I'm still recovering from the poisoning I allowed to take place on my birthday. Since then, I have thought of several graceful excuses I could have made to get out of eating at least one sample of the CR*P they prepared, which they did not see as CR*P. But at the time, everything happened so fast and I was so thrown for a loop that it wasn't the fruit salad I had been expecting, that I just could not think of anything to say when my boss commanded me to have some dip, plus I felt guilty that here they had prepared all this, schlepped it in to work the day before (my b-day), and I had called in sick. I felt like, okay, I mesed up their plans yesterday, they went to all this trouble, THEY think they made stuff I can have (oh so wrong), and here is my boss saying HAVE SOME and all eyes were on me. I just didn't handle it in the perfect way, I didn't think of the perfect excuse. I was like the young pup in that Beyonce/Pepsi commercial when he asks her for directions and all he can do is emit this sort of squeak *L*.

Anyway, I can't recall EVER being so upset about ingesting avoids. Like I posted, I had been through, essentially, a purification/detox of the highest order. It just worked out that way with the cold and how I was working with it to treat it, going with the flow, literally. I think colds have a beneficial effect of detoxing our systems, I really do. And I worked with that and I felt, with crystal clear surity, that I had profoundly detoxed myself and then...THAT? It was such awful timing. I know you all probably think I'm overreacting. I told my mom about it and she said "Okay, so just do what you did (the protocol I described doing for the two days when the cold was at its zenith) for a few more days and stop worrying about it." No, Mom, you don't understand , said I. The opportunity has passed, the "flowing" stage of the cold is over. The time for deep detox is past.

I'm still so upset over it. I think next year I am going to suggest the watermelon cake, point blank. I will just point blank say, you know, I saw this recipe and I would LOVE this if y'all are thinking of doing anything for my birthday, as it seems easy and this is something I could eat and feel good about!"

I'm still recovering from that dip. But one thing, I'm not letting the experience be for nothing: I have resolved to not let ANYTHING threaten my food sobriety in future, I don't care if I get fired, I don't care if I am a social leper, I don't care if my family disowns me, as God is my witness, I will never eat Knorr Vegetable Dip again!*