New Haircuts

Summertime…. and the livin’s easy…..
And you have to get a haircut to match.  I’m thinking camping…. I’m thinking tubing…. I’m thinking swimming… and you have to have wash and go hair, right?  Well, we went for it.  Here is the debut of TomTom & Mom’s summer hair 2011….

And here is his close up, Mr. Deville….

I’ve gotten into a bad habit of cutting his hair myself, but it’s kind of fun.  A bit of an art project if you will… we haven’t had any hard core mistakes yet, but I’ve been pretty much able to fix any OOPS so far.  And his hair grows like a weed, like the rest of him!

Another week in the life of… Sarah

This week has been another blah, blah, blah.  I got my new lap top, that I am typing on to you now!!!! Very exciting, I know! I also got a new ipod touch that has completely rocked my world.  What a different life of technology there is out there, who knew???? 
I couldn’t decide on what type of laptop to get, there are so many of them out there!!!!  My old Dell finally bit the dust, it was about ten years old, and I didn’t want a Mac desktop yet because I figured I would wait for that expense when TomTom starts school.  So there I was in the midst of a million laptops, tablets, and a zillion other things with no idea what to do…
I don’t know if it was a good idea, but I started out with Cnet and made a list of things I wanted to get in the future.  This list ended up being the laptop, a new Ipod, and a camera device that saves to a hard drive instead of the regular old camcorder I have that I have to burn to a dvd via my tv.  Then I searched around Cnet to see what was out there.  I also have a friend at work with the new Ipad, but I knew I needed a computer for the house and that wasn’t the route I needed to go at this point.
They had a dell laptop, that converted into a tablet that was really cool and got some good reviews. However, after pricing it at Dell and adding Microsoft office I was up in the $900 dollar range.  CRAZY!  I could just go for the Mac and I wasn’t ready for that big of an expense right now.  However, I did decide to go with the new Ipod touch because it was on sale at Best Buy and seemed to offer everything the Ipad offered, minus the 3G, only smaller.  Cnet also told me not to buy any tablets right now if I could hold off because so many of them will be entering the market in the next year that they will only get better.  Mini tablet and music holder to boot, it was on sale… PURCHASE! 
Then after hours of exhaustive research I found a laptop, that got good reviews for a “budget” laptop, it has a back lit keyboard, web cam, and microsoft office included – all for under $500 bucks…. PURCHASE! 
I also got a special offer for a $60 savings on a printer, went with the wireless that I can email from my mobile devices, and got that baby for less that $40 bucks!   PURCHASE! 
All in all, after a few hours of study time I managed to get three awesome items for less that that one Dell!  And I decided to hold off on the camcorder device because I got a camera and video camera in my Ipod touch that will be easy to take anywheres!!!!!!! I’ve already used it to upload videos of TomTom to facebook. 
One cool thing about my laptop is that the mouse pad acts as a touch pad, however I haven’t mastered it yet and hope my niece can help me out with it this weekend.  However, I LOVE it!  And the printer… LOVE IT!!! And the Ipod… SUPER LOVE IT!!!! And now I can type on my blog directly from my computer with Windows Live – I didn’t even know these things existed, but I am loving it.
I thought it was great that TomTom was like… you got an Ipod touch?  And I didn’t even know what it was called.  Have I really turned into that old person?  Why yes, I think I have, and my touch sensitive mouse pad is here to prove it, Biotch!

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Update!!!!  In the short time of reading this blog on my site, I figured out the mouse pad... HA!  Practice makes purrrfect you old fart!  I also needed to mention for humble-sake that I paid off my car finally!  No, not early, just finally hit that last payment - so I was able to spend a little bit on this laptop that I had been planning on buying for months now when my old one crapped out on me.  I'm not one to throw around large amounts of money (and for me this was large) so I had to be sure to get the best deal I could possibly manage!

Filming in Abita Alert!!!

Yes, we in Abita Springs, LA have become the proud members of an elite community across the world.  The film community, who knew?  So far this year we have seen the likes of Zac Efron in the Lucky One, Miley Cyrus (in I don't really care what), and now we are proud to have joining our community.....

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Based on the novel......

How did we get so lucky???

This week in a flurry

This week I've lost my motivation to blog.  Here I am on Thursday night deciding that I need to get something down on paper.... or computer screen.... whatevah!

Things I am working on this week for the overall wellness plan resolution:
I am following the meal plan on sparkpeople.com.  It basically gives you a set up meal plan for the week.  You can choose to follow this, or choose to hide it and go with your own food items.  The custom diet I am on calls for three meals and two snacks.  The three meals average about 400 calories and the snacks are somewhere around 200 calories a day.  I noticed in just being aware of my eating on sparkpeople that I can easily chow down on about 1000 calories at lunch, especially if we go out for lunch. 

My other goal I have set for the next 28 days is to be part of sparkpeoples 28 day boot camp challenge.  You do a 10 minute strength training video every day - it's not complicated at all and works out different body parts every day, some take less than 10 minutes - and you commit to doing 30 minutes of cardio for 5 days of your week.  You repeat these steps for four weeks. 

Well, I know I can commit to getting my exercise.  Thanks to the Wii 9 week challenge I have instilled in myself a nice little habit of waking up an hour earlier, working out, then getting to the showers and getting ready for work.  With the boot camp challenge, I actually have time to loll around if I wake up an hour early after my work out.  I only have to commit to the half hour of cardio and the video, maybe 50 minutes of work if I draw it out.

So far I have used the treadmill Taty sent over to me (thank you for the hand me down - I have wanted one of these for awhile), yes it is rickety, yes it is ancient, but it works and I can get a workout in the comfort of my home quick and easy.  I have been doing interval training on the treadmill to keep me interested and am starting with a 22 minute beginner interval training on the treadmill based on an article from sparkpeople - yes, this website is FREE and a wealth of knowledge about the rat race of getting in shape and losing weight.  To sum up the interval training, I do a warm up - two minutes brisk, 1 minute fast, two minutes slow, one minute fast as I can go, etc on for about 15 minutes, and then on to the cool down.  I have also been following that up with a 10 minute yoga for flexibility and relaxation video.  All in all it gets the job done and doesn't draw out my workout for an hour like the Wii Sports Active 2 did... not that it was a bad thing, just a bit of down time waiting for an exercise to load, etc.  After I finish my workouts I scurry over to the kitchen and fix up my breakfast for the day according to the meal plan.  I also pack up my lunch and snacks for the day at work. 

