Day 24: Pre-Halloween

So, you can tell it is only one week until Halloween.  The kids are getting excited about their costumes, the Church is preparing for the annual Fall Festival, the school is preparing their tenth massive fundraiser of the year (yes, the kids have only been in school for six weeks, but why not try to bilk us for a few more dollars by forcing my daughter to spend precious school time "shopping" at the book fair, putting a "wish list" together of ten (yes TEN) overpriced books that she "has" to have, and then begging me incessantly to give her the $40 she needs to get the books), and there are treats and candy everywhere.

On Sunday, I realized just how hard the holidays are going to be.  Things started well when I had an early meeting.  My friend and fellow ketchup aficionado Paul, whom I have mentioned before (see Day 16), brought me a Reese Peanut Butter Cup.  Of course, he knew that I couldn't eat it, so at first, I was a little frustrated with him.  He then just asked me to take it.  I grabbed it in a huff, only to realize that the wrapper, which had not been opened, was empty.  He explained that he had bought some Halloween candy in preparation for the big day, opened it up to "test the bag for freshness," and the first one that he grabbed was sealed, but didn't have anything in it!  It was a great gift, a picture of which is below. 

This was truly the best Halloween gift anyone could give a dieter.  Thanks Paul!

So, this was not the only gift I received on Sunday.  When I got to church, I was offered a cookie.  It was a really good looking cookie.  Soft, oatmeally, it even had what looked like crasins.  My inner voice said, "This is a healthy cookie and you should eat it, lest you offend the person who gave it to you."  Then, my inner, inner voice said, "Don't fall for this malarky, shenanigans and tomfoolery" (that is right, Psych fans, my inner, inner voice actually pulled out the Big Three).  I chose to listen to my inner, inner voice (which seems to be getting louder and louder) and I politely told the friend who gave it that I was on a diet.  (This, by the way, is an interesting point, because frankly I have always hated telling people I am on a diet.  I have always been embarrassed by it.  Now that I am really into this diet, I tell people all the time, and for the most part, people have been really supportive.  People have asked how it is going, and in doing so, they keep me honest.  I really feel like I can't fail now because I will be letting others down in addition to myself.  For example, a friend of mine emailed me the other day and said that he was enjoying the blog and would be checking up on me to make sure that I succeeded.  What a great thing to say!). 

After church, the real temptation started.  My wife is in charge of our Young Womens organization at church, which basically means that she, along with several other women, help organize activities for the youth in our church along with several men in our Young Mens organization.  Each month we have a "fireside" in which someone comes and talks with the youth about various issues both temporal and spiritual in nature.  This month, the fireside was at our house.  These young men and women are so wonderful, it is a real pleasure to have them in our home.  Seriously, I don't know about other people and their experiences with teenagers, but every one of these kids is great. 

Since the fireside was at our house, there were lots of after-the-fireside treats.  There must have been 500 cookies, two plates of brownies, and, just to rub it in, Emily's pumpkin cake.  Emily, being the thoughtful wife she is, asked me to make some whipped cream, which, if you know me, is one of my very, very, very, very favorite things to eat (it is so light and fluffy, I have no idea how it could be bad for you).  It was hard, but I managed.  In the end, the fireside was a great success.  The food was descended upon and gobbled up like so many Halloween treats, and then, everyone left.  As I stood in the kitchen, washing a few dishes, I realized I was hungry (again).  As I ate an egg (about my 200th of the diet), I looked at the pumpkin bread, then the cookies, then the special plate of brownies that one of the young women had made especially for me (she didn't know I was on a diet), then the pile of whipped cream.  To be honest, I felt pretty good about myself.  There was a day when I would have eaten 1600 calories of desserts in one sitting.  As I took a bite of egg, struggling to keep my gag reflex from exercising its uncompromising dominion over the body, I realized that there may actually be a whole lot more to life than food.