Just in Case You Didn't Believe Me

Um, yes, these are all in our pantry. That's 74 Pop-Tarts. I am very seriously addicted. Although, please note the package on the far right, the Chocolate Fudge flavor. Since I don't like chocolate, you can be assured I won't eat any from that package- they are Ben's. All of the rest are fair game. I'm pretty much refusing to take responsibility for my actions right now. You see, yesterday I went to Albertson's for their big half-price sale, with hamburger and Hamburger Helper on my list. I spent $11 and saved $13, and got enough food to make dinner for a week. I was rather proud of myself. I was also very proud of myself for passing up the fantastic deal on Pop-Tarts. 4 for $10, and if you buy $10 worth you get $3 off, so that's 4 for $7. I figured since we already had 3 boxes I could pass on the deal, since Pop-Tarts aren't exactly a health food.

I was so proud of myself that when I took Ben lunch, I had to brag about my unbelievable will-power. Instead of being excited about my resistance, he was severely disappointed that I hadn't bought the Pop-Tarts. So as our big evening outing we returned to Albertson's and purchased 4 boxes of Pop-Tarts, 2 1/2 gallons of ice-cream, a roast and a bag of potatoes. The cashier asked if he could come to our house for dinner.

In all fairness though, I'm going to blame this one on my dad. I'm pretty sure my dad is the one who taught me to eat them. And Dad is the one who started us going to Sam's Club, where they sell things like Pop-Tarts and Kool-Aid in bulk. Actually, I think we could go as far as to blame this addiction on Grandpa Ellis, my dad's dad. I believe it was he who started the Sam's Club shopping. Even if he didn't start that he definitely started this:Yes, that's 50% of our freezer space taken up by ice-cream. It was on sale for half-price, so I figured we should buy two. And no, it's not Blue Bell, they that don't sell that in Idaho (I know, I still cry about it sometimes). The chocolate was a welcome gift from the Relief Society, and Ben is loving that he gets chocolate ice-cream, a very rare treat for him. Please ignore the Pizza Rolls and Corn Dogs in the background, I don't even want to talk about them.

And yet another addiction I refuse to take responsibility for: Grey's Anatomy. Yes, the show is dumb and doesn't exactly hold a high moral standard. One fateful evening I was bored and my roommates enticed me to watch this show. I didn't understand what in the world was going on. Stupidly I asked, and the remainder of the commercial breaks were spent filling me in on the first couple of seasons that I had missed. Just like that I was hooked. I don't watch much TV, but I make a point to watch this show. Which meant that Ben had to endure 1 hour of melodrama once a week. He generally spent this time mocking, pointing out inaccuracies and occasionally taking interest in fascinating medical procedures, which he then had to research to find out if they were real (most of them are based on real medical cases). This semester Ben works on Thursday nights, so I thought it would be nice to not be irritated by his interruptions, and I thought he would appreciate not being forced to watch. Surprisingly, he was a little sad (because he likes the medical procedures of course) and made me give him a recap when he got home.

I can take responsibility for other people's addictions though. I got my mom addicted to Tostito's Hint of Jalapeno tortilla chips, right before they got discontinued. I also got her addicted to Fantastic Contraption. She has to call me to get hints so she can sleep at night.

So here is something for everyone to do: Think of an addiction you have (lets try to stay away from things that are actually harmful). Now pass it on to someone else. Ok, so this doesn't exactly help the world become a better place, but it's kinda fun, and it makes you feel a little better that you are not the only one who can't resist.