5 Addictions

Oooh. This is already feeling strange. Feels like I’m in a confessional about to share my sins with my friends, but what the heck.

1. Love

Let’s go ahead and get this one out of the way. It’s a given. As Robert Palmer puts it:

Whoa, you like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, oh yeah

It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough

You know you’re going to have to face it, you’re addicted to love

…

Might as well face it, you’re addicted to love

Addicted to Love — Lyrics by Robert Palmer

So, yes, I’m addicted to love — not the “in love” kind. I just like the soothing, soft and calm feeling of being loved and loving others — humans and pets. Nothing fancy.

2. Sugar

This is my worst addiction. Bad for my health and hard on the teeth. Can’t go a day without it.

Candy

My love/obsession with candy started when I was young. My dad often gave me spare change and I spent it on candy. I got all kinds. What about those candies made of wax, the big red lips? I loved those. Candy necklaces. Chocolate bars. Black Cow.

I liked candy cigarettes and cigars. The cigarettes were boxed like regular cigs, maybe 10 in a box. They were a white and chalky candy with a hot pink color on the tip.

Interesting how things are. Promoting smoking to young children — not good. Are tobacco companies still doing this on purpose?

Even today, there’s Winston-Salem, North Carolina — guess it’s too late to change the name of the town now.

Growing up in Kentucky, we played a lot of cigarette tag. To be untagged, you had to name a brand of cigarette. We knew our cigarettes.

I had my first one in first grade. My mother “smoked” Pell Mell unfiltereds occasionally. She didn’t inhale so she wasn’t technically smoking, so they say. I stole one out of her purse one day.

A neighborhood boy two houses down the street and I smoked it, surely not all of it. Don’t know how we got matches.

We hid under a neighbor’s low overhang on their house in the backyard. The taste was so weird. Would love to have a video of that.

Love Jelly Belly jelly beans. Supposedly, if you’re going to eat candy, jelly beans are the way to go — calorie-wise and least harmful to your body.

I usually get a handful of mini Tootsie Rolls from OK Cafe when I meet a friend for lunch. Going to have to stop going there. I think they’re getting out of my price range. Goodbye Tootsie Rolls.

I try to eat at least one 78%-88% cocoa square a day for the ole ticker. Can you believe it — candy that is actually beneficial to our health? Gotta love it!

Anything covered with dark chocolate — like the Midnight Milky Way and Trader Joe’s dark chocolate almonds. Dark chocolate raisins are my favorite.

I don’t consume all this candy on a regular basis. These are options.

In Georgia, the three most popular Halloween candies, in order, are Swedish Fish, Jolly Ranchers, and Reese’s Cups. This varies by state. The things they keep stats on — amazing. http://www.candystore.com

There’s a great candy store in Marietta Square, Rocket Fizz. If you’re in the area, check it out. It will bring memories of candies you have forgotten. http://www.rocketfizz.com.

Miscellaneous

We recommend Publix’s oatmeal cookies if you’re a cookie person.

Not a faithful fan of ice cream, but I don’t necessarily shy away from it. If I’m feeling under the weather, I want ice cream.

It’s comfort food — an ice cream sandwich or orange sherbet will do. Back in the pink in no time!

3. The Mail

As Andy would sometimes say when the daily mail was delivered to my desk, “Is it good news or money?” Now that’s the way to look at it.

It’s another addiction I picked up in childhood. I have always loved going to the mailbox. It might have started when my grandmother sent Christmas and birthday cards with $5 checks inside.

At one time I had a pen pal from Sweden, or was it Norway now that I think about it. I found her name in the back pages of Tiger Beat magazine.

Now that was really something — communicating with someone overseas. Nowadays no big deal.

Later on, my aunts, a cousin, my grandmother, and a few friends wrote letters and sent birthday cards. Maybe a care package from my mother. She used to write a lot … less expensive than calling.

I don’t know, the mailbox just became a place of hope and good feelings and moments of happiness. It’s nice to be thought of.

I look forward to the possibility of hearing from people. Email is great, but the personal touch is what makes the mail addictive. Some cards and letters still arrive, but it’s sparse compared to the old days.

Even now I look forward to the boxy mail truck heading down our street. I still open the mailbox filled with anticipation — maybe today. Nothing wrong with hoping.

4. Books

Definitely over-the-moon about books. I read all sorts.

Much to my surprise, I have become an e-reader. Never thought that would happen.

For me, it’s a simpler way to read. The downside is it adds more screen time to the day. Nothing’s perfect though, right?

I love being able to look up definitions or Wikipedia entries with the touch of a finger. I have a small collection of bookmarks I no longer use. I miss that.

I’m not a reader of serial killer-type books or any kind of graphic violence. No blood and gore except sometimes that might sneak up on me. Once stuff is in your mind, sometimes you can’t get it out.

I like suspense/psychological thrillers and family drama books. I love a fascinating legal or medical novel. Really enjoy memoirs. Historical fiction. And, of course, an endearing love story.

My all-time favorite love story is Claude and Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell. Five stars.

If you have any book recommendations, please let me know. Thanks!

5. Exercise

Tough one. If it weren’t for the health of my body (never mind the sugar issue), I would not lift my little toe half an inch off the ground.

So it is a good thing I have this addiction. There’s so many other things I’d rather be doing.

I don’t have a rigorous workout regimen. I go to the gym twice a week and walk my hilly neighborhood usually three times a week.

If I get off schedule or have to miss a day, it depresses me and I beat up on myself — that’s how I know I’m addicted.

It’s a must that I exercise to maintain good mental health. My therapist widens her eyes if I say I’m thinking about giving up walking. I’m always thinking about it.

I won’t though because I know I can’t, but boy how I wish I could. I’ve been doing it so long I’m just tired of it.

I also do it for my bones and heart. I had osteopenia (can be a pre-cursor for osteoporosis) for years, not uncommon.

It developed into severe osteoporosis — the kind that if I laughed or bent over to pick up a leaf, I could fracture my spine or hip.

Just to scare the heebie-jeebies out of me, the doctor throws out the word “wheelchair.” Yikes!

Without asking my thoughts or opinions about it, she immediately set me up for injections of Evenity. One injection in each arm once a month for a year.

At the time, the drug had been on the market for about eight months. I felt like a guinea pig.

I consider Evenity a medical miracle. I no longer have osteoporosis. It reverted to osteopenia.

Not that I’m thrilled having osteopenia, but I’ll take it over the alternative. I am an elated camper.

Hence, reasons I’m involuntarily addicted to exercise.

Certainly Not All

Naturally, I have others — caffeine for one. Too much time on the internet. Maybe too many tennis shoes. Actually, where does it end? Possibilities for addictions galore.

I’ll try to stick to the ones I have and not pick up more. I do wish I could curb the sugar habit though . . . but just not feeling it.

Thank you for reading. Feel free to leave comments — about anything! I take questions, too! Book recommendations?

Did you know?
Tootsie Rolls were included in soldiers’ field rations during WW II to give American troops “quick energy.” In 1950, the U.S. and United Nations’ troops in Korea put out a call for “Tootsie Rolls,” a code name for mortar shells.

When they opened the airdropped box, they actually had been sent Tootsie Rolls. They turned out to be useful. Because of its malleable consistency, the soldiers used the candy to patch up holes in vehicles and equipment.

October National Observances
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Bullying Prevention Month
I’m Just Me Because Month

Sources:
http://www.rd.com