanket for my children that I put love and effort into and made with thought just of them that they can keep forever. I still have blankets and quilts made by grandmothers and great grandmothers for my parents and grandparents. I feel as this got a little lost in the last few generations, and want to bring it back for my kids. I honestly didn't (and in some ways still don't) know the difference between knitting and crocheting, except that one uses one needle and one uses two. So I decided to learn how to knit (since that is what they all did in that one episode of Grey's Anatomy)... I made it halfway through a scarf before giving up, and had decided that I have my mother's crafting ability and there was a reason this skill was lost.
This weekend we visited my in-laws house and my mother-in-law (who is much craftier than my mother) taught me how to crochet... OMG... it is a MILLION times easier. The funny thing is they aren't all that different. I still cannot tell by looking at something if it is crocheted or knitted. The main difference in my mind is one uses one helpful hook for making stitches, and helps you keep the stitches on and grab the right stitch, and one has 2 needles that are difficult to manage, and the main concentration is making sure they do not fall off of said needle. In the
The multicolored scarf is crocheted, I once again made very tight stitches which makes it harder, (apparently I like it hard....). This took me 2.5 weeks (working on and off).
So that being said I put my 2 cents into the knitting vs. crochet debate, LEARN CROCHET! It is sooo much easier.
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