The Glass Castle

I just finished reading this book, The Glass Castle. It is the memoir of a girl who grew up with eccentric parents. The family was quite poor but the parents seldom worked hard to change their situation. The father was an alcoholic and the mother was happy to live on the street. The children learned to survive their hardship by protecting themselves and rummaging for food in the school garbage.

I told my parents yesterday that the book reminded me of my life. Not that we were poor or that my parents were eccentric, but we did some strange things. Like when we went in the mountain to search for gold. On the drive, we would look for pop cans. When we spotted one, my dad would pull over and Kim and I would jump out to go get the cans. Somehow my dad made it fun. Or how about how my dad would take all of his old negatives and burn them to get silver out of the ashes. I thought we would make it big one day. Instead we just made a lot of smoke.

My mom would come along on all the outings and read her books. To get her attention we would yell, "Fire!" and then we were able to ask her a question. There was the time she didn't trust a rope bridge that we were about to drive over and she made us get out and walk across it so we wouldn't crash down while my dad drove over it. I got slivers because we had to rush out of the van without time to put my shoes on.

But all in all I had a great childhood. We all must learn from the family God gives us. I learned to be a little odd.

Cholesterol

Steve's cholesterol is high. When we got back to America we had some blood drawn for a blood test. Steve's cholesterol was high three years ago and he hasn't made any changes, so it was no surprise to see that it was still high. Even higher. So he is making a change. He is no longer putting sugar in his coffee. To me, that is stupid. I don't see that it will make a big difference. And I really don't want him to die, so I wish he would get on medication.

Steve asked a doctor friend if he should get some medicine to lower his cholesterol. But our friend said that usually you can lower it through exercise and some diet changes. So yesterday Steve bought some running shoes. He seems to do that every time we come to America.

It is really hard to make diet changes in our short time in America. We meet with friends over food, stay with moms that like to cook, and eat at fast food junk joints on our road trips. And Steve isn't really interested in making diet changes, besides the sugar in his coffee.


Yesterday we had a nice breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast (with butter). We eat lots of red meat for dinner. And then some McDonald's hamburgers for lunch. I wonder what we will do today to help lower the cholesterol intake?

Granny Underwaer

As I was putting on my clean underwear today, I was realizing how much I like them. They are not only granny underwear in that they are big and go up past my jeans, but they also came from Steve's grandma. They are probably the most expensive underwear that I will ever own and it is obvious that you really do get what you pay for. I have had them for three years and they are in much better condition than the Hanes I bought around the same time. I never have to pick and pull. And what is even funnier is that I am sure she wore them for some time before she passed them on to me. Now, I don't usually wear hand-me-down underwear, but, like I said, these are quality and I would never buy them for myself. So go Granny!

Making Money

As you may notice, I have an ad on my blog now. That is because I am told I can make a bunch of money from all the people that are interested in it and click on it. Now, I am not asking you to click on all the ads or anything, I am just testing this for a trial period to see what it is all about. Kind of like drugs.

Bushy Eyebrows

I have read, recently, that bushy eyebrows are the trend of the season. So now I am trying to be trendy and let my eyebrows grow in. I only started plucking or threading while I have been in India. I have always had naturally thick eyebrows. I suppose most people do, but then they start plucking and have permanent hair loss. Never fear, you can use Rogaine to fill in those eyebrows. So go ahead and embrace your full eyebrows! I know I will.

White Teeth

I want white teeth! I thought of this while I drank some Diet Coke. I don't think Diet Coke helps you get white teeth. What does?

A lot of people in america have white teeth, I have noticed. I mean seriously white teeth. I can't help staring at their teeth. Like a pastor we met last week. He had shiny white teeth. I tried to look at his wife's teeth to see if she also had the pearly white teeth, but I couldn't get close to her face at the moment I was thinking about it.

So do you have to go to a dentist to get that white of teeth? Or is it just some dental strip? And why are people so in to white teeth? Is it just a fad? Do people notice that my teeth aren't white? Should I do something drastic, like give up dark beverages? Does milk make white teeth? These are my questions.