Before I ramble on and on about the weekend, I’d just like to say how proud I am that I have written things here that cause people to find my site when they google “My dog has a big, stinky glob on his teeth”. If that isn’t a sure sign that I’m cranking out some fine literary material, then I don’t know what is. I feel certain that Hemingway is rolling in his grave from the envy.
It is with deep regret and sadness that I inform you that I have now been without a Diet Coke for five days. And it’s with even more sadness that I tell you that it’s made all the difference in the world. The constant burning I had in my throat for over a month has been totally gone since Saturday. I believe that the Diet Coke and I have been in a dysfunctional relationship for the last four years. I have loved it with all my heart and soul while it has been trying to take down my esophagus. It’s the classic tale of heartbreak.
Girl meets beverage. Girl loves beverage. Beverage breaks girls heart and stomps it into a million pieces.
Fortunately as I strolled the aisles at HEB on Friday in a desperate quest for a rebound beverage, something caught my eye, Lipton Green Tea Mixed Berry flavor. It whispered in my ear and vowed it would never leave me broken-hearted like the Diet Coke, so I took it home with me and we’ll see what happens. As of this writing, I find it to be delightful and refreshing.
I even mentioned to a friend that I felt kind of healthy drinking Green Tea because it has so many health benefits. Her comment was that it was healthy when brewed the way the Chinese do it, but now that Lipton has gotten a hold of it there are no guarantees. Whatever. It totally says something about antioxidants on the label so I’m going with it.
Anyway, I’m just thankful that I found a new source of caffeine on Friday because I had no idea how much I was going to need it before the day was over. Our church hosts the occasional family movie night during the summer and this past Friday night was the first one. P took Caroline and her friend S out to eat dinner and then to movie night. Since they weren’t going to be home until about 9:00, I called S’s mom to see if she could spend the night which was the cause of many squeals of delight from the girls.
They got home around 9:15 all jacked up on movie candy and the sheer exhilaration that only comes from watching an overweight panda do some sweet Kung-Fu moves. The next thing I knew my living room had been transformed into some sort of beauty salon/horse stable for their American Girl dolls.
In truth, Caroline doesn’t actually have a real American Girl doll but rather the Our Generation knock-off doll from Target because when she asked for an American Girl doll last year for her birthday I didn’t believe that she’d actually ever play with any kind of doll and certainly wasn’t going to bet $100 on it. It’s a decision that I have been proud of because that doll had laid half-clothed and isolated in some semblance of purgatory for dolls for the better part of eleven months before Friday night. Not to mention, Caroline doesn’t know the difference.
Although the day is rapidly approaching when she’ll be able to read the “OUR GENERATION” tag that sticks out of Jenny’s torso.
Really she has only herself to blame because Santa got totally burned by the pink Pottery Barn Kitchen that he spent way too much money on about three years ago only to have her play with it approximately two times, one of which was the other day when I threatened to sell it. Poor Santa, he was just so naive and enthusiastic about shopping for a little girl who, as it turns out, would rather have her very own hot pink rifle.
The girls were having so much fun that I didn’t have the heart to make them go to bed. I loved sitting on the couch and listening to all their little conversations that began with “Let’s pretend that…”
“Let’s pretend that Jenny is going to help Ruthie brush her horse.”
“Let’s pretend that the horse is going to the beauty shop for horses.”
“Let’s pretend that Ruthie wants to get her hair cut really short.”
“Let’s pretend that Diet Coke isn’t some sort of toxic substance.”
Actually, I think that last one was mine.
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I lie to myself about antioxidants in tea too – the Lipton box says so therefore McDonald’s tea must have those too? I am trying to lessen my Coke Zero/Diet Coke dependence too, but am a big cheater as I sit and read your blog every morning drinking my Diet Coke and eating a Kashi bar. That’s such a sweet combination I can’t give it up yet – but I’m sure that the Diet Coke chemicals cancel out any good the Kashi does me.
That photo encompasses everyting a sleepover should.
As for the Diet Coke, I can empathize. Somehow, I need to tell Coca-Cola that it’s over. How do I tell the sweet nectar of life that it just wasn’t meant to be?
Hey since Lipton now makes green tea beverages, there may be enough “other stuff” in it to help preserve us from the inside out!
Dunkin’ Doughnuts coffee is my diet coke. The tragic end of you and DC’s relationship is making me concerned about mine, with DD coffee. Here’s to hoping we don’t have to call it quits, because then… I would probably cry.
That picture shows childhood at its finest!!
Uhm…yeah…with only boys our sleepovers involve things like
“Let’s pretend I am Wolverine and you are the bad guy and I D-E-S-T-R-O-Y YOU!”
and a whole lotta me saying
“Boys – cut it out”
“No fighting in the house”
“Let go of his head”
Just a sneak peak into the flip side of the coin.
Have a great day – DC free and all!
At least the Lipton tea has a CHANCE of offering some sort of health benefit, whereas the Diet Coke, no chance!