So far things are going well with the meal plan.  It isn't really expensive to buy groceries based on it, because you can swap out items you don't like for things you do and make it work with the items you had already bought.  I spent about $150 to get started on it a week ago and have lots of groceries left (that $150 was based on a completely empty fridge and cabinets, now they are still stocked nicely after a week).  I just have to make a small run for more meats - not necessary, but I like to keep the variety up - and some more produce.  I am pretty much keeping up with the same grocery budget, just buying drastically different things.  For instance, I had a great conversation with my meat man at Fresh Market the other day about only needing 4 oz of salmon and about the same in tilapia and pork tenderloin.  He grumbled a bit about the salmon, said "I would like to meet that doctor", told me he couldn't cut the tilapia (no big deal I got one fillet) and I didn't even bother fussing with him about the pork tenderloin.  I am making my dinner while my family eats there's, but TomTom wanted my salmon so I told him I would get enough for both of us next time.  Go TomTom!  I had never cooked salmon before and it turned out great.  Then we had Tilapia, I had never cooked that before either, but he ate all of that too.  Looks like he will be on board for my sparkpeople meals which makes life easier for me. 

Some times I do get hungry, and some times I do feel like I am not eating any meat.  I am getting my protein thru nuts and egg whites, not necessarily meat.  I'm used to having meat with every meal, but lately... not so much.  It is a difference and I notice it now and then, but I have also come to appreciate the sacrifice an animal makes for me to be able to eat its meat - something I have thought very little of in the past.  I realized a lot about the whole process when I read the "Slaughter" chapter in the "Ravenous" book.

Some times it gets hard - today I had a piece of cake for Jessica's birthday at work.  However, I didn't eat my other snack to help make up for it.  Was it worth it?  I think of all the watermelon and produce I could have eaten instead of that too thin piece of cake, but it was damn good.  Tonight I wanted to give in because I was HUNGRY - why??? Went too long without eating because after work I went to TomTom's baseball evaluation.  I was going to hang it up and go for ice cream since he had all A's on his report card.  Fate intervened because the shop was closed that was on our way home.... but right across the street was Mamma D's... the best pizza ever... and I could smell that pizza... it had my name on it... a big ole greasy piece with pepperoni, italian sausage, black olives, onions, and jalapenos.... HEEEELLLLLOOOOOOO LOVER!!!  I had a moment and breathed it in and told TomTom... what I would do for a piece of Mamma D's right now!  He was of course up for it, but I told him I couldn't do it, I was trying to be good.  I had set a goal for myself.... and I WALKED AWAY!  I came home, hungrier than all hell, but I cut up my romaine lettuce, swapped the feta for some full fat sharp cheddar, skipped the light weight dressing and went for the full fat hidden valley ranch dip (I made the other day), needed meat... must have meat.... got a piece of the cooked pork tenderloin in the fridge... added walnuts, added sunflower seeds.... and Voila!  Dinner!  I changed up the meal plan because I was hungry, but not to far from the original, and I measured out everything into the portions that were called for in the meal plan.  And it satisfied me.  No, I wasn't so full and miserable that I couldn't move, but I was complete - no more hunger over the edge.  I finished it up with oreo suprises for TomTom and I since the ice cream shop was closed.... fat free frozen chocolate yogurt (carefully portioned out for control) and three oreo cookies crumpled up, and all of it stirred together in a coffee mug.  Yumalicious!  I got him off and to bed after American Idol and did my cardio because I woke up too late this morning, ajnd that is just another day.  I am often tempted to stray from my meal plan, but I am holding steady.  I am often tempted by a huge hunger, but hold fast, and end up satisfied with the meal plan options.

Here is another example of weakness... I have been not feeling the best this week.  Monday I went to the doctor because it sounded like I swallowed a frog I was so congested and stopped up.  She gave me medicine and that awesome cough medicine with Hydrocodone.  I didn't sleep at all Sunday night because I coughed all night long so I was ok with it.  I came home early Monday, took the cough syrup and antibiotic - with my meal plan lunch - she told me to take it with food so I did - and about an hour later I was like WOOOO HOOOOO high and laid down in the bed.  I don't think I got good sleep because I knew I had to pick up TomTom from my mom's.  I went over there, made my meal plan dinner and brought TomTom home.  I got him to bed, took my medicines again (because it was right after dinner and she said to take with food) and passed out. 

The next morning I woke up, worked out to my video and cardio on the treadmill, then yoga.  I made my meal plan breakfast and ate it beginning to feel a little woozy, but carried on with the morning routine.  I got TomTom awake and into the bathroom to get ready for school.  I was drinking my hot tea and watching the room swirl around me.  I told him to scram... fast... MAKE WAY.... I knew I was going to throw up (this never happens to me unless it is late at night and I am drunk), but it happened... I threw up right then and there into the toilet... three times... gingerly thinking to myself how do I log that into sparkpeople?? Do I get calories back??????

I tried to persevere and continue on, TomTom was thoroughly grossed out.  I showered, got ready for work, and got on the road.  I was stopping here and there to catch my breath and steady myself.  The drive was the worst.  Getting him to school I thought I was going to hurl again, but knew I had nothing left in my stomach.  I made it to drop him off then went right back to my drive way.  I sat there a few minutes and decided to call the boss man.  I told him what happened so far and that I was going in to set up crew changes, call the doctor, and I would update him later.  He said he trusted me to know what I could or couldn't do and to take care of my work from home.

