I probably started drinking the stuff habitually when I was 15 or 16. By senior year I was walking up the street (South Summit Ave in Gaithersburg) from the High School to the Pop Shoppe (remember that place?) to get a six-pack of the stuff every day at lunch (seniors had open lunch). I know for a fact that there were days in my college years where I drank a 12-pack in a day. At the very least I drank 4 to 6 of them a day.
Which no doubt contributed to my enviable physique.
That was sarcasm.
So I’d had a cough for three months. Have no idea how I got it or what it really is (having no insurance or money or car I can’t really go to the doctor) but it’s been fairly aggressive. About a month ago I ran out of Dew and couldn’t go to the store for about a week to get more. I switched to iced tea and grape juice and water. The cough started to clear up. When I finally did get some more, the cough came back strong as ever. So the next time I ran out, I didn’t buy any. I was maybe going to, but I let Fishygirl — who was kind enough to take me to the grocery store in spite of having four kids to juggle* — talk me out of it.
And we all know, if I wanted Mountain Dew, I would get Mountain Dew. A can of Dew in my hand is as much a part of my persona as the dixie cup in Brodie’s hand. One of my teachers’ kids used to call me ‘Mountain Dew Man’.
It’s been two weeks or so. This is probably the proximate cause of my sleep weirdness the past week, because to the extent my sleep schedule is regulated, it’s done with caffeine. (I’m an insomniac. I can’t turn off my brain. I tend to fall asleep only when exhausted, and in spite of myself.)
The coughing is gone completely, though. I’m also hoping for some incidental weight loss due to the sudden lack of corn syrup in my diet. We’ll see. I might be a little pissy as my body adjusts, just to warn everyone: when I quit smoking, I got through the chemical part effortlessly, and I felt great for a month — and then felt like crap for a year after that. That was mostly about weight gain, though.
I need a new vice. Any suggestions? Besides ‘gentleman’s time’, I mean, because I don’t consider that a vice.
*she literally juggles them. It’s impressive, especially because the oldest two are probably taller than her at this point.
YAY! And actually it was Trout and Sunny that first pushed for you to not buy it; I only backed them up. You are better off without it. And you may find after an adjustment period, that your sleep normalizes somewhat.
Also, ppppfffftttt. None of them are taller than me yet. Trout’s still got 2 more inches to go.
lmao @ “gentleman’s time.” if you need a beverage vice, i suggest soda water. don’t hate. you can wean yourself off of soda this way. mix it with less than half a glass of fruit juice, then use less and less of the juice until you get used to just the water. i’ve never wanted real soda since. in fact, real soda is just nasty now.