I do believe I have a photo similar to that one taken circa 1976 with my cousin. Too funny!
And I’m with you. I don’t care if Lipton has messed with the Green Tea. I will still drink it and feel as if I’m doing SOMETHING good. : )
You always make me smile! Another great post!
I bought the Target knock off too. It’s proven to work just fine, even as my daughter is 10 and devours full-length chapter books. It’s there when she needs it and I don’t freak when it gets thrown into the pile of oblivion.
Congrats on the Diet Coke thing. I’m a big fan of caffeine, so I say if there’s a “greener” alternative, go for it. Get it? GREENER???
That is too much humor for me this early in the morning.
Blessings,
Sandy
I have awful news for you. I am willing to be corrected, but I’m kinda thinking that green tea doesn’t have caffeine in it. Maybe someone else can verify for me???
Yeah, I bought the Target knock off too. I also was very proud of this choice because our doll is somewhere in the abyss of a bottomless toy chest of other thrown away toys. Poor Sunny. Is it pathetic that I bought her the doll that had the same name as me? HA!
So sweet! My kids play with their American Girl stuff in waves. Yesterday my 10 year old spent a few hours doing a photo shoot with her doll and my iphone! Too cute!
My girls’ My Generation dolls are tossed carelessly in the corner too. With ratty hair and just one shoe each.
They are so cute. I hope you find lasting happiness with your rebound beverage.
The girls are too cute.
I too am kicking my DC habit. Not so much because of health reasons, but rather due to the amount of money I was contributing to Sonic’s bottom-line each month. My husband thinks I have single-handedly been keeping them in the black.
How cute! I am going to have to try the Lipton Green Tea Mixed Berry!! I haven’t found anything that really refreshes me the way Diet Coke used to!
Ahh, the American Girl doll, the best $100 of my life, sitting in her still original clothes, at the bottom or the closet. I think in 2 years it has been played with 5 times. Congrats to you on not being sucked into that vortex of American Girl doll-a-topia. I wish we had gone to Target! (and yet I look at the adorable cloth dolls at Pottery Barn for roughly $50 and think she will maybe play with those- you know so cute, sweet, simple- yeah, I will stay away from that)
By the way– I go with the Diet Lipton green tea– I am sure that is healthy!! (no caffeine though!)
I didn’t think about this when you mentioned it before, but I have a friend who has acid reflux problems and is a Dr Pepper fiend. When she goes without the DP, she notices it gets better. But some days she falls off the wagon and hits the bottle, only to have the Doctor mess with her throat again. Why is everything so tasty SOOO bad for you!??!
Hi, my name is Marty. I’m a diet coke addict. I have tried to kick the habit several times. I just love the first sip, it’s so harsh and bubbly. Then it’s down hill from there.
I had the greatest conversation with my 6 year old grand daughter the other day. She knows the addiction well. She’s the child of a diet coke addict too. I’m at a drive thru and I’m ordering my LARGE DIET COKE WITH EXTRA ICE PLEASE and I hear from the back seat
“Hey Mama, my mom says diet coke is poison”
“yes, it is poison”
“why do you drink it then”
I HAVE NO GOOD ANSWER
“hey mama, why don’t you try only drinking it every other day or maybe you could only drink it on the weekends”
” that sounds like a good idea”
I actually believe it is very bad for me, why would I continue to drink it and teach my little one that it’s OK to indulge myself or that she won’t have to say No to something that’s bad for her just because she likes it.
Even now I’m dreaming of that first fizzy sip.
I went to a skincare seminar and the lady said that green tea is really only effective if you took it by IV. I know some southern women that would probably do that if they couldn’t drink it.
I’m happy for you that you found an alternative.
Emma, who is 6, has an AG doll too courtesy of the grandmother. I’m surprised how well she takes care of the doll.
I totally sympathize with you on the coke.. I stopped drinking it a month ago and have strong cravings for it at like 3 am. The kind of craving where it feels like nothing else will quench your thirst.
On another note, the girls are adorable! Caroline won’t care that it’s not an American Girl Doll.. I really hope my little one doesn’t care either, those dolls are too much $$$$! They are surely a grandparent gift =)
My dad swears by drinking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar diluted in a half cup of water every morning for acid reflux. It sounds strange, but he doesn’t even have to cut out the things that used to flare up the reflux anymore.
I kicked Diet Coke 3 years ago…and I can never have another…I fear if I have one sip I will be right back on the wagon…although, Starbucks and I have a much stronger relationship than we did prior to the ending of mine and DC’s relationship…I don’t drink nearly the amount…plus, my kidneys have stopped hurting!
I discovered about a year ago that I can’t have any caffeine at all anymore. None. That even means green tea. I didn’t have to have the doctor tell me, though, because I could feel my stomach trying to slowly crawl through my esophagus leaving a burning trail every time I had a Dr. Pepper (Oh, I miss them!!!) or even a hot cup of tea. There’s a lovely image for you.