I called the doctor, hooked the computer up, set up crew changes, and next thing I know I was passed out.  I woke up again around 3 PM when my mom called me.  I think this was possibly a sign from my body self saying slow it down girl, you really are sick, and you need to heal.  I got new medicine from the doctor that my mom was nice enough to pick up and bring to me.  I hadn't eaten.  I threw up my breakfast, part of last nights dinner, and slept through lunch.  My mom was bringing TomTom to me so I didn't have to pick him up.  I told her I was going to order pizza for us.  Easy, simple, no prep, pizza.  I thought about it for about a half hour.  I decided to get up, cook the Tilapia - tater tots for him and salad with it for me, and be done with it.  He was a bit upset he didn't get pizza, but I explained that I set a goal and pizza was the lazy way out.  I didn't want to blow it with five pieces of pizza. 

I am learning that it is just laziness that makes me go with the easier way out of food.  Why get up and fix it when it can be delivered to your door ready to eat or picked up the same way?????  But I did it... I moved past it.  Not to mention, the night before when I came home with TomTom my medicine container was on the floor with NOTHING in it.  Turns out the cats knocked it off the table and the dog ate it????  I freaked out at first thinking it was the blood pressure medicine but it turned out just to be the antibiotic, and 45 minutes later when I was on the phone with the pet poison people I started to find the blue pills scattered all over my house.  I found 14 of the 19 and they decided it wasn't necessary to bring the animals in, just get the dog to puke by putting peroxide down his throat.  So I did, and Forest did, and there were no pills in his stomach.  I felt like crap.  I felt like it was an evil plot by the cats.  I felt horrible for what I did to Forest out of concern.  Maybe it was karma that made me nauseous the next day and a throw up queen.

And that is where I am at now, still on the meal plan, and with all that drama exactly one week into it after my fast.  That is another thing that gets me through my hunger.... I went three days without food, certainly I can handle another half hour.

This weekend is promising to be a great one because Nando and I are going to see Mamma Mia in Baton Rouge and then following it up with shopping.  I also got a new hair cut and am going back to henna... sweet henna.  I plan on doing that tomorrow night and will have to blog the process for shits and giggles.

That is this week in a nut shell!  Toodalooo!

Top Secret About Mom

When I was cleaning out TomTom's room the other day I found a ton of random rocks all over the place and little notes labeled "Top Secret".  I can't tell you how many rocks I threw away, and the places I found them were just as funny.  They aren't special rocks, I kept the ones he got in Tennessee that were special in the pouch they came in, but these are random rocks from our front porch and driveway. 

Most of the "Top Secret" notes I found I threw away and gave him a stack of note paper on his desk so he could start new ones.  However, there was one I found that seriously touched my heart so I tucked it in my pocket for his return home.  When he got here I asked him if I could keep it and he was ok with it.  Now I am going to share it with you... It was a long rectangular piece of paper folded up into a little square and on the outside of the folding he wrote in pencil "Top Secret".  When you unfolded it the paper reminded me of the kind you write a grocery list on, it was long with several lines down the page.  In pencil the top line stated "About Mom."
"1. Sings in shower.
2. Dies her hair.
3. Very nice.
4. Likes Star Wars.
5. Is Cool.
6. Probably washes hair every night.
7."


I can honestly say I wished he had finished that list, but he has me pegged in the first 6 lines.  Gosh I love that little critter!

When TomTom's Away....

TomTom spent last week in Gatlinburg, TN with my parents.  I stayed home and had some fun of my own.  In the last days before his arrival back at home I decided to do a massive clean out of his room while he wans't looking.  I am going to participate in a garage sale soon and I figured now is the time for out with the old and in with the new.

This is his room before the clean out.  I had already moved his dresser into the closet because there just isn't enough room in there for all of his furniture.  I had already strippe dhis bead and was washing the sheets and comforter. 

To put the dresser in his closet I had to take the bottom shelf out of his closet.  I'm not sure if I will regret that later, but everything seems to fit nicely in there.  I also cleaned out all the clothing and shelves of things that no longer fit him for the garage sale.  Here is a photo of the dresser in his closet after I took out the shelving.

And here is a photo of his room after the cleansing!  Everything has a place and he can play with all his legos and Star Wars toys on the other side of the bed so that you don't have to jump over them as soon as you walk into his door.  What did I learn from all of this?? Momma REALLY needs a life!

Cat Nap

When I come home every day for lunch, this is the sight I see.

Two lazy kitties nappin' on green.

(Alice is on the left, Edward is on the right)

Ravenous Fast - Day 3

Day 3 and my throat feels like the sahara desert. I keep drinking water but my mouth continues to feel cotton mouthed and parched. I am continually having cravings. They are hard core spikes that are demanding my attention.
I read part of the book last night that dealt with the fast. She had a last meal, then fasted completely for two days and then had dinner the third day with her family. I am trying not to give in to it. I was planning on doing three days and then waking up to eat breakfast on the fourth day.
My cravings are trying to have me give in and eat tonight. I set out to do what the author did, three days. Around 10 pm tonight will be three days.
Maybe I can go with a fruit and veggie meal before bed? Or maybe I can skip it all together? We shall see...
The other side effect has been a low constant head ache. Nothing I can't handle, it is just there. Also, my eyes seem extra sensitive to the brightness of the sun. They also seem to still have spouts when they are not in focus. And over all that is a hard core lethargic exhaustion. I am so tired I just want to curl up and sleep through the rest of today. That is in no way possible.

The stress at work doesn't seem to help at all it makes me even more anxious. They have a catered lunch in there that I have to walk by. I know I can make it through lunch and the end of the work day. I will try my headphones. Pray God my headphones will take me to a happy place.

The head phones helped.  I made it out of work and to the grocery to prepare for my meals tomorrow.  I got everything cooked and ready, and then I did it.  I decided to eat dinner.  And it was delicious.  It was worth every bite and I savored every bite.  Now I am completely exhausted and am going to climb into my bed. 

