The Shame Squad

One of the things I will remember most about Pappaw is his hands.  By the time I arrived, he would have been in his mid-fifties, and his hands were already weathered and worn, but he remained kind and gentle. His hands had done so much hard work on his family's farm growing up, followed by his service with the CCC, and of course, the war.  His hands would pen letters to my grandmother during the war, using code to let her know where he was stationed.  In an era when "loose lips might sink ships," they wrote each other and would casually mention a fictitious neighbor, whose initials revealed the first two letters of the country he was in.  During World War II, they often wrote about Bill Underwood, whose initials were code for Burma. My favorite war story, though, was what Pappaw did upon receiving news that the war was over.  Although he never drank after he returned home, he did celebrate the occasion properly at the time.  Having knocked a few back, he also decided

We're just going to skip the 21st - 23rd, okay?  Okay.  It's not that I ate horribly, in fact, for the most part, I didn't eat all that much.  When I did eat, it was soup.  Soup makes me feel less sad.  And I just don't have that many jokes about chicken noodles. Saturday, I slept through breakfast.  Then we headed to Lost Rhino for lunch because they have beer.  I had a salad with avocado, a handful of nuts, beer (Rhinoel, specifically), and water. I had a few of Chris' nachos and pretzels.  Here he is looking sad.  I think it was because he ran out of beer. Then I went over to Amy's house so Amy, Diana, and I could talk about All the Crazy People.  Which took 4 hours because we know LOTS of crazy people.  (Not YOU, of course.)   Diana made us a 250 calorie Mexican pizza, which tasted just like  the one from Taco Bell.  Ingredients were a flatout wrap, fat free refried beans, 2% cheese, Taco Bell taco sauce, tomatoes, and red onions.  It was very yum

Sorry I've been quiet.  It's been a really long, complicated week.  I need a distraction, so I hope you'll indulge me as I give you the highlights of the rest of our trip (it's not everything I ate, but there are pictures of pandas).  Plus, grandpa loved to laugh and joke.  So hopefully I'll make you laugh a little too. When I last wrote, I had just finished the 5k.  Because Chris and I are occasionally Not Smart, we decided to go walk around California Adventure with our friends the day after my race, and the day before his.  While we're making hilarious decisions, how about second breakfast of grapes and chips & salsa?  (I think first breakfast was some eggs and Cheerios at the hotel?  Maybe?) The group insisted I take a before-and-after picture of the giant salad I ate for lunch.  (I was hungry.)  Now you see it... Now you don't! I also had a slice of pizza.  And calamari!  And beignets!  Because why not?!  (Did I mention that we were