Things that make you smile

[Jembru]

Re: Things that make you smile

Dates!! I usually buy prunes because I read that they're really good for you and have lots of age-fighting goodies in. Honestly though, I'm not keen on them and have to force myself to eat them.

Well, the discount store had a big 250g of dates that was half what I normally pay for prunes. I figured they're kind of the same thing and forcing myself to eat one crappy health food or another, makes no difference.

BUT.. OMG they are delicious. Why did no one tell me these things existed? I looked up online and they have all the same qualities that prunes have, if not more. My taste buds register them as something very similar to fudge. Must be all the sugar.. which is the one down side. The sugars DO make them pretty high in calories (I think I worked out at just under 700 if I ate the whole bag!!), and while this wasn't an issue with prunes because I stopped long before I was in any danger of overeating, I think I could be in trouble with these bad boys.

[volcaniclastic]

Re: Things that make you smile

Dates!! I usually buy prunes because I read that they're really good for you and have lots of age-fighting goodies in. Honestly though, I'm not keen on them and have to force myself to eat them.

Well, the discount store had a big 250g of dates that was half what I normally pay for prunes. I figured they're kind of the same thing and forcing myself to eat one crappy health food or another, makes no difference.

BUT.. OMG they are delicious. Why did no one tell me these things existed? I looked up online and they have all the same qualities that prunes have, if not more. My taste buds register them as something very similar to fudge. Must be all the sugar.. which is the one down side. The sugars DO make them pretty high in calories (I think I worked out at just under 700 if I ate the whole bag!!), and while this wasn't an issue with prunes because I stopped long before I was in any danger of overeating, I think I could be in trouble with these bad boys.

Fun fact - it's recommended you don't eat more than 2-3 prunes per day. The poops!

(I learned the hard way - I LOVE eating prunes...and ate 7-8 of them in a day once. It was an unhappy day the next day...)

[Jembru]

Re: Things that make you smile

Fun fact - it's recommended you don't eat more than 2-3 prunes per day. The poops!

(I learned the hard way - I LOVE eating prunes...and ate 7-8 of them in a day once. It was an unhappy day the next day...)

Oh I've eaten waaay more than that before and had no problem. It was an ordeal, but only because I find prunes vile (actually think I wrote a rant about them a few months back). I guess when you've been vegetarian since early childhood, your stomach can handle anything. Well, besides coffee. Too much coffee doesn't seem to agree with me. It does explain why celebs eat prunes before a red carpet event though. Bet the toilets at those things aren't nearly so glamorous. I thought it was because they cause you to lose water. I tried it before a wedding recently. Actually, I did look super skinny that day, but also a lot like a prune myself. ^^

[Medusa]

Re: Things that make you smile

I eat dates/prunes on a regular basis. They are a quick pick me up snack when my sugar drops. And it's better than candy bars.

[Maria de Luna]

Re: Things that make you smile

Fun fact - it's recommended you don't eat more than 2-3 prunes per day. The poops!

(I learned the hard way - I LOVE eating prunes...and ate 7-8 of them in a day once. It was an unhappy day the next day...)

This problem is not so bad, if you are fairly regular, but if you are not used to regular pooping... they... loosen you up. Its why alot of older people eat them, the prunes keep them...moving. My husband likes raisin bran, but cannot eat it for this very reason... so he eats gravy... *sigh*

[volcaniclastic]

Re: Things that make you smile

This problem is not so bad, if you are fairly regular, but if you are not used to regular pooping... they... loosen you up. Its why alot of older people eat them, the prunes keep them...moving. My husband likes raisin bran, but cannot eat it for this very reason... so he eats gravy... *sigh*

Well, being in geology, in the field (aka somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the arctic) it's usually less than ideal to be regular. It's better to get all yer pooping out before you head off to work, because it sucks having to drop drawers when: there's a million mosquitoes, or 100km/hr winds, sleet, rain, snow, or sub zero temps.

^ the secrets of my life!

(at home I don't care and nom on prunes all I like)

[Maria de Luna]

Re: Things that make you smile

Well, being in geology, in the field (aka somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the arctic) it's usually less than ideal to be regular. It's better to get all yer pooping out before you head off to work, because it sucks having to drop drawers when: there's a million mosquitoes, or 100km/hr winds, sleet, rain, snow, or sub zero temps.

^ the secrets of my life!

(at home I don't care and nom on prunes all I like)

I totally Understand, being regular in Iraq is no fun eigther if you are out on mission... dropping trau driving through rural baghdad is not only not "ideal" (only girl there... and someone has to watch your back...) it is quite dangerous... basically, what I'm getting at is... ya hold it...

Even if you have a proper iraqi toilet... their version is a flushable hole in the floor, which no one flushes... I never did manage to get the hang of it...

[shadow1982]

Re: Things that make you smile

It's only taken me how many years but I finally went through my settings and figured out how to turn on smilies, image links etc :grin: I only ever had a text box before and couldn't work out how people were doing it till now.