My throat feels scratchy and thick, don't know if I was starting to get sick due to the toxins in my body or if the coating of pollen on my car this morning is doing it.  Oh well, the fast is done.  I stayed strong and I am proud of myself.  Now, back to sparkpeople.

Day 2 of fasting

Day two of the fast….

To say it is considerably harder today is an extreme understatement.

Lesson about myself - I googled everything I could possibly google or research on the internet or spark people about fasting. Why? I think it was so I could find an excuse, reason or justification to make my body self feel like it is ok to stop. I need approval from factual research so that I can back my case up and allow myself to stop. It is amazing the tricks my body self can come up with.

I am having a serious craving right now, for anything. I have been trying to map out my breakfast on spark people for Friday morning. I don't think it helped. The craving kind of takes over everything. It takes away my sanity and my eyes don't even focus. I went home for lunch today and occupied myself with replanting lettuce, doing laundry, and drinking my broth.
I made it thru lunch so I know I can get thru dinner when I am back home by myself. My mouth feels heavy and full of cotton, but I'm drinking my water like crazy and using the bathroom a lot.

The perks of the research - fasting can be really good for psoriasis and high blood pressure. There are even cases when after fasting the issues were no longer present in an individual.
However, this is a serious head trip, trying to avoid the thoughts that lead to food; I don't know if being at work helps or hinders it. I thought it would be a good distraction, but now I feel like the clock is dragging and I just want to get home where I can keep busy! I need to walk around a bit.


I wrote the above around 4 PM on day two.  It is now 10 PM.  After emailing the above entry, I got up from my desk and walked over to my friends’ desks.  I told them what I was doing, I needed support, and I was on the verge of breaking - another lesson about my body self... I need justification from others to stay on the path that I am on.  I knew they would be supportive and not joke with me about it and I got lots of great advice.  Turns out, one of them had fasted five days recently and did not publicize it at all.  Five days.  WOW.  This isn't easy for me at all and I am simply on day two.  She gave me hope that I could definitely continue on with my journey.

Once I got home it was no sweat, I rearranged TomTom's room a bit since he is not home I figure I will give it a good clean out.  I vacuumed the whole house since I had skimped on that this weekend with Mardi Gras.  I took out and put in the dishes in the dishwasher and I did about another three loads of clothes.  I also watched my favorite American Idol in the background while all of this was going on.

I can tell you that work was stressful, this added to the anxiety I was having earlier.  Stupid things brought up by silly people, making mountains into mole hills, and all in all just the normal bullshit that I would rather get away from in everyday life.  Why do people stress over things that they cannot control?  Why must everything be an issue?  And more importantly, if you did something to come alive for five seconds why should you feel guilty about it later and blame it on unprofessionalism?  We really need to take more advice from children.  All in all, it is not my issue to dwell on - so I am dropping it now.  However, it was a crappy start to a return to work day from vacation.

Here I am.  Sitting with my fast and all the crap in my head.  Here is a gross little tidbit - I have a quarter size patch of psoriasis on the back of my scalp buried underneath all of my hair.  No one knows it is even there except my immediate family.  Today it pretty much all flaked off in a fit of fury.  This is not normal.  Usually it flakes a bit when I itch it, like dandruff type stuff, but not all of it just coming off in chunks.  This makes me feel really optimistic about how this fast may help my psoriasis.  Basically I won't have anything left in my system to irritate the condition.  Interesting.

Lesson learned - I can really keep myself busy when I am avoiding something (like eating).  I am turning out to be stronger and stronger than I thought with every craving for food.  I am dreading having another 24 hours of this.  I can't wait to eat again!!! These are the thoughts that I get lost in and I have to move on.  I have prepared my meals for Friday and will be at the grocery store tomorrow night so that everything I need is on hand when I need it!!!!

Here is the meditation she did in the book on day two of her fast; you are supposed to say the first thing that comes to your mind.   Below are my responses.

What demon do you want to work with?
Fear

Does it have a feeling?
It is a lingering sadness.  It makes me want to curl up inside myself in the dark and fall away from everything.

Does it have a color?
If it has a color I can't see it.  It wants to be hidden in the dark.

Does it have a texture?
It reminds me of a blanket.  Something that can cover me up, but once it is over me it seems sharp and cutting, making it hard to breathe.

Where is it held in your body?
In the middle of my chest, it moves out into my throat and covering my lungs.

What does it look like now?
It is dark and unfriendly, but comforting because it is hiding me from seeing the outside.  It is like a safe protective layer on the side I am under, but on the other side it is covering me and keeping me from my life.

What does the demon want?
He wants to keep me from pain; he wants to protect me from things that can hurt me. 

What does it need?
It needs acceptance and unconditional love.  It needs a support system, it needs belief that it can grow into something wonderful.  It needs to know that the things it likes and wants in the outside world are okay to go after.

When its needs are met it will feel....
Free to live

Feed the demon sweet nourishing nectar with acceptance, unconditional love, and a support system that believes it can grow into something wonderful and supports its choices in life.  How is the demon receiving it? 
Timidly, the demon is shy and doesn't want to seem greedy, but it realizes that it is getting what it has wanted for a very long time so it cannot turn away.  The demon is a lost child being beckoned out of a dark corner by a trail of bread crumbs.  She peeks out so you can see her eyes, pale and lonely, she grabs a crumb and then ducks back in the darkness.  She is still afraid, full of fear, but she wants to have the support to make her dreams come true.

Look for your ally - the figure that will help and protect you thru your demon journey.  What is my ally's gift to my demon?
The gift is open arms for tears on a warm and welcoming lap rocking and rocking and rocking like my grandma used to do.  A warm heart to talk to that does not laugh at my dreams or make me feel like they are not good enough.  My ally talks about everything I am interested in and everything that I want to be in this life.  She will hold my hand and help me mark out a path to achieve everything that I have wanted.  And she will be there when I have fear again and want to duck behind the darkness.  It may be safety on one side, but on the other it is a barrier from all the things that will light my path in this life.   She will remind me that I can overcome the fear.  She will give me the acceptance and warmth that I need when I become afraid, she will give me the strength and protection to go after everything I want in this life.

