Has Crackhead Bob set fire to his house and/or self lately??

When my cats have a problem with their food (new brand, flavor, etc.) they let me know by vomiting it in specific places that they know I won't see until it's too late. In front of the coffee maker, the outside of the bedroom door, and at the bottom of the stairs.

There's nothing like stepping in a puddle of vomit first thing in the morning to start your day right. And to remind you of who exactly is the boss in the house.

You just fracture me daily ! I bet you are a Zappos girl too, aren't you? I love your way with words and read you every day. It has been such a distinct pleasure to read how you have overcome all the dreadful things that you have had to endure and just blossom with health & upwardly mobile happiness! All the while making me pee in my pants laughing at your witticisms and views on life. Your cats are exquisite also-love the photos!

I wish starbucks had a membership card...i do the jitter-bug every day...

Not trying to spam or anything, but if you must join a cult (or a club), I fully recommend the Borders Rewards program. Hands down, it it THE. BEST. CUSTOMER. LOYALTY. PROGRAM. EVER. No joke. They send me coupons all the time. GOod coupons. Like onece a week. And every time I spend 50 bucks there in one month (which is pretty much EVERY month), they give me discounts on stuff the following month. Definitely a cult worth joining. Then when you're a member, you can run on and on about them like I do.

But! Did you ever write a check for 69 cents at Ralph's to purchase half & half? Or carry a friend's ashes in a Ralph's coffee can?

Everything I know about Ralph's I learned from The Dude. :)

Wish I had cute shoes to trade. My wheels are so bad I already have the sensible cult sandles. (And I hate them.)

My cults - Hallmark Cards (occasional $2-3 off cards! probably depends on how much I've bought, I'm not sure), Great Harvest Bread (free loaf after buying 12). I love these frequent flier type cults. I"m a Borders member and get their emails but haven't tried using the card yet. I mostly use the library instead of buying books. But maybe that's just me.

Free totebag? I'm a little upset! I didn't get a free totebag! I did, however, just score some very cute peep-toe wedges for 4$ thanks to a spectacular sale and my DSW rewards certificate :) Now I just need spring..

Don't forget, you are CEO and President of one of my favorite clubs. The Crazy Aunt Purl Club!

We need member cards. I already have a cup that I drink out of daily and my great shirt that has the F-word on it, I love it!

I love free stuff. :) But maybe I should take advantage of clubs more often in order to get them. I HAVE, however, become friendly with one store clerk at the Big Daddy's Liquor and she gives me the store discount for being a good customer. Because you know I need my weekly box wine. A deal's a deal!

Whew! I'm so relieved! Seriously, this post made me LOL!!

I am totally starting a cult.

Glad to know you haven't yet joined "The Secret" bandwagon, either. That stuff scares me just a little.

Oh, and not that you asked, but Ed is now finding the food and water dishes quite regularly. He likes to sit near them so he doesn't have too much to remember. I'm hoping he finds the litterbox soon.

I'm a fanatical member of the AAA cult. Every car I've owned has been blessed with The Seal and whenever the AAA cleric shows up with his Jumper Cables of the Lord AAAlmighty, I crumble to my knees in worship.

Rock on, cult sister!

Lucia, did you figure out what it was???

I'm with psychomom - part of the CAP Club. Best club ever. Soba writes the club rules, Roy fries up the bacon, Bob opens the cabernet and Frankie is the sex symbol.

Mary -- I have another friend who said "The Secret" freaked him out too but I thought it was a nice message. I believe tthat people in general already know the concepts ... you can change a situation by changing how you see it, and it's not always instant or fast but it's still true (my divorce is a good example of this) (Um, took me two and a half years but anyway, where's my gift tote bag of enlightenment???)

I don't think it was intended to become a religion or a cult. I guess I sort of took it ("The Secret") to mean that we can tap into positivity, tap into happiness, and make a conscious effort to be grateful and kind. Which is a message I need to be reminded of daily in L.A. traffic!!!

Also a message I need to be reminded of each time someone at the office drains the coffee pot without making a fresh one.

heh

Oh, and each time I go jeans shopping.

Actually, the list is kinda long. Hmmmm.

I, too, am a devoted member of the Borders Rewards cult. I even recruited my kids, who use my card, and get me lots and lots of discounts through their profligacy. Gee, I never thought I'd get to use that word in a sentence!

