Sistah Pat

I have one sister and I love her dearly. Three brothers. I had two sons, my brothers all had sons, my sister had a son. My sons had sons. Even our dogs and cats were males. Surrounded by men, I couldn’t wait until the day I had a daughter in law to go shopping with, to chat with, to do “woman” things. Didn’t get it. Got two dingbats that drive me crazy.

David finally broke it to us yesterday. He let Stacy come home. She promises to do better. One psycho, bipolar, totally self-absorbed DIL.

Then there’s the other one…Tina. Darryl started seeing her 20 years ago as a “friend”. He “felt sorry for her”. He and his friend got pregnant with twins and have been bickering and arguing ever since. They’re still married although I don’t know why. They haven’t lived together for two years. He has his girlfriends and she has her boyfriends. They did, eventually, give me a granddaughter and then proceeded to ruin her. She’s in the third grade and can barely read. She’s already failed once and they’ve been told there’s no way she’ll pass this year. She stays up all night and sleeps all day during school. She sits in front of the TV, munching Little Debbie Cakes and drinking soda and has learned to fend for herself. She misses at least one day a week of school.

Yesterday, Tina told me that she’s leaving for Disney World this morning. Disney World???? Why are you going to Disney World? Doesn’t Holly have school? She tells me she wants to take her to Disney World as a treat because I took the boys on a cruise over Christmas and she wants Holly to get to take a trip. She isn’t going to miss an entire week of school…only four days. They’ll be home Thursday. True, I took the boys on a cruise but they’re 18 years old, they live with us, and it was over Christmas Break. And I gave Holly boucoup bucks worth of goodies for Christmas. I said, “Why don’t you wait for spring break?” It’ll be crowded over spring break. I said, “It’s going to take you two days to get there, you’ll spend one day, and then two days to get home.” I know…that’s okay. She’ll still enjoy it. I said, “Tina, she really shouldn’t miss so much school. She’s already so far behind.” She says, “They already said she’s going to fail the year so it won’t make any difference.”

So then, two hours later, Tina is sobbing and crying to DS because her truck blew up and needs a new motor and it’s going to cost almost $400.00 to get one and she just doesn’t have that kind of money. So, she rents a super-duper van with a TV and all kinds of goodies to drive to Florida and, including the insurance, it costs her $395.00. For five days. For one day at Disney World. If she can’t afford $400.00 for a new motor, how can she afford $1,000 for hotels, meals, Disney World, and a van? And then, when she gets home, her truck will still be out of commission.

This whole thing is so stupid it’s beyond belief. Then Holly lets it slip…”Mommy’s taking her boyfriend with us.” Well, then, that explains it. Doesn’t it? It’s not about taking Holly on a trip at all. It’s about Tina and her boyfriend getting to take a trip and taking Holly along for the ride.

Really…I’m not that picky. I just want a woman in my life who has some measure of common sense, responsibility, and commitment to her family. Is that asking so much?

9:00 am - Splish Splash!

I’m getting ready to jump back up on that wagon. After next weekend’s outing with the girls, I’m prepared to come home and get back to eating healthy and exercising starting next Monday. I’m ready for it. I’m actually looking forward to it. I’m tired of eating junk and laying around. One of the things I hear about so often is how beneficial water is to weight loss. I don’t believe that. I know a lot of people do but I did some research on the topic a while back and here’s what I found out:

Top Ten Diet Myths - Myth: Drinking lots of water will help you lose weight.

Fact: If your daily drinking habits consist of sweetened teas, juice drinks and sodas, then replacing them with water can result in consuming fewer calories, which can lead to weight loss. But simply upping your water intake will not, unfortunately, help you shed pounds…

Five Myths About Drinking Water - …Scientists say there’s no clear health benefit to chugging or even sipping water all day. So where does the standard advice of drinking eight glasses each day come from? “Nobody really knows,” says Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a kidney expert at the University of Pennsylvania….

Dieting Myths - Four Common Dieting Myths Exposed - …We’ve all seen someone around the office or at the gym lugging around a gallon of Sparkletts in the hopes that drinking water will help them lose weight. While there is certainly nothing harmful about indulging in this diet myth, there is no connection between consuming water and losing weight…

Diet Blog - The Mythical Daily Water Requirement - 8 glasses - that’s what most people think they need as a daily requirement. Copious water intake is supposed to keep organs functioning properly, skin supple and body weight at bay. Nonsense! - say researchers from the University of Pennsylvania who conducted a study to test these theories (which will be published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology).

ABC of Fitness - Staying hydrated is essential to keep the body in top shape, but those who hold on to the belief that drinking more water will keep the extra weight at bay are sadly mistaken. Yes, your stomach will feel fuller for a little while, but eventually, your body will still crave for food to satisfy its nutritional needs. Also, contrary to popular belief, drinking excessive amounts of water will not speed up one’s metabolism nor will it flush fat away.

I could go on but you get the point. I don’t drink a lot of water. I drink when I’m thirsty. I don’t drink soda or fruit juice. I drink coffee, I drink unsweetened tea, occasionally, I drink a diet soda. I drink water when I want a drink of water. I usually wind up drinking about 3 glasses of water a day.  When I’m trying to be good, I try to drink more but I think I’m done with that.  I don’t think I’m going to lug a water bottle around and try to force myself to drink it just for the health benefits. When I need a glass of water, I think my body will let me know I’m thirsty.  Anybody else got an opinion?