Ravenous Fast - Day One

Day one of the fast.

And my word for it so far is… bearable. 

I slept in really late today knowing the impending doom.  I think I woke up some time around noonish and didn’t actually leave my bed until maybe 1 pm.  I had my water bottle by my bed and realized I had actually made this choice to fast for the next three days. 

When I first woke up I knew I had a ton of things to do around the house.  Emptying the dishwasher, cleaning the litter box, there were many routine chores that kept me busy for awhile.  Most of these were done in anticipation for making room to make the fasting broth.  I ran around last night from store to store finding my ingredients.  When I looked at the ingredients and then at my stock pot I realized it wasn’t big enough at all.  I had originally made the plan to head to my mother’s house for her stock pot.  So I gathered up all the trash in my house to bring to her garbage can (she is kind enough to let me add to her trash service). 

I got in my car to head out knowing I looked like absolute crap.  I had bathed, but not showered and tacked my hair up in a barrette.  I threw on jeans and a sweatshirt.  The weather outside was gloomy.  I felt much more in reality today on the streets and much more capable of driving.  I still had people messaging to go partake in the Mardi Gras madness, but there was no way in hell I wanted to feel like this again.  And the temptation was way too strong for drinking.  I’m in the car and one feeling is calling out to me more than any other – bloated.  I look at my face in the rear view mirror and realize how swollen my eyes and face are… my blood pressure medicine has changed and I am no longer on the diuretic version.  I felt like all the liquid in my body had accumulated in my brain.  I remember I forgot my trash and was trying to take the short way out by just stopping by Wal-Mart for the stock pot.  I detest Wal-Mart and have stopped shopping there since the end of last year.  I had to resort to them for the air purifiers or waste too much gas driving to find them.  I am contemplating all of this in my bloated head and scream out in my car “I am not going to justify going to Wal-Mart after the way they treated me!”

So on to Target I drive, the less of the two evils???  I run in and find the stock pot and also take a look at their food scales, something that I have been thinking about purchasing for awhile.  The coolest one was a measuring cup that had a scale on it.  However, it was the same price as the non digital stainless steel scale with the bowl on top – so I went with the stainless.  No battery replacement needed for the old school one.  I got back to the house and all the morning had been sipping the huge bottle of Fiji water I bought last night.  I get home and unpack everything and start my broth.

I have never worked with beets before.  I think maybe I had seen them once in my past out of a can, but the smell and the look was an instant turn off.  Don’t think I have eaten them since.  One thing I learned…. Beets stain.  My hands were a lovely crimson red, as well as various splats throughout the kitchen that beautifully matched the ones on my white tank top I was wearing.  They were an absolute mess. 

The fasting broth recipe can be found in the book Ravenous and it calls for beets, carrots, and potatoes.  But you are only supposed to use the skins.  Basically you peel all of these veggies and keep the actual veggies for later.  I stuck the beets in baggies and froze them.  I have no idea what to do with those.  I shredded the potatoes in the food processor and put them in serving size baggies for hash browns in the future.  I also sliced the carrots in the food processor and froze them in baggies.  Thomas and I love to eat those in butter with dill on top for dinner.

Then I put in the other veggies and water and brought the new pot to a boil.  Then I covered and simmered on medium low for an hour.  I took a taste before it started to boil, but I couldn’t really taste anything at all.  It took me awhile to get the ingredients ready for the broth.  I am talking at least an hour here.  I was getting hungry and had been plagued by the usual stomach growls since I woke up.  Stomach growls are what I usually judge my hunger by and then I eat something.  Other than that I had the really bloated face, and the head ache.  Was that from lack of food, or lack of drink, or lack of smoking?  I figure my body is going through all kinds of withdrawals here and it will be hard to pin point which ones are affecting it most.

The broth is cooking.  Then I went on to clean some more of this disgusting house.  I packaged some more garage sale items in boxes.  I thought of all the other things I need to do and how I should go about doing it.  I started the dishwasher, did some laundry and cleaned up most of the mess from the broth preparations.  The scent of the broth was filling up my house and I was excited to taste it, or to taste something other than water.  Come to think of it, I have hardly drunk that much water today anyways.  I noticed after prepping and waiting on the broth that my face wasn’t as bloated anymore.  I went to the bath room for the first time I think today and took another look.  My eyes look much calmer now, less swollen.  My face is broken out however, another way of my body rebelling from the damage I had done this weekend.

I opened the Ravenous book and went to the fasting chapter to refresh myself with some motivational tools.  I wrote down some lines from the book that made this all make sense again and posted one on the fridge door… “Let whatever arises arise, and do so without snuffing it out with food.  Notice that things pass and maybe you’re not who you think you are.”  To me this has to do a lot with cravings, feeling hungry, the stomach growls.  I can’t just keep busy the whole time to distract myself from not eating.  There are going to be moments when I will just have to sit with the feelings and overcome them without all the busy work.

The one that I decided to put up on the cabinet called out the most to me today.  “I’m not repenting by giving up food for three days; I’m’ honoring myself by letting what I’ve kept hidden under endless mounds of food finally see the light of day.”  I can hear the little voice in my head keep asking myself, "Why does it have to be three days?"  Wouldn’t one day be enough?  And does fasting mean you can have this, does fasting mean you can have that?  Three days.  It’s a small sacrifice to make.  When I start feeling myself leaning toward why I am doing this for three days - this will be the cabinet I turn to.

