Chapter 8: Makeover time!

Kipwil was lying happily beside Hubba Hubba in the dim morning light when a bloodcurdling scream from the eating area shot her out of bed.  Racing into the room she saw Queen Mish staring in horror at Kipwil's cupboards.

" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!" screamed Queen Mish, " WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH COCO POPS IN YOUR CUPBOARD!!!! OH MY GOD, THERE ARE GOBLINS EVERYWHERE!!"

" They're not for me, the children have them as a treat.  Usually they eat weetbix but I wanted to give them something special to say thank you." Kipwil replied still not quite sure what was going on and where were the goblins?  Kipwil couldn't see any in the cupboard.

"Are you trying to POISON them?!!" demanded Queen Mish, " THROW THEM OUT!!!!"

Kipwil rushed in and threw out the offending product.

" That's better, " Queen Mish said in a somewhat more normal voice. " Kipwil, it is time for your next task.  I thought it would be easy for you but now I'm not so sure.  Kipwil, we are going to have a makeover."

Kipwil was a little confused at this because she thought she already HAD a makeover, when she bought all her new 12WBT gear.

" Yep, that's right, " went on Queen Mish," a KITCHEN makeover.  Your health and your fitness and your weightloss are all about the food.  It is 80% what you eat and 20% what you do.  If you ate what you want and exercised like a demon, you would not lose as much as someone who had a squeaky clean diet.  We all eat clean food here, not food that is processed and laden with goblins that will clog you up and bring back your Other Self. Now go and get a bin and we'll start."

Kipwil and Queen Mish worked throughout the morning, pulling out everything from the cupboards and checking it to see if it was clean food or not.  At the end there was a beautifully clean and ordered pantry and fridge/freezer and quite a few items waiting to be binned.

" I can't just throw them away, they're still in their unopened packets!  It's such a waste!" Kipwil pointed out.

" What about wasting your life?  What about wasting your health? Are they not just as important?" Queen Mish gently countered.

" Well, I won't just throw it out.  I'll take it to the church and they can give it to someone who needs it." Kipwil replied determinedly.

So that is just what she did, she put the unopened things in grocery bags and took them down to the local church, where they were gratefully received.

" Now", said Queen Mish, " here is a list of things we need to buy."

Kipwil and Queen Mish went off to the shops while Hubba Hubba and the children went to kick the football around the large park in the centre of the town.  Kipwil and Queen Mish made music along the paths giggling and leaping from stone to stone until they were in front of the fresh grocers shop.

Inside were rows and rows of the freshest, most sweet smelling fruits and vegetables. Kipwil avoided vegetables generally but these were just looking so green and colourful and delicious she couldn't wait.  She loaded up her basket with the things on the list and as they were packaged up for her, she dreamed of the meals she could create with them.

Next was the fishmongers and the butchers shop.  At first put off by the look of all the meat just lying there, and the fish laid down with their dead eyes staring at her, Kipwil soon found she liked being in the coolness of the shop and learned quite a bit about what meat would be best and how to pick good fish.  Another few items were ticked off the list and off they went again.

The last shop was the markets.  Here, Kipwil and Queen Mish stocked up on dried beans and lentils, oats and cereals, herbs and spices and all sorts of other things.  The smell in here was divine, Kipwil could have stayed in here all day.  At last laden down by the bags, Queen Mish and Kipwil turned for home.

On their way walking in the sunshine, Kipwil remembered Queen Mish's comment about her cupboards being full of goblins.Tentatively she asked, " Queen Mish, what are goblins?  I couldn't see any in my cupboards."

" It is important to read your nutritional information when you purchase anything you eat," Queen Mish warned.  "We are not above the plague of goblins that infect our foods. Their names can be seen as sugar or fat.  These goblins will hurt your body and prevent you from reaching your potential to move on.  If you find an infected food in your cupboard, just bin it.  You cannot save it. Some goblins you can see easily, but others you can only see if you read their names in the nutritional information.""

" Right " said Kipwil " I will read the information and when I see those words I'll avoid it or get rid of it."

" Uh uh uuh," Queen Mish smiled a little, " they don't always go by names but by numbers too.  They are so tricky that way.  They change their names too, to fructose or corn syrup.  You will need to find out what all their names are so you can be better warned."

" Ok," Kipwil said slowly thinking this was harder than she thought.  " But if I eat as fresh as I can, that will avoid a lot of the goblins won't it?"

" Absolutely," Queen Mish agreed," Goblins hate fresh food!  They tend to wait until someone processes the fresh food to be able to infect it."

At last they were home.  Hubba Hubba and the children were walking up the road towards them.
" We're STARVING Mum, What's for dinner?" called out the children.

 Kipwil looked at all the fresh ingredients she had still in her hands.

" I don't know yet but it will be DELICIOUS!" was her laughing reply.

Queen Mish joined in the laughter, hugged Kipwil and said," Good job Kipwil, that's another task down.  Only 2 more to go.  I'll see you tomorrow.  Don't forget to check for goblins!"

Waving, Queen Mish turned and jogged down the road, back towards the city and Kipwil went inside to begin the best dinner her family had ever had.

Only 2 more tasks to go!  What could they be?  What DID Kipwil cook for dinner that night?  We may find the answers in the next instalment of Living Life with Kipwil....