Sweepstaking, Food

I could write another post similar to yesterday with details of the past day or so, but I'm too tired. Some friends of mine who read the blog observed that it sounds like this has been an intense visit, but in reality every visit with Bill and Mary has its tales, I just don't usually have access to a computer. They're fascinating people to be around, in part because they're so (SO) different from us. It's hard to believe that TJ is their son. Today Mary had me stop by the mail drop so she could mail her sweepstakes entries. (She actually pays money to be part of a sweepstakes organization. She was telling me about how last month's featured winner won eleven trips last year.) The stakes she entered today features a top prize of $10,000, and then they give out a hundred $500 giftcards to Publix, spread among Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tenessee (so she imagines Florida gets twenty-five). She snuck away all the entry forms from her Publix at home because you can enter as many times as you want. I really wished I had a tape recorder for this conversation--what I'm saying here doesn't do it justice!

We went to the Y today, and I'm so glad, because by the end of a visit with them, I always feel like all I've done is eat. They're food addicts, and I don't say that with judgment because we all have issues, but it can be upsetting to be around people who are so deliberately unhealthy. Actually, TJ's dad is the only one who's deliberate about it. (He literally hides cookies and candy and then eats them when he's alone.) Mary, on the other hand, is always talking about eating healthy foods, but her idea of what's healthy isn't actually healthy at all. Or some of it is, but it doesn't matter when you're eating a bunch of other stuff on top of it. For example, they drink a ton of diet sodas every day, and they feel good about it because they're "diet." But diet soda is terrible for you! And TJ's dad is diabetic!

I could go on and on about this issue. It's so sad. To me it feels the same as being around an alcoholic. My parents have food issues as well (especially my dad), but Bill and Mary's case is extreme.

Uh-oh . . . . it looks like I need to sign off. E keeps waking up, and I think he might have a fever.