The one I put on the microwave door is “Three is what you need to wrestle the issues deeper than the physical manifestation of hunger.”  This is where I feel all this is going.  I’ve practiced yoga for awhile now and tried my best to work with meditation and relaxation.  This process seems like one long journey into a meditative type of state where things are going to come up in my head to rebel against what I am doing to my body.  It is going to reach out and grab me by the neck and ask "what the fuck are you doing???" I need food.  I realize how much presence I give my body… my body is going to do this… my body is rebelling from the drinking I did this weekend…. My body feels like this…. My face feels swollen and it feels stuffy and headachy…… However I do not connect my body to myself.  It is one entity and my mind or myself, is another.  This could be one of my issues.  I don’t relate myself and my body together – they are two different things to me right now, not the one solitary unit.  I am realizing and becoming aware of the fact that what one does directly effects the other, but it is not a team effort it is one side rebelling against the other and the consequences of the battle.  I need to figure out how to get the two back together again.  To stop saying my body feels and start saying I feel.  Take ownership of my body and make my body and mind one being again.  One cannot live without the other and they can no longer be separate from each other.

I briefly read through the fasting chapters and write down another yoga exercise that she did on day two of the fast and look forward to hitting that one up tomorrow.  I strain my broth and put it into jars.  I leave a tea cup full on the counter and go in for the big sip.  I have done many diets, the cabbage soup, weight watchers, veggies and fruit only, a nasty tea drinking diet.  I have been to them all and suffered through them as long as possible – keep this thought in mind when I tell you about the broth.  It isn’t bad at all.  Maybe it is the hunger??? But it is good.  I definitely prefer it when it is piping hot.  It pretty much tastes like vegetable soup, without the vegetables in it.  Yes, it is missing salt, pepper and all those things, but all in all, it’s pretty dang good.  I’m now on my second glass.  It cooled off a bit and I popped it in the micro wave and decided hot is the way to go. 

After a day of keeping myself busy I have decided to come over to the computer and sit with the hunger.  It’s not so bad; the author of the book described her hunger as coming and going like the waves lapping the shore.  I can agree with that symbolism a bit.  It is there on day one, a lingering flame in the background.  But the nutrients in the not-so-bad-tasting broth definitely help.  I don’t know if it is from not being around others in two days, but my head does seem a bit lighter too.  I have much more energy than yesterday and I keep thinking of things that still need to be done.  It is almost 7 PM and this day is almost over.

I wonder if tomorrow will be harder, being at work and around other people that will probably be eating.  I will look forward to work as a bit of a distraction from wondering about food.  I have noticed that I am not an absolute binge eater.  I don’t eat everything until it is gone.  The traits that I am aware of that my body self seems to enjoy when it comes to eating…. Eating when my stomach grumbles or my head starts to ache.  I have never eaten breakfast before last year and have slowly tried to implement it into my diet.  Sometimes I still slack and go for the starbucks iced mocha instead of an actual meal.  However, I have grown to like oatmeal again.  I know I like grits and have done that for awhile, but the oatmeal is much sweeter and I can do it without added butter or salt.  Let’s not forget to mention I have been doing cinnamon roll oatmeal and maple and brown sugar – so most of that stuff is already in the package, but it is all accounted for in my calorie volumes.

I usually don’t eat my breakfast until late when I’m at work and not at all when it’s the weekend.  I have resorted lately to eating some special k chocolate delight with skim milk when I have eaten most of my calories at lunch or if I know I need to eat breakfast on the weekends but don’t feel like preparing anything.  I think it is a good thing that I have started to turn to it – it is easy to prep and it fills me up when I don’t really want to eat anything or don’t really need more calories.

However, during the week I eat my oatmeal breakfast somewhere between 9 and 10 am, sometimes later.  I usually wake up at 6 AM so you can see what I mean about eating it late.  But lunch, lunch is my enemy.  We sit and talk about lunch for hours at work – what are you doing for lunch?  Where are you guys going for lunch?  And I so often give in to my favorite Thai restaurant or Greek restaurant at least once a week.  And then we have catered lunches on Thursdays.  From logging in my nutrition on spark people I have realized that most of my daily calorie intake happens at lunch.  I can put down about a thousand calories at lunch very easily.  I was awakened this week that my subway tuna sub, cheetos, and I had a cookie topped the calories at a thousand calories.  I had no idea!  I get about 1500 calories a day with sparkpeople and with a 400 calorie breakfast and using a thousand at lunch, you can see not much is left over for dinner.  This is a problem I have been running into more and more lately - another awareness that has come from this remarkable web site. 

I don’t know what sparks it at work, maybe the talk of food – or the waiting for food – or maybe just not a big enough breakfast, or maybe a too late breakfast.  However, I find if I keep it easy on the lunch calories I get that huge hunger in the afternoon and usually break down with a snack.  And here is another one of my greatest evils… I have a really filling lunch and then decide I need something sweet to top it off with – a menchies, or a cookie – no meal is complete without that sweetness.  Maybe I could try a cup of hot tea to help with this sweet need??? Another thing to experiment with in the future.

I am now finished my second cup of broth and figure I will do one more later in the evening.  I am going to continue with my chamomile tea routine before bed. 

How do I feel about the fast right now?  I feel I need to realize why it is significant for me.  I want to use it as a way to promote detoxification from all the drinking and smoking I did this weekend.  A sort of cleansing of the pallet to bring me back to normalcy.   I want to use this fast as a tool to help my stomach issues get back to normal again too.  I hope this will completely clear out my stomach of any nonsense so that I can get back to feeling normal again.  I want to see how my body self is going to react to the various levels of hunger.  I know the surface levels, I never let myself get past them – there is an ache in my belly and it usually rises in a rumble.  I am feeling those the most today.  Out of habit I always suppress the grumble with food.  I wonder how long it is going to lay silent in the pit of my stomach.  I want to use this fast as a tool to get to know myself better.  I have never fasted before other than before midnight for blood work or surgery.  And that is easy enough.  You go to bed and wake up for an early doctor’s appointment – you don’t even notice the fast. 

The timing is right – I am noticing all kind of things that my body self is trying to tell me about the way I have treated it.  My son is not in town so I don’t have him to distract me from any realizations that may be going on inside me.  My parents are not in town so I don’t have a three course meal waiting for me at the end of the day when I go to pick up my son. 