I also carry the cult cards of almost every locally owned coffee shop in my area.

oh, the library is totally a cult. What other kind of human organization provides such abundance in exchange for mere demonstration of belonging?
I carry my library card on my keychain, to represent daily. Bless.

Yeah, I agree with the message too, Laurie, but dislike the way it's being packaged, I guess. Positive thinking is great and all. Sometimes, though, it's presented as this "brand new" way of seeing things and then sold for $4.95 online. Anywho. I totally agree with you about taking negatives and making them work for you. Cause that's the only way to come out a winner.

ITA with you on the traffic, empty coffee pot, and jeans shopping.

I imagine it's much easier to enjoy a steaming hot bowl of Grannie's Homemade Possum Gumbo knowing a possum is not a rodent - um, y'all.

I want to join those kinds of cults too! I have a La Senza cult membership, but they are a five hour drive away and that's just too damn far. Hell, even Tim Horton's is an hour away but I'd join their cult if they would start one. Damn good coffee.

My mom tried to get me to give her my DSW card. Even thought I moved to an area with no DSW- waaah- I refused. Because a girl can always visit!

Seriously, you are killing me this morning.

I, myself am a member of the Rabbinic school dropout club, and totally down with Emily on the Borders rewards club. I also happen to be president and founder of the male coddling fembot club.

And SnB, of course.

And the queer Jews club. And the gay biker gang.

Wow. That's a lot of cults I've gotten myself into. Now give me 10% of everything you've got.

Mary, that is exactly what my friend Neil said! He felt the packaging/marketing was a bit snake-oil-salesmany. I think those were his exact words too!! He also mentioned the selling of it. So I don't think you are alone in that at all!

I tried to use positive thinking on the felines last night to get them to stop using my head as a trampoline when they are playing at 3 a.m.

The did not get the psychic memo, sadly. Apparently they did not watch The Secret.

Hilarious. Is the title of this post from some Maria Bamford stand-up? I loves me some Maria Bamford.

Faith, you are a hoot and a holler LOL

Who is Maria Bamford?

And Lucia -- did you call the vet? Has there been a prognosis?

My key chain has no less than 8 Cult Cards on it, and there are a few more in my wallet. 3 of the 5 on my key chain are for Pet Supplies. That tells ya something, don't it? But 2 of them are yarn-y and craft-y! Then there's shoes (DSW), and books (Borders), and makeup (Ulta) and...

Glad to hear about Ed, Lucia! Sweet kitty! :)

Laurie, that 3 a.m trampoline bit must be a universal thing with the cats of the world. Mine think they need to eat or something at that time. Weird, huh? If I didn't enjoy waking up and having a purring kitty near me sometimes, I would totally lock them outta the bedroom. But I don't cause I really kind of like that they're around.

I'm funny that way.

"full up with crazy"

I'm so loving that.. AND living it...

but ya gotta love it when that DSW card gets you $25 reward coupons!!!

and how come, pray tell, I haven't managed to find a cult yet where they drink AND drive ya home????

What's "The Secret?" Am I missing out on something?

If you must join one club, may I suggest the Coldstone Creamery. They are one of the last ice cream chains that still give you a free cone on your birthday. Even Scientology doesn't do that!

We took him to the vet on Monday. She said he probably has detached retinas. If she's right there's nothing we can do, as even if a) laser eye surgery were available for cats b) we were willing to shell out for it, he'd have to be sedated, and that would be the end of that. So, based on some incredibly helpful advice from one of my blog readers, we are waiting to see if he will adjust and learn to navigate by smell. It's a good sign that he is now finding the food and water on his own. It breaks my heart to see him curled up just in the middle of the floor, but I'm hoping that as he gets his bearings he'll venture further (like, to the litterbox). I made up a bed for him (a cardboard flat lined with a towel), but so far he doesn't seem interested in using it.

There's a comedian, Jeremy Hotz--too funny, who has a bit about the Ralphs club card. "you have to have the card or a loaf of bread costs $5 million. And Ralph shops at Vons like a regular person" I'm paraphrasing and it's funnier when he says it, but I laughed at your Ralphs cult membership.

And since when does a trip to visit someone else's church or an interest in personal enlightenment make you a cult member? I've been to a bar mitzvah and it didn't make me Jewish. I read bits of Dianetics and I'm not married to Tom Cruise.

