Snackage & Nappage!

I'm a Dietitian. That's a fancy word for a Nutritionist with a college degree and credentials! I state this fact only to illustrate how strong traditions are. You see this picture of my nephew Philip's girlfriend Jessica plopping chocolate icing on a piece of cake? Well, she's following the lead of this Dietitian!

My family loves to joke that if I ever get too full of myself, they'll invite the athletes I counsel to Louisiana to see the "other" side of their Nutritionist! I was raised on southern fried and gravies. My grandma cooked with lard and I've blown out pig intestines with a straw to make sausage. It's where I came from. But after 5 years of higher learning and another 5 years in the performance nutrition field, I'm constantly at odds with my upbringing. Both of my grandmothers lived well into their 80s and had diets that I would advise clients/athletes against. It's only fair to say, however, that they both did physical labor their whole lives which played a huge part in counteracting those diets! Nevertheless, most of my Cajun comfort foods are at odds with the way I eat outside of Louisiana.

Pretty much everyone in my family is a chocoholic. I'm not sure exactly when it started, but my nephews and I used to sneak buckets of chocolate icing from my mom's pantry for a snack! As time went on and my parents let the grandkids get away with all kinds of things their own children were never allowed to do, my mom started buying an extra tub of icing to leave next to the cakes she made so that extra could be added. There's only one rule. . . no double dipping! As you can imagine, this prompts us all to seek out the largest serving spoon that is able to fit into the tub of icing for the coveted first-and-only dip into the tub! It gets more and more ridiculous every year!!

The blog title today is compliments of my niece Julia. The couple of days after Thanksgiving was rainy, so we spent a lot of time inside snacking and taking naps! I'd be big as a house if I did this everyday, but for 2 or 3 days at home for the holidays, it sure is fun! My sister thought that this picture of Julia and I in the recliner was the perfect illustration of two generations of "Deg Legs"!

Our family would never be described as boring. I'm always amused to see how new guests respond to all our rough-housing and bantering. My maternal grandparents were the epitome of jokesters. They set a tradition of cutting-up that endures within our family to this day. Teasing, story-telling and physical antics were, and still are in the repertoire of prompting laughter. This pic of my brother with his son and step-son rough-housing and tickling confirms our belief that a family that plays together stays together!

Another form of great family-bonding is games. If the weather's nice, that means horseshoes, volleyball or football (or shooting guns in the pasture). If it's night or we're confined to the indoors due to inclement weather like we were this holiday, that means board games. With such a wide age range, games like Pictionary or Cranium are perfect for our gang. For the last several years, a highly competitive game of Pictionary between the boys and girls has ruled supreme! Much to the dismay of the males in our family, the girls have once again outwitted (or out-drawn) the guys. Not to be deterred by years of losing, the boys have demanded a rematch over Christmas vacation!

Although this post may seem quite mundane and low-keyed compared to previous posts from far-away lands, this is the stuff I love! It's such a cliche', but there really is no place like home. After a canceled flight from LAX to San Diego and an enjoyable couple of hours hanging out with a WWII vet full of great stories at the airport while waiting stand-by, I'm back on Coronado preparing for the work week ahead. Stay tuned for some new twists in the road. . .