What have I learned so far?   I separate my body and my mind into two different beings.  I refer to them as different beings; they don’t seem to communicate with each other openly in my head.  It is just my body feels this way, not what are you going to do about it?  I am going to try to incorporate the two views into one by calling it my body self.  I have had to do that throughout this entry just to realize how much I separate them.  Every time I have written body self so far I was going to refer to one and not the other, but brought them back together by using the word body self.  I will start to realize when I am separating the two and mentally bring them back together.  I live in my body self all day and all night, they are never separated.  Where one goes the other one follows, what one experiences the other one must experience too.

Ravenous decisions - last meal.

I decided to go with the three day fast.  This was my last meal the night before:

I decided to have an orange because it was referred to so many times in the book.  I don't really like eating oranges because of the pulp and always went for the juice.  I didn't really know how to cut it being that I don't eat them.  I hadn't had anything but soup so far this day, so my mouth was already reacting to the orange from the smells.  I basically ate it by sucking the juice out and not getting any pulp in there.  It was delicious.  Sweet and perfect in the mouth.  I will buy more to keep around when I want a sweet snack.

I followed with a big bowl of watermelon.  One of my favorite melons!  I could eat watermelon all day and night.  It was an easy bowl to make it through.

I followed that with a lemon pepper rotisserie salmon cutlet from Fresh Market.  This was really salty.  It had been sitting in the heated case all day so it was also a bit dried out.  It was not as good as I was hoping for a last meal, but the inside was good, just way too salty.

I then had a small bowl of my favorite creamy tomato soup from the organic section at Rouse's.  It is not very fattening or salty, and it is just plain good.  Yum!  Perfect!  It also keeps in its store container (like a broth box) so it will be in the fridge too for when I can eat again.

I finished off my left over crawfish ettouffe from Sunday's lunch.  It only filled up about half of a very small plate but I wanted to be sure I didn't have any food in the fridge to tempt me through my fast.  I had also bought a hidden valley ranch packet because I was craving that dip with veggies.  I cut a few celery sticks and had made the dip with organic sour cream. Yum!  Perfect!  I didn't really have the hunger to eat this, but I made myself since I bought it.  I know the dip will hold up for this weekend and after my fast it will be ready and waiting for me!

I ended my last meal before fasting with double chocolate gelato from Fresh Market.  Oh, this was heaven.  It was dark chocolate gelato with chocolate chips in it.  They were a present that I wasn't expecting.  A definite highlight!  I am writing about this at the end of my first day of fasting and my mouth is going crazy with drool just thinking about the better points of this last meal.  I already can't wait to eat again!

Ravenous decisions

I finished reading the book "Ravenous: A Food Lover's Journey from Obsession to Freedom" by Dayna Macy today.  I highly suggest buying it.  You can get the 1.99 kindle version for your laptop which is much less than the $25 I spent on it at the book store.  Either way it was worth it for me.  I found the book from a reference on sparkpeople.  This is my blog entry on it.

Tonight I finished off the book Ravenous.  It is a biography type book about a woman who had issues with her weight all of her life.  Most of her issues dealt with over eating and the reasons that started the eating.  It got me thinking about my own issues.  Her turning point question was when her yoga teacher asked her, why are you in this body?  What does it have to teach you?

When I first opened this book, I read the question, and I did not get it at all.  I mean, I read the words, but they didn’t fall off the page for me if you know what I mean.  As I kept reading her book there were a few things that did fall off the page for me. 

One of these entries involved a corn chip, and a sort of food guru who had asked the crowd to taste it and tell him what they thought of it.  Then the crowd asked him what he thought about it and he said something along the lines of a bland mushy tasteless pulp in his mouth.  He stated that with the corn chip “there was no there there.”  And if he didn’t catch himself he might find himself eating many of them looking for the “there” that they didn’t hold.  Then he had them think about eating an orange.  It tastes like the sun, and to a certain extent it can be felt in your heart.  This is a very alternative thought process, but it was another step in the author’s journey regarding her relationship with food. 

So where does this put me.  I’ve started sparkpeople, continued with my exercise workouts in the morning, and have lost seven pounds.  My main goal this year was to create a bit of a wellness plan for myself.  However on my personal journey so far I have become aware of many things involved in my personal diet. 

I don’t get enough nutrition from the foods I eat.  I have never been fully aware of it before.  The years I have spent counting points completely threw out my nutrition factors.  I relished in the easy to fix things that I could shove in my mouth and added up their point’s value.  Eventually the foods I ate the most fell into a routine and I fell into that routine too.  I never thought about how much magnesium or potassium a food item had in it.  Or whether or not I was getting my necessary amount of protein for the day, fats for the day, or carbs for the day.  I have become aware that I was blankly eating random things that did nothing for me nutritionally.  That awareness has come from the nutritional trackers at spark people.  This may not mean much to others, but to me it was definitely a point that changed my approach and as a result I am trying to introduce as many people to sparkpeople as possible, but I can tell they don’t get it.  It doesn’t click for them.  So maybe this is my journey.

I have been able to integrate exercise into my everyday life.  This step wasn’t that complicated for me.  I have been on a path now for a few years to become more healthy and active.  It started with a gym membership, then the couch to 5 K program, then going back to a gym I really enjoyed and holding fast with that for about two years.  After that I went back to walking out side and occasionally trying to run from time to time.  This year I have been very on top of it by waking up extra early to work out at the house in the mornings.   Maybe it has had to do with quitting smoking... again....and trying to find things to do to keep myself busy and away from those cravings.  I wake up in the morning and do my work out.  I also walk my dog about 1.25 miles a day, on a good week, seven days of the week.  I have also incorporated having TomTom ride his bike in the evenings along the route with me at least three times a week.   I completed the 9 week challenge on the Wii Sports Active 2 and I am ready to move into the 28 day boot camp challenge at sparkpeople.  I have taken this week off due to TomTom being out of town and it being the Mardi Gras season.  I also log my daily exercises into spark people fitness trackers.  The website also provides me with strength training routines to do three times a week.  I have completed them weekly up until this week off.  Leslie suggested I keep up with strength training because muscle burns so much more calories and fat - it helped her through her plateau.