Laurie Ann - seriously? They didn't get you at that bar mitzvah? Someone was clearly not doing their job.

How can you forget the bestest cult of all? The Seriously Crazy Cat Slaves Guild, of which I am a card-carrying member. To join, you must believe that cats are superior beings who are entitled to unending slavish devotion and massive amounts of their favorite treats, given on demand. Secret cult rituals may include singing to the felines, dressing them in adorable little outfits, featuring them on one's blog and handknitting special items for them. There is no official uniform, but all clothing items must be covered in a fine layer of fur.
On a less than serious note, the Border's Reward cult is very worthwhile and really pays off.

I agree with the positive message of "The Secret" but really didn't like that it was so focused on money. There are plenty of examples of people with lots and lots of money who are not particularly happy or well adjusted [see Spears, Britney].

When I first became a buddhist 20 years ago everyone was freaking out that I joined a cult so I feel your pain.

We don't have Ralph's but we do have Piggly Wiggly (the Pig)(love Wisconsin) and I. Love. Them.

Not only do they make whipped cream cakes but they put my very own name on my membership card!! So that when I lost my entire ring of cards (The horror!!! Can you imagine trying to replace all those?????) and totally didn't know where they were ('cause, you know, lost things are usually where you think they are?), my second job found them and was able to return all my beloved swipe-y things (one even beeps and talks when I use it!). Because of the Pig. Love the Pig.

(and? the one that talks? I try and confuse it and make it say things like, "You must wait for the red light to swipe." I'm hoping one of these days it will call me a silly name like I would me if day after day time after time I tried to confuse it. Nope. Don't have much of a life.)

Since I'm already on the upswing of Novel-sized comment hog, can I tell you about my brilliant feline? Apparently he is not picky about his food. Except. That if Momma has not just poured it, and I mean within the last 30 seconds, there is no food in that dish. *I* can see it, but apparently it goes stale or casts a woodoo curse on my eyeballs and does not exist to silly boy cat or some such. So, being brilliant, it has just recently occurred to me that he may not _actually_ be starving when he claims he is and I do not have to jump right up and go to the dish and explain to him for the eleventy-whatever time that there is food there.

Who is the bright one here????

Greetings Laurie!!
I'm proud to say that I am a Barnes and Noble cult member, and also a fanatic of the Carmel Frappachino. Thank god, Starbucks is located inside Barnes and Noble!!!
Even though my Victoria's Secret credit card is more like a curse, I proudly carry that baby around too and I totally love the tote bags that I've gotten there!! Unfortunately we don't have a DSW Shoe Warehouse here in Idaho...(I'm pouting)(not for long just found their sight online!) yeah baby

I pledge allegiance to Borders and their groovy rewards program! A bra club?? I am too cheap to buy more than one or two bras a year. I never get anywhere on the punch card.

I must admit, the Secret has me curious, a nice idea.

Is it a bad sign when you have more discount club cards on your key ring than keys? No? Good.

Speaking of cults, Laurie, will you be attending any of the events at Stitches West?

Ha, moonie. I guess people are more sensitive to the possibility that their loved ones are joining cults post-Katie Holmes, but sheesh.

Mary, I will not unfortunately be going to Stitches :( But our intreped yarny, Ellen Bloom, will be attending!

Did I hear right? That you're givin' free totes to your blog readers?! (Heh.)

I'm the one giving out free blind-cat info. If anyone wants, let me know. My old guy learned to chase the other cats, loved it when I moved the furniture (A ride! Then a puzzle!), and seemed so normal some of my friends wouldn't believe he was blind till they tested him themselves. Amazing what they (cats, not friends. Well, maybe friends too.) can learn to do.

Wah! No Stitch & Bitch here in Lima...Not even an LYS! and that's a shame, and I haven't met my neighbors yet, but I'm sure that I have several named "Mrs. Peruvian Neighbor" here in our apartment building.

Yes, I'm new, nope, never posted here before, but Im enjoying the hell out of your blog!

A Hari Krishna once gave me a book as a "gift" on a street in Toronto, and when I told him I didn't have my wallet with me, took it back. Jerk!

I love my BevMo card... :)

1. I did not know possums had a fan club in which the members fight anyone who calls a possum a rodent. Interesting.

2. How come I am in the DSW club but I did not get a free tote bag? I got nothing! I feel so unloved!

Oops. That anonymous comment was me.

