Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Hi. My name is Shanna, and I'm an addict.

Assembly of blog-readers: Hi, Shanna!

I've been addicted to caffeine in liquid form for many years. My addiction first became obvious in my late teens. I just had to have that morning cup. Then a second. Then a third. Until finally, I was drinking a pot of coffee a day.

I've been trying to curb this addiction. Quitting cold-turkey gives me a terrible headache, not to mention the grumps. So lately, I've been trying tea. I adore tea, especially the herbals and green or white teas. Now, however, I've found a new love.

Celestial Seasonings has a red tea that's wonderfully mild and mellow. It's called Madagascar Vanilla Red. Sounds like an illegal substance, doesn't it? The "red" tea is actually from South Africa, and is called Rooibos.

Hopefully, I can curb my addiction a bit. I'm supposed to be on this limited diet because of my hiatal hernia. No spicy foods (there goes my Thai food fetish), no coffee, no chocolate (good luck with that one, Doc!) and no soda. I do love my coffee, though. Soda I could care less about.

Not that I stick to any kind of diet. I am the anti-dieter. The fact that I'm a freaking twig notwithstanding. Just the other night I made an enormous pot of chili (so much for the spicy thing). And this low-carb thing? What a crock. Just another ridiculous money-making scheme by marketers who know the world is full of fad-followers who have a severe lack of self confidence. The fact of the matter is, if you want to live healthy simply practice moderation. Aside from that, the world is just a tad too focused on body image and not enough on the population's health.

Those advertisers are smart little buggers though, aren't they (as I sit here drinking my commercially packaged tea)? They have us believing that we desperately need and absolutely can't live without a chicken rotisserie and that thing that liquefies your vegetables into a yummy (???) drink (EW!). And let's not forget those knives! They slice, they dice, they chop, they do the laundry and take out the trash! Please, people. The staff at the Home Shopping Network should be slapped silly and made to use only the gaudy, useless crap they pawn off onto everyone else.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some more coffee... uh... tea. Yeah, that's it....