Guilty Pleasures

Even though we are missing many of the “guilty pleasures” that we left behind (the vending machine stash for example) we are finding new little pockets of joy out here in SA. Darin has discovered a love of Pyotts Honey Mustard Pretzels. At home, he eats a bag of Meijer pretzels within a couple days and had been struggling to find pretzels since we've been here. Thanks to Pick 'N' Pay, his pretzel fetish can go on. I have discovered the joys of Cadbury Milk Chocolate bars. There are a slew of Cadbury flavors, but Milk Chocolate is the way to go. We “inherited” our laptop from Darin's dad, so we really owe him for the next two guilty pleasures, which he had installed on the computer: Scrabble and Zuma. You have all heard of Scrabble, I am sure, but it is way more fun playing against a computer than a super competitive spouse. At least for me it is. Zuma is on a whole different level. It is totally addicting and even someone with as little hand eye coordination as yours truly can actually have success at the game. I even beat Israel's high score in the “Gauntlet”. Sorry little brother.

I have developed a fondness for the Danon Yogurt out here in such delightful flavors such as Cranberry Litchi, Granadilla, Pineapple Kiwi, and so many more. We have a big tub of strawberry in the fridge right now and a couple little cups of Danon. Guess who's eating the strawberry? Yep, the kids. (Don't worry, it tastes fine).

At home, Darin is always harping on me to take short showers. Out here, we have well water in abundance and I LOVE sitting under the close to scalding water for as long as I want, which is pretty long at times because our bathroom is freezing (and we just discovered while we were outside tonight that you can totally see through the bathroom blinds. How nice.)

I am much less concerned about dirt out here. We aren't out to destroy the house, but I think that there is great freedom with tile floors. The kids love to play in the dirt. It's like they can't help themselves. Each time we walk down the dirt road, they have to bend down and pick up handfuls of dirt.

Doing the laundry is kind of a guilty pleasure too. There is something very relaxing about hanging the clothes out on the line and then taking down the fresh, but stiff, items after they have dried. I already mentioned having the washer in the kitchen, but it bears mentioning again. It is just handy dandy.

If you have Nickelodeon, you may recognize the next item on our list. We first discovered “Oswald” on a trip to Minnesota, after we checked the DVD out from our library. Our kids were so entranced that I made Darin buy us a copy of our very own to take to SA. It has been on at least once a day since we arrived, usually more like 2 or 3 times a day. Even Darin and I will sit down and watch Oswald hang out with his friends Daisy, Henry, Weenie the dog and more. We have picked up a whole new vocabulary like “Ring-a-ding-ding” and “he's the coo-coo-craziest”. One downside to the show is that Oswald is very fond of saying “oh my gosh”, something we don't let Tyson and Jori say. We often hear them saying it to each other while they watch, and then they start giggling like they are getting away with something really naughty. Even Jason and Liz got into Oswald, so it's not just us.

They have the best fruit juice out here. Darin's favorites are Litchi and Mediterranean Fruit Nectar Blend. The only one I have a real aversion to is Tropical Temptation. I couldn't figure out why it grossed me out, but then I realized it smelled like strawberry banana throw up, something Jori gave me the pleasure of experiencing.

We'll let you know what else we discover out here.