Wow, that Ralph's thing happened to Nick Nolte too? I thought Jeff Bridges had the monopoly on that - but then we Little Lebowski Urban Achievers always see things through Dude-colored glasses, don't we.

Don't askme how many cult cards are on my keychain. I don't know myself, and I don't want to know.

Hey Laurie! I just found your blog yesterday and I've decided to jump right in and not lurk! You're a hoot and a holla and you have me wetting myself at work. (That rhymes. I totally did not do that on purpose.)

Anyhoo...I'm totally jealous because I didn't get a tote bag with my DSW Rewards membership. I guess I have to buy some more shoes so I can up my status with them!

By the way, I also have 4 cats (or rather they have me). I've never met (even cyber-met) someone else with that many that wasn't totally off-your-rocker-cannot-function-in-polite-society crazy. Hooray for four kitty households!

I spit upon DSW Shoe Warehouse because their databases were hacked about 18 months ago, which forced me to have to get a brand new debit card and change all my online and automatic bill paying accounts. All for that !@#$%^&* impulse purchase of gloves, which I've since lost.

I am also a member of the Borders cult, and the deli down the street. Amen

And the Fess Parker wine club. Hallelujah.

Are there no adherents of the Church of the Holy EBay? LOL!

Ralphs = Kroger. I wonder if my Ralphs card works at Kroger? I'll have to check that out next time I'm near one. (Also, for an FYI, it isn't Ralph's. It is Ralphs. The guy who started the store's last name was Ralphs)

And DuPar's? I thought Faith liked you? 2 of the worst meals of my life were at DuPar's and they were breakfast!

You are too funny. I can't believe people got worried for your soul (or mental state) (or hair, lest it be shaved). Lordy.

From one fellow culter to another - rock on sister friend, rock on.

i laughed out loud at the mention of the "clean plate club"

i belong to two sock yarn clubs and a fiber club. they had me at "pay pal"

A new cult for you to join, Laurie.

http://knittersanonymous.com/

I laughed my ass off while checking off nearly everything on the list.

I think you mean Jeff Bridges (in _The Big Lebowski_) not Nick Nolte. It's my husband's favorite movie and hence his nickname on my blog. I know it by heart...

I thought I was the only person with a cat on her head each night.

I am grateful for each night my cat gets a chance to tap dance on my head. *L*

Great list. I might do that on my blog. Gotta figure out which cults I've joined though. I have a coffee punch card and a gym membership... plus all these mini slide cards on my keys. What the hell! o.0

I love telling people I'm a member of a sock club www.bluemoonfiberarts.com/sockClub_detail.php?sock_club_id=3

Correction, I PAY to be a member of their club and it is totally worth it! No driving and lots of yarn. My kind of club.

I belong to the cult of One Woman with Three Cats and a Home/Car of Her Own.

I did recently join the Eddie Bauer Friends cult to defray the costs of a What Not To Wear wardrobe makeover.

I'm starting a cult for Aura Flickers - flicking people's auras who drive like f**king idiots as a positive alternative to road rage and possibly getting shot for engaging in active forms of road rage. Giving them a flick (or several depending on level of jackass) is the way I'm ensuring they receive a Kharmic binchpinch at some point during their day in return for engaging in dumbass driving. Anyone interested?

Laurie,
You forgot the most important club of all.

The CrazyAuntPurl Fan Club!!!

Sure, you're the president and a life member, but that entitles you to a legion of fawning followers.

And no matter WHAT you say, you can't quit.....hehe

I no longer live near a DSW. It's a sad, sad thing!

Now hang on just a cotton-pickin' minute, Laurie! You are a member of the STR club? Most excellent. It's just a matter of time now.

Hahaha! I almost posted an Agape cult warning, but figured you were smart enough to be able to figure that one out on your own (Southerners are very difficult to fleece, religion-wise. It's all the fried food, I think).

I've got the BevMo card and the DSW card as well!

I'm am SO opening a can of whoop-ass next time I go to DSW (they're having a big double-reward points event in a few weeks)....I didn't get a bag either!!

Grrrr.....

