Meet my mortal enemy.

I'm housesitting this week, which is a nice way to pass the time while Neil's in Atlanta. And while Ginger's in Atlanta. Gawd, I miss that dog. I miss Neil, too, but at least I get to talk to him on the phone, email with him, tweet at him. Ginger hardly ever wants to talk on the phone, and she's on Dogbook but not on Twitter, and let's face it, I'm partial to Twitter.

The dogs I'm taking care of at my housesitting gig are winning out, though, because all my pent up dog-lovin' is totally working in their favor. I usually feel a little guilty for not doting on them as much as I should, but they trigger my allergies more than Ging, and well, the younger one eats poop. And I can't handle it. But I find myself acquiescing to requests for belly rubs and initiating ear scratches without even being asked. Lucky dogs.

The people I housesit for are super-nice, and their fridge is always stocked with a bounty of cheese and cheese products. They pair nicely with the seemingly dozens of cracker and flatbread offerings in the pantry. Several months ago I sampled a thing called Palmetto Cheese spread, which is pretty much the most delicious pimento cheese spread ever. I mean, it has jalapenos in it. My mouth is watering just typing about it. I ate almost the whole tub in the course of a couple days. Since then, every time I stay at the house I go to town on the tub o' Palmetto spread, each time getting closer and closer to just finishing off the thing. I think the last time I housesat, I crossed that threshold. I know, gross. At this point, I think the family actually stocks up in preparation for my stay, which is sweet-slash-upsetting.

So I started this latest stint on Friday night. I was drawn to the Palmetto spread immediately, but I stopped myself before diving in. I told myself, "You're here for six days. Take it easy." Then I decided to challenge myself to not touch it for the duration of my stay. Luckily I had homemade jalapeno hummus (recipe courtesy of Matt, whose Indian name is He Who Used To Blog) to squelch most of my cravings. I guess part of me just craves the jalapenos, so maybe I should just plop those on a cracker or I mean, hey, eat 'em straight from the jar.

Anyway, this is me, being proud of myself for not giving in to the allure of the Palmetto spread. Nevermind that I ate half a really-really-bad-for-you frozen pizza and a Nutty Buddy* for dinner night before last. It was like a theme meal, and the theme was fake food.

*Wait, is it called a Nutty Buddy**? It wasn't the Little Debbie chocolate-peanut butter bars, it was the chocolate coated ice cream cone with the nuts and caramel. But I love them both equally.

**Don't Google "Nutty Buddy."