[Jembru]

Re: Things that make you smile

This problem is not so bad, if you are fairly regular, but if you are not used to regular pooping... they... loosen you up. Its why alot of older people eat them, the prunes keep them...moving. My husband likes raisin bran, but cannot eat it for this very reason... so he eats gravy... *sigh*

This explains why they have no affect on me! There is no shortage of fibre in my diet. In fact, I love to boast that so far in my 30 years, I am yet to experience the joys of constipation. Sure it's not fun. Think I can add that to my list of things that make me smile!

[thalassa]

Re: Things that make you smile

Some days I miss the Navy...

[Jembru]

Re: Things that make you smile

This will be long because I talk a lot when I am excited. I'm smiling because last night was the confidence boost I so desperately needed. I'm not talking about reassurance that my Japanese is fine, I know my ability level and I'm okay with it. It was a weird but fun night. I thought it was just Chikae's friend and her students, but it was actually a gathering of Japanese professionals living in NE England. Miki just thought it would be good for her students to meet real Japanese people. What happened though, was the students ended up sitting together at the very end of what was 4 tables pushed together and the Japanese (and one Englishman married to a Japanese woman) were all at the other end. We came in 5 minutes late, and it seemed the students just glared at us when we walked in, and never made any effort to speak to us all night. So JP and I ended up sitting with the Japanese folks.

I was hoping to make friends with the students because they were from JP's home town and we visit his gran there quite often. It would have been lovely to have Japanese speaking friends to visit there too. I honestly don't know why they wouldn't talk to us. If I'd said something, I'd say maybe I put my foot in my mouth or seemed up my arse or something, but I literally just introduced myself to Miki and started talking about Middlesbrough so they'd overhear that JP is Middlesbrough no shusshin and have something to talk to us about.

Never mind. I'm way less shy speaking Japanese to Japanese people anyway, because they're more forgiving. So after all that fear, it was fine. Chikae text me on my way home to let me know her friend said my Japanese was 'excellent' (I'm sure she was just being polite, but as she said it to Chichan and not me, I'll let myself have just this one), so that was nice. Actually, I was asked twice 'do you often speak to Japanese friends' which I understood as, 'wow, you speak way too casually for such a highbrow event', but by then, I'd stopped caring.

The compliment on my Japanese however, was nothing compared to not one but two of the female guests telling me I'm thin! I'll hold onto that memory every time I dispair at my reflection... When I think about it, last time I saw Chichan she said I'd lost weight and was 'half a Jem', and Miyo commented on my weight, asking how I stay so slim on English food, on just our second face to face meeting, so I wonder if it is more usual for the Japanese to mention these things to one another. Even my closest British friends never tell me when they think I have lost weight, yet a Japanese person is happy to discuss weight with a total stranger.

Oh and I met the sweetest 13 year old girl. She sat with me all night and was really easy to understand because she used textbook Japanese (she was only speaking to elders!). I overheard her talking to her mum about me and she called me her friend! Her mum, who claims to speak no English at all but I bet she knows more English than I know Japanese really, told me I'd made quite an impression on her daughter, who apparently called me cute!

Oh and the only non Japanese at our end of the table, besides JP and I, turned out to be an ex teacher from the same chain of schools I worked for in Japan (that's how he met his wife!). So we had great fun walking down NOVA memory lane together!

I was very proud of JP too. For someone with very little grasp of Japanese grammar, he spoke so eloquently and everyone understood him perfectly. I think his instinct for grammar is amazing!

All in all a good night and well worth the effort!

[RiverSong]

Re: Things that make you smile

What makes me smile today is that I can haz internets again. :3
My week without it has been boring and too isolating. And the best part is, people who I thought didn't care for me freaked out on Facebook over it... weirdly they noticed the silence for five days and contacted my sister in worry, saying that it's not normal for me to be away for that long. LOL!
And those who are my close friends, I missed them so much and they missed me, that I realize that I'm not as lonely as I seem to feel sometimes. I do have friends that notice when I'm not around and feel some kind of way about it. It makes me smile. ^_^

[Caelia]

Re: Things that make you smile

Thanks to thal I got the toughest part of this guild event tackled. It's smooth sailing from here.

[RiverSong]

Re: Things that make you smile

Today, one of my cousins discovered my wordpress blog (link in my signature), with the recent and last entry for this year about The Matrix and what it means to me. She flipped out in an email to me, about how she loves my writing style, said that I'm "wise beyond my years" (snicker), and told me to never stop writing. As if I would... or could... I don't know how to quit and I've tried to several times before. ;^_^
Anyway, it really gave me a huge smile on my face. I'm still grinning like a nut. ^_^

- - - Updated - - -

OH, and someone bought a copy of my book yesterday. I didn't feel it until this morning, but that's pretty awesome too. ^o^

[Jembru]

Re: Things that make you smile

Before work tonight, JP and I were choosing the 12 photos of Magpie that his mum will make into a 2013 calendar for us. It was so much fun going through all the photos. We have one of her in the Christmas tree for December, sitting in a frosty window for January, showing the white heart on her tummy for February.. oh so much cute!