Laurie, I enjoyed this post AND its comments so much. Our creature comforts are so important. I would love for you to do a piece on bath products, candles, aromatherapy...because then the comments would help me put some money into the economy. I like Yankee candles a lot, but they are expensive. My favorite is Home Sweet Home. So...I need stuff to try...

Peggy, do not fear... I got PLENTY of email warnings. LOL.

Vicki, Ilike scented candles but only the ones that are real faint, I guess it's my overdeveloped sense of smell?

But I LOVE and AM ADDICTED TO L'Occitane Almond shower oil and also their 25% shea butter body cream (unscented). The body cream is the only thing that will moisturize me in this california desert air, and the Almond Shower Oil is the. greatest. thing. on. earth.

Lucia!! What is STR???

And you know, it breaks my heart to think of your kitty ... my Roy has lately started having some litterbox challenges because of his brain not working right and so on, and it kills me to have to wash off his little feet sometimes, he just looks at me with all this love and not knowing why it's all happening to him.

Cats. Man, I love 'em.

Aw, Roy! Roy and Ed are breaking my heart! Bless their little kitty-cat hearts!

I once, for reasons that are unclear to me now, stopped to talk to some of the Hari Krishna/moonie/nutty types on my college campus. As I was walking away munching on the cookie they'd given me, it occurred to me it might not have been a good idea to accept food from a cult member...

But what I really wanted to say: Why, or, more precisely, what, do you need to shave to go to a bra fitting? Am I missing something?

Bossy doesn't want to belong to any club that would have her as a member.

I am not a joiner either, and I still manage to have a bunch of those stupid tags on my keychain!
Pet-smart, DSW, Kroger, Farmer Jack.
None of the good places have clubs, like my 2 LKS & my LSS. Although they know me, so I guess I am a member.
What do moonie sandals look like?

I am now officially a member of the ridiculously badly written soap opera lovers'cult. It's a problem. From 2:00 to 3:00, I am pretty close to useless.

I am starting an anti-bra club. Whoever invented the damn things never wore one. We don't have to go anywhere to do this. We just sit home and if you put on a bra that feels good you are to inform the whole club so we can go online and buy one.

Oh thank god. When I read that post about the Agape Center, I was thinking "Man, I just found this blog and now she's going to go all hollywood-cult-crazy on me. Oh well at least there are archives." Glad to hear that they didn't brainwash the funny out of you!

Hey Heather--don't spose that's Passions youse talking about? My son said he heard somewhere that it was being pulled??

oppossum

STR = Socks That Rock, Blue Moon's main dru... er, product. I am just all excited that you belong to a sock club as it might lead to, well, you know.

How many punches do you have to get before you get $30 at Unwind? I'm thinking it's probably worth the trek to Burbank (*wrist to forehead* oh the TRAVEL... from midvalley to Burbank) for a better punch card than Knit One Purl One... (16 punches for $13 or less skein/ball/hank/whatevar.)

I am joining the Crazy Aunt Purl club. I think we are the same person only you are funnier.

i like my bra.

What? No Costco card? Not that I use mine much but the cats do love the canned food from there. And I do not think that I could live without my BevMo card -- which I have somehow managed to misplace yet again. And it's a pain to have them use the phone number because that's my old one and apparently someone else now has the number. But they can still look it up by the phone number so I'm not that worried.

Sorry! I'll put my last initial next to my name so I don't look like Crazy-Aunt-Purl-Laurie. While her blog sounds like I could have written it, I am, sadly, a different Laurie. I confused matters with my mention of the STR sock club.

Oh Laurie, I totally had a Laurie moment this morning. We have a new boy at work who has just come back from London (he is actually my replacement as I am leaving for London soon!) and oh dear I say the stupidest things around him.

And then this morning I was talking to him and eating pumpkin seeds and one went down my top, and then he said I should live in Clapham, and I said I'd like that because I could be the woman on the Clapham omnibus (totally geeky lawyer Lord Denning reference) and then I thought "ohmygod, I didn't just actually say that out loud did I?". So I said "I am such a geek for saying that!" and he was nice enough to say no I'm not.

But I really feel like Rory with her new TA right now...

i hav bn wst coast to east coast still havnt found a cult worth joining.guess i will play fetch with my cat.

I know where my DSW card is but haven't a damn clue as to where my social security card is.

Oh yeah.

thanks for the giggles :)

At any family gathering they know to have 'some fine boxed wine' for Aunt Ruth.

