Coming soon ... even closer.

Look what I just happened to drive by yesterday! I got a little bit excited! A new McDonald's, only 7 minutes away. ('Cause, darn it, 11 minutes just wasn't quite close enough!)

I was at my usual McDonald's recently, placing my order, and requested an extra large diet coke. The girl said, "We don't have extra large anymore." When I got to the window, I asked her why not? And she said, "Apparently, we are contributing to making people fat, so we stopped selling the extra large size." And then she smiled and rolled her eyes. I agree with her eye roll.

Sophie and I have an ongoing joke between us about why McDonald's hasn't made us fat ...

Knowing how much I love the golden arches (read here) and trying to dissuade me, someone sent me a link once to watch a video on youtube where a woman, who was with a coaltion to fight obesity amongst children in our country, was talking about a happy meal from McDonald's.

First she got out all the food from the happy meal box and set it on the table. She picked up the cheeseburger and opened the bun. It looked fine. Then she announced that that cheeseburger was 4 years old, as were the french fries and it looked like she had bought them earlier that day. No discoloration, no mold, no difference in appearance what-so-ever.

Then my son in law told me that a coworker of his had put a happy meal packet of apple slices on his desk ... the bag was open for several days, and the apples never changed colors. (For those who cater, you might want to contact McDonald's to ask them what their secret is.)

Watching the youtube video didn't really change how I feel about McDonald's though. What it did do for me, was confirm what I had been told about their shakes years and years ago - they are made out of edible plastic. (Fortunately, I don't have the influence over America that Oprah has, so I doubt I will get in trouble for making this comment.) But that must be why McDonald's food hasn't packed on the pounds for my kids and me. It isn't real food! It's plastic food! It doesn't spoil after years of sitting out. Maybe we should get it for our food storage! Who knows how long the shelf life might be ....

Kidding aside, the lady in the video didn't eat it after four years, so maybe it would taste gross. But the presentation was still there, and isn't half of everything about the delivery/presentation?

Okay, kidding aside again, that is my joke with Sophie. When we order up our food at McDonald's we look at each other and say, "It's a good thing it's edible plastic."

And it's pretty good edible plastic ... we love it. It's a happy place for us to visit - just about everyday. ;)