2013 LOW CARB MEET AND GREET

 It was that time of year again - time to travel to Bloomington Indiana to the home of Dana Carpender and Eric Schmitz, otherwise know as "T.N.B.I.M."

Last year, I forgot about the time change between Illinois and Indiana and I showed up an hour late and missed a lot of the fun and the meeting of people.  This year, I remembered the time change, allowed an extra hour to get there and arrived at 12:15 pm, thinking I was fashionably late, since it started at noon.  Except it did not start until 1 pm.  I was 45 minutes early! 

Of course, Dana was gracious, as always, and I got to spend some of my time in the kitchen with Dana and a few others, putting the finishing touches on the food spread.  Anyone who was there will no doubt remember how artfully the raw veggies were cut up and piled onto the serving dish!

Another highlight was my tour of the chicken coop, guided by Eric.  Last year it was too hot to go outside, but this year I wanted to be sure to see the chickens.  There were a bunch of them, and Eric said they lay too many eggs for them to eat and they sell the ones they don't need.

There were some new faces there this year, and I met two ladies that I really clicked with.  And here they are, Debbie Prim with me, below, and Lynn Weiler, with me, below below.  Oh, and Debbie has a blog that you should check out called Confused and Gassy.  What a hoot!

Of course, Jimmy and Christine Moore were there, and Jimmy read the introduction to his new book which will be released soon.

And I was happy to have my picture taken with Amy Dugan and Dana Carpender, who wrote most of The Fat Fast Cookbook, along with me, who wrote but four of the fifty recipes in that book.

Amy Dungan and me

Dana Carpender and me

These two ladies are so much fun and so sweet, and I am so happy that we get to spend time together, even if it is only once a year.  If you want to see some more of Dana's cookbooks, click here.  You can also visit her website, Hold the Toast.  Amy has her own blog, Healthy Low Carb Living. 

The food Saturday was fantastic, as usual, with the highlight for me being the low carb chocolate cookies, of which I ate WAY too many!  

The day started out with good weather, but around 2 pm, the storm hit and we all had to scurry to the shelter of the house and carport.  It was still great, and not as hot as last year.

A real thrill for me was getting to meet Dr. James Carlson.  I have read many of his blog posts and part of his book, Genocide: How Your Doctor's Dietary Advice Will Kill You.  I did not know he and his wife, Gloria, were going to be there until a few minutes before they arrived.  I was hoping to have a moment or so with Jim to ask questions, and I was formulating some in my mind.  I did get the chance to talk to him, and not just for a few minutes.  He was very outgoing and happy to discuss diet and health with anyone who would listen!  All together, we probably talked for over an hour.  He is going to be my go-to doc if I run into any problems involving weight, etc.  It turns out that he lives about an hour from me!  Yay!  I think he picked up at least two patients that day, although I am sure that was not his intention in coming.

Me, Dr. Jim Carlson and his lovely wife, Gloria

All in all, I had a wonderful time, and I can't wait to go again next year.  In fact, I am wondering if there is a way to get something like that going around my neck of the woods, which would be the Chicagoland area.  Is anyone interested?  We could do it at my house, which is about 40 miles southwest of Chicago.