*hic*

Wish MY local liquor store offered me a frequent flier discount. I could so score of those cute little bottles like they have on planes.

But it's not like I'm fussy. Heh.

Laurie, you just make me laugh harder and harder every day! And I just got back from my Mom's birthday party in New Orleans, where we talked about all our crazy Southern relatives! Who are extra-crazy in the special Southern way of crazy that does not respond to meds!

My regular cult is the YMCA cult, which is the main card on my swipey ring, and also the Library Cult and the Barnes and Noble Cult and the Cafe Luna "Lunatic Brew" club where you buy 10 double-espresso-cappucinos and get one free, which is why I am how I am.

Of course my main cult is the "Spay and Neuter Your Pets, You Irresponsible Ass Cult." NOT YOU -- I know you do right by YOUR fur-kids! But the SNYPYIAS Cult is also my actual job so I don't know if that actually counts as a cult. Anyway, if anybody ever steals my purse they're gonna bet about three dollars in actual cash but they'll get 15% off at a whole lot of stores.

I never really thought for one minute the Agape folks would cultify you, Laurie. Not for one second, even. Nobody who's smart enough as a teenager to avoid signing over her naughty bits is in any danger of getting cultified.

Love to Bob!

Laurie, you're not a follower, you're a leader. You could start your own cult if you wanted. How scary is that!

I am getting ready to join a new cult myself...the bald lady cult - I start chemo for breast cancer in just a few weeks and am looking for EASY patterns to make myself some cute and COOL hats...by COOL i don't mean hip or tight...i mean lightweight and cooling to wear in the spring and summer in North Hollwyood...any ideas cult women?

You crack me up, Laurie.
Oh and thanks so much for noting me :)

Holly, here are a few sites with lots of hat patterns 1: headhuggers.org is a site for chemo caps, knit, crochet, and sewing fabric ones.
2: knitting pattern central has a large hat section, hope this helps. The lady that owns
Denise interchangeable knitting needles is a breast cancer survivor, and her brother-in-law does breast cancer research in Vermont, so she has the new pink set of denise needles that 5 dollars of the price of each set goes to research, so far they have raised $21,385. The pink set does cost $5 more that the blue set but it is for a good cause. The story on her web site
about his research is pretty hopeful. Laurie, sorry I went on and on in your comments, but we all have to think about the risk of breast cancer, and hope for better treatment. Hope this helps someone out there. Anita

Holly, my thoughts and prayers are with you. My mother-in-law has breast cancer and has her last round of chemo is next week.
My sister made her 3 caps and she decorated them with really nifty buttons she found at WallyWorld.
Laurie Knows Caps!
Hang in there, baby!

I have a co-worker who just came back from L.A. (she saw brittney spears getting her tattoo, cool huh)
I wished aloud that I could go to L.A.(accidentaly, I apparantly have no filter. If I think it, it very often pops out of my mouth) I have a...um...friend...who lives there and I'd like to visit her.
I narrowly averted the "how did you meet her" question. I'd hate to have to explain she's an internet friend...and she's never met me...actually, she doesn't even know who I am...
They all think I'm wierd enough as it is.

Gee, one of my friends has those kind of neighbors. All except that "Bob" died and "Julie" is in and out of the hospital getting her mind back together. That story sounded so familiar.

heh heh....anyway...you have a really cool blog here and I'll be back :)

What about a club with free yarn? I don't know if there is space left, but the sock club at www.nysfarm.com says that the 'yarn fairy' visits you throughout the year with yarn gifts.

Sue

in chicagoland area i had this wonderland called binny's--a freakin' warehouse of anything alcoholic. i STILL miss it, about 3 states and 5 years later. also, DSW rewards in da house!!! I just earned another rewards certificate, and am on my way to spend it. (i just won't say how much i had to spend to get my precious $10 off coupon. ahem.)

My workplace recently tightened up all our internets filters so I can't access anything labeled as a "blog" from work... I get a finger-shaking message about "contraband content" or some such. So I have to check in with my own favorite cult, CAP, from my home computer. Dang, ya'll.

Not to mention when you offended bird lovers everywhere by calling a western scrub jay a "blue jay"....
hmmmmph

about the cat food: if you want to change what you feed the kids, start out by giving them about 1/4 cup new to a cup of old. then slowly ween them from the old stuff over a few weeks.