Adorable photo! Thanks for informing me of this fabulous alternative to $100 dolls. I have a few years before I will have to make the name brand vs. knock-off doll decision, but I’ve already proven to spend too much money on dumb stuff for my 7 month old, so I am interested in any knock-offs that are available. I wish there was an Equate brand of everything from PB Kids!
I’m so sad that you feel better without DC. I was really hoping you were going to come back and tell us it was all a lie and diet coke could never cause any sort of bodily harm. So sad! However I am glad you are feeling better.
Stop it. Just stop knocking the diet coke. It can’t help that it is so delicious and deadly at the same time.
BTW, the girls are too cute and I can not wait until Baby Girl is at this age. Although, I’m terrified of letter her go anywhere else to stay the night. Yikes!
VERY IMPRESSIVE with the DC banishment! EXCELLENT self-restraint! And Green Tea HAS to be more healthy than diet anything!! YOU GO! Ok, so after I commented last week on your reflux situation I have started having flare-ups of my own GERD! Shaking fist! I have been upping my coffee & wine lately (it is summer break, is it not?) and this is all sorts of wrong. So how DO the Chinese brew their green tea?
My daughter and I went over to a friend’s house last night and her 3 year old little girl was so in to entertaining my 9 year old not-so-little-anymore girl. She was calling her “my new best friend.” We were getting into the car and my daughter said to me, “Whew, what is it with all the little kid’s being all about me these days? I just don’t really know what to do with their My Little Ponies and all those little toys.” You know, because now she’s begging me for a cell phone so she can have unlimited texting! What? Time, where did you go?
Oh my gosh, this is the first thing that’s made me laugh on a Monday which should have been a three day holiday but isn’t! Hot pink rifle!!! That’s a corker. Thank you so much because it describes my granddaughter to a tee and so often the humor is hard to find. Kinesthetic girls are a breed unto themselves.
I have been trying to stop the DC too. It is totally addictive, as I have been down this road before and have fallen off the wagon way too many times! However, I have cut down to 1 a day and hopefully will be able to eliminate all together. I have switched to Dite Rite as it has no calories, no aspartame (it has splenda), no sodium, and no caffeine! None of the good stuff, but it does help to satisfy the thirst. The best thing I have found though that I like the taste of is Cran Energy with Green Tea Extract and B vitamins. It has splenda instead of aspartame too. I mix a little in my water to flavor my water and drink it all day. It’s pretty good. THe caffeine and aspartame had me all hyped up and anxious all the time like a drug, but hard to let go. It was a cycle. However, this time, I’m hoping to really quit!!!
ummmm it’s not good for you. Brewing real tea is good for you, very good in fact and there are lots of yummy flavors. You can sweeten with stevia or whatever you like. If your short on time get a big glass jar put your tea and water in it and set it outside in the sun, it’ll work.
Kicking addictions is tough but your body will thank you.
Ha! Hot pink rifle! I love it.
When I quit drinking Pepsi 2 years ago my rebound drink was also Lipton green tea. I tried the citrus and really liked it, but then I found mixed berry and it was LOVE. Where I live, they stopped selling it and we only have citrus again, unless I want to drink the sparkling variety which is GROSS!
The girls are too cute! I’m having my first girl in October so I love seeing what’s going on with yours at the 5 year old stage. I feel your pain on DC. I’ve stopped Diet Coke cold turkey for this pregnancy (23 weeks) and I miss it desperately now that it is 1000 degrees out and my 2 year old wants to spend most waking moments outside! Hang in there…it will be worth it for your esophagus.
I gave up “cokes” for green tea two years ago…and now, when I drink a coke, I get heartburn…bad!!!!(my favorite is Iced Green Tea (Tazo) from Starbucks~you can also buy it in bottles pre-made)…
I stopped diet sodas a month ago upon doctors advise because of sodium and aspartame in it. He told me that the aspartame caused “incontinence” to be worse.
I’ve lost wait, saving money on sodas and “pads!” And feel a LOT better. Go figure. I’m drinking tea and water (and one cup of java) in the morning.
Those curlers are too cute. My daughter and her cousin talked on the phone the other day about 45 minutes, making a list and checking over it to make sure that they would be prepared for our upcoming visit together. I love these sweet friendships. There’s nothing like the beautiful smile of a child! So…pure!
Who knew about hot pink rifles?!!! Just what every mum in the world wishes to see on a Santa letter
the hot pink rifle? my firstborn daughter got one for Christmas last year. from her paternal grandfather. and she’d been asking for one for about a year prior. she was THREE when he gave it to her! you should have seen her face light up when she opened it.
she was almost as excited as i was when he brought me my new Glock last week! it was his present to me for bearing his first grandson a few weeks ago. :0)
My girls have Tolley dolls – also AG knock-offs. They play with them occasionally. But who cares about dolly girls when there are cheap plastic horses from the Dollar Store?
As a father of four daughters, I can totally spot the difference between the American Girl and the My Generation cyborg.
So with a little deductive reasoning, I can calculate which family has more disposable income left for such things as green tea and science fiction grade attic paint.
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