Danger

After reading multitudes of articles written about the dangers of artificial sweeteners, we are trying to break our diet soda/equal in coffee and tea addiction.  Ugh!  It's not easy.  Not for someone who loves the sweet bubbly goodness of Dr. Dr. Pepper.  But we are trying hard.  We have a few left, but I am not buying anymore.  We are drinking more water, seltzer, and attempting to force ourselves to like our tea and coffee completely unsweetened.  My only indulgence is 1 teaspoon of real sugar in my 1st cup of coffee in the morning.  It is way less sweet than I am used to, but I am determined to acclimate.  It's really interesting how my body has responded...like truly breaking a real addiction.  The first few days I felt tired, out of sorts, and headachey.  I am still drinking coffee and tea so it shouldn't have been caffeine withdrawal..?  Unless it was a matter of less caffeine than usual.  I don't know, but this hasn't been as easy as just deciding to stop using artificial sweeteners.  It's getting better though so it's not impossible.  It helps to picture that can of Diet Dr. Pepper as a cesspool of toxic chemicals, which seems to be more of a reality than any of us realized.  Oh well, I am going to keep on with this and hope it will eventually feel more natural than depriving.

So, our rescue pup, Penny had to go back to the vet this week.  She is still undergoing treatment for a stubborn case of mange.  Its not contagious and is brought on by a badly suppressed immune system, and she is still battling it.  Poor thing.  She had been particularly whiny and restless over the past week and we weren't sure what was going on.  Turns out she has a nasty ear infection that probably was awfully painful.  More meds...more medicated shampoos....I am so tired of it.  I KNOW she is tired of it.  But the good news is that she is getting better.  Her ear must be a lot better because she is resting better and is calm and happier.  She has been through so much trying to get well again.  

Hopefully she is well on her way to recovery now.

Anyway, that is our past week in a nutshell.  Bruce is exhausted from working these 6 day weeks but it looks like his sub will be back by the end of August.  Stephen and Hannia close on their new house tomorrow, so that is really exciting!  And Erica got accepted to attend a biology conference in Boston in October, so I now have plans to see my daughter this fall.  That makes me a happy camper and gives me the resolve to make it through the rest of my most dreaded of all seasons....the long, hot summer.  There is light at the end of the tunnel after all.  :)