The Number Field

I'm happy to report that Jenny has been doing well with her new low-fat diet. I have a couple of quick observations.

• Many "reduced fat" and "low fat" foods are only low in fat when compared to the original versions, but don't meet the stringent standards to which we're adhering.
• It's possible to buy non-fat ice cream and non-fat mayonnaise, but there doesn't seem to be any non-fat butter substitute. This seems odd.
• In a similar vein, the only non-fat chocolate we can find is Hershey's syrup. We need help finding non-fat chocolate candy, but fear that it's an impossible dream.
• In order to keep Jenny's calorie count up (pregnancy is not a time to lose weight!), we have to increase her protein and sugar intake. To that end, we've started to make smoothies. And today a friend gave us a sample of some protein powder. We'll try it out.
• Some supplements seem to help, e.g. papaya extract pills, which aid in digestion. The friend who gave us the protein powder said that fiber should also help, so Jenny's going to take more of it. We trust this friend, because he's very knowledgeable about nutrition, and also studying to be a doctor of pharmacy.
• With time and thought, we have found plenty of good dishes. For breakfast, we can make oatmeal, eggs, pancakes, and french toast with only minor modifications.

On another front, with the semester over I've turned to a couple of projects. Jewel (our cat) regularly petitions us to go outside at inconvenient times. She's usually quite insistent and loud. Some time ago, we bought a kitty door, but didn't have anywhere to put it. I finally took some time to pursue the project, and installed it in a spare board, which I then secured in the window. I thought that Jewel would be happy to use this new convenience, but she resisted my efforts to get her through. When Jenny came home, she used her advanced cat training skills to demonstrate the process, and with further practice Jewel has started to get the picture. We hope that she'll get the process down before Sunflower comes. Finally, we're cleaning the apartment, doing the laundry, and preparing for our holiday travel. We'll be on the road a lot, and Jenny is worried that it will tire her out, but we're looking forward to seeing our families.