The Latta Family

 Alexa got cut on an alligator tooth today.  This is actually a true story.  Upon first examination of the wound, I wondered if I would have to take her to get stitches.  The cut is pretty long.  And there is a spot where the toe got hung on the tooth, that's a little worrisome.  I'm gonna keep a check on this today and see what I think as the day goes on.   Are you like- Kate, give it up.  Alexa did not get injured by alligator!  But she did.  For real.  That is a stuffed alligator head.  It was previously a real alligator- the living, breathing, predator kind.  Why is it at my house?  The story makes complete sense once you hear it.  My mother is involved.  Those of you who know my mom- are like, "Say no more Kate.  This makes total sense."  How did my mom obtain this alligator head?!  Somehow when my brother was in college, he came into possession of this alligator head.  When he ...

 Are y'all familiar with the children's story, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Numeroff?  If not- here's the basic premise.  The little boy, gives his mouse friend a cookie, but the mouse decides it needs some juice to go with the cookie, and the juice reminds him he likes apples, which then he has to go do . . . anyway.  By the end of the book, the boy and the mouse had many adventures all because the boy gave the mouse a cookie.  There are several similar books: "If You Give a Moose a Muffin," "If You Give a Pig a Pancake . . " anyway.   Let me preface this story by saying . . . everytime I say "need" please know- I don't actually need  any of these things and I am 100% fully aware of that, which is why I was getting so frustrated with myself.   The other day I was sitting on my couch and thought, "I should move my coffee pot."  Right now it's sitting on a make shift coffee spot, on a piece of furniture.  I...

 Wow.  I am a terrible blogger.  I just went 2 months with not a word.  I didn't even tell you how the "No Processed Sugar" situation ended.  Also- I was just looking at my statistics over the last ten years, and I'm on track to have the lowest amount of blogs published in a year.  What have I been doing this year?!   1. The No Processed Sugar.  I did it.  I made it 21 days and then I went crazy and have been eating sugar like a lunatic since.  I like sugar.  I like baked goods mostly.  I love cookies and pumpkin muffins and brownies.  Do I eat candy?  Yes.  But you know what?  I don't love it.  I know.  That's some crazy talk because I do love chocolate.  Here's what I've noticed- I will eat the heck out of it, but if I really stop to think about it . . . I don't actually love it.  I like it, but frequently I find out the actual flavor of it is . . . too sweet.  I think that's ...

 Technically, it's not quite 14 days.  Tomorrow morning is officially 14 days.   I'll say this, I'm surviving.  And this week it's been easier than last week.  I still want treats, but not with that same level of desperation I did last week.  Last week I needed cheerleading and being talked off the ledge and I had to pep talk myself a lot.  This week . . . I haven't had to get any cheerleading.  I've also not really needed to pep talk myself much.  In some ways I am feeling positive and in others . . . I am feeling frustrated.  I have definitely noticed some patterns.  I'm feeling positive because yes! I'm doing this, and it's definitely getting easier in the day to day.   I'm frustrated because the patterns I've noticed, are going to be hard to avoid when I release myself from the challenge.  1. I want sugar when I'm stressed, but the feeling goes away fast.  So I just have to wait it out.  I can do th...

 I'm going to start this by saying, if you can't laugh when people say nuts- this blog post isn't for you.   Andrew recently got his permit.  I am the official new driver rider.  Andrew is suddenly willing to go anywhere with me- even a few weeks ago, when I went to a store to buy underwear.  He was willing to drive me, knowing the destination would be totally awkward and uncool.  (I won't lie- that trip was totally a test to see how interested he is in driving.  Pretty interested apparently.  We went our separate ways upon entering the store, but . . . he knew his mom was buying the dreaded underwear.).   Have you driven with a new driver recently?  Holy smokes it is stressful.  You see so many things you want to warn about (there are other cars braking 1 mile away, the light 3 intersections up is turning red, don't speed in case a mountain lion comes jetting out in front us- they move fast and are unpredictable.) but . ....

 I mentioned on the last blog post, that I had reached a point where it was time to take a break from sugar.  It had reached a pretty unhealthy level.  I cleared through a bag of Hershey Nuggets- family size, by myself in 3 days.  I didn't stop eating my nightly ice cream.  I just realized I had perhaps become too reliant on using sugar to help deal with stress.   It's not a life style I'm adopting.  I will not follow a diet where I'll never eat sugar, when the 21 days is up.  I just needed a reset.   Here's how it's going after 7 days, with 14 more to go:  1. I have not had any headaches, shakes, frothing at the mouth. puking, extreme grumpiness etc (side note- if you ever watched Little House on the Prairie, do you remember the episode where Pa helped Albert overcome his morphine addiction?  That haunted me for life.  That episode is why I'm still afraid of drugs to this day.  I never want to go through a dryin...

 Here's just a weird collection of "stuff:" 1. Dogs.  Boy I tell you.  Dogs are smart.  They are so good at training us dumb humans.  Our older dog would get 2 meals a day (before the puppy).  She got dry food, a drizzle of low sodium chicken broth, and a scoop of canned dog food.  It's the highlight of her day- twice a day.  With the puppy I was going to be very disciplined.  She was not going to get all that nonsense, or table food, or extra treats.  She doesn't get table food- unless she steals it (Alexa tends to not pay attention, and I'm sorry if you leave a peanut butter and jelly sandwich unattended a dog is gonna get it.).  A few weeks ago, the puppy started this weird thing.  We feed both dogs at the same time, not in the same place.  But Dixie (the puppy) would sit about 6-8 feet from Gracie (far enough to be appropriately respectful, but close enough to swoop in and check out the bowl when Gracie had completely ...