Where am I now?  Well, sparkpeople led me to the book Ravenous.  And as I was reading it some things started to click with me.  Another sentence from the book that called out to me went along the lines of this…. She didn’t fit in at home, and she didn’t fit in at school.  She was going to have to make the decision - she was going to have to make her own place in this world - there was no part of the world that she just easily slid into.  I can completely relate to this. 

What lesson is this bringing to me?  With my recent awareness about nutrition and my recent doctor visit that found my blood pressure very low – get that??? LOW from a person who has been on blood pressure medicine since 2006!  That maybe I can change things from just general awareness.  Food has always been a part of my family, as it was with the authors, maybe from my Italian background or just my Grandma Maud’s excellent and tasty southern cooking in general.  Food was good.  Always prepared with southern love and a meal was a meal - Not a small plate - a heaping plate - and at home we weren’t allowed to leave the table until the plate was empty.  And I can’t forget the “Why did he get more than me???”  Most of the time was the answer that he was a boy.  I can also relate to the author’s inner rebel, because my inner rebel would come out at that point and tell myself that I could do whatever a boy could do, and this probably included eating more than I needed. 

This all brings me to this week.  My son is out of town with my parents and I am left to revel in the Mardi Gras spirit all alone.  This week means a lot of things for me.  I have some very sad moments when I realize how much I miss my son.  I disguise it in my phone conversations with him, but there are tears in my eyes when I tell him I love him.  I miss him.  I also get to be back out in the real world on my own with no responsibility to return to, nothing waiting for me at home.  I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, and this thrill usually only keeps me entertained for a day or two.  Friday night my friend was nice enough to entertain me with some shopping.  Then I came home and prepared for our parade outing the next day.  Unfortunately the fates intervened and the parade was cancelled due to weather.  Luckily, my plans with friends were still intact and we would just hang out at the bar for the day.  Everything went well and I had a great time visiting, and meeting new people, a small reassurance to myself that I could still participate in that world.  What I didn’t like is when I got my drink on people started handing me water and telling me I was getting a bit drunk.  Was it that I was having a good time, and smiling and speaking freely that people decided to step in and act as if I needed to sober up a bit?  I don’t think I behaved that badly.  My brother bruised the entire tip of my nose from when he squeezed it which I barely remember him even doing.  I was smoking again because I was drinking, a likely excuse I seem to keep telling myself and I had to take slack for that too.  Or is it just the fact that someone has to rain on my parade?

  My Aunt was nice enough to announce later to someone that I was not drunk and had in fact been drinking water for about an hour now.  What the fuck?  Let’s not forget that I haven’t really gotten out there and gotten hard core drunk since….. I don’t know??? New Years Eve??? And I was with my brother then anyway so they weren’t even there to witness it.  I think about it now and wonder what was that thing I did that set off the comments?  Could it been because I was having such a good time and being a general socialite?  Why would anyone be against that?  Or was it because my mouth got dirty when we played “ I never” and my aunt and uncle were there?  When have I ever hid that I talk like a fucking sailor from my family?  Not sure that I ever did?  Do they just forget because most of the time I am disguised behind TomTom and the desire to be a good example for him?  This is an issue that I could go on forever about so I am going to stop and get back to the main point.  How my body felt the day after. 

I sleep horribly when I am not in my own bed.  And to top off my night with the futon I woke up two to four times and puked in the bathroom.  I don’t remember how many times exactly, but I remember I was exhausted and very neat about it so that no one noticed.  However, this does happen as I have become older and drink too much.  My body no longer holds it in so that I can just sleep through it.  I am compelled to wake up and puke. 

I slept very lightly and woke up with every noise.  When my cousins left the next morning I was pretty much awake but trying to deny it to myself.  I had to use the restroom and it wasn’t a pleasant experience.  My stomach was obviously screwed up and I had to deal with that as another issue on top of a night of puking and a general 35 year old hangover.  I moved to the more comfy bed and tried to sleep some more.  My other cousin returned home and I wasn’t in the mood to talk.  I was still too busy trying to process how my body felt.  I did have moments of realization that I might not want to drink ever again if this is how my body was going to react the next day.  I was in a fog.  I couldn’t really make coherent sentences much less even want to.  My stomach had rebelled and I was dealing with that.  A nice shower didn’t help make me feel any better.  The smell of smoke in the apartment was enough to make me want to puke.  One nostril was stuffed up and my breathing was pretty much labored and wheezy from giving into my smoking addiction.  I didn’t want to eat and I wanted Gatorade, but I did not have a vehicle or the comprehension skills to wander into a gas station and check out.  Abi wanted to talk and I couldn’t even be there for her because I was just trying to keep my head up.  I don’t know how much sleep I had, but I had to keep moving because I had a day of parades to live through with my other friends.

They came to pick me up and I managed to hold it together for lunch and then I was off to doing it again.  Drinking, smoking, etc.  I finally started to feel somewhat better, but knew it was just the alcohol filling in the holes that were missing earlier.  I had lots of fun but still had my general body issues in the background.  I made it back to my home, ate my left over lunch and passed out on the sofa.  I woke up around 5 AM and moved to my bed.  I tossed and turned again.  I tried to stay in bed as long as possible and make myself wake up around 1 AM.  I felt like crap.  My stomach was still an issue but I was still unable to actually use the bathroom.  I remember there was a moment last night when I pissed my pants because I waited too long for the portopotty.  How could no one have noticed????  There are many other things that happened and I am not going to mention them because it would be inappropriate and it is mine only to remember, or not remember how things ended up one way or another. 

I woke up and had life waiting for me on my cell phone.  I had to let a few friends know I was in no shape to do another day of it.  My body had pretty much rejected me and I was left to deal with it.  I walked to pick up the dog from the vet.  A normal walk of about three to four blocks which usually left me energetic was draining and made me feel like an asthmatic again from the fucking smoking.  I managed to pull sentences together enough to retrieve my dog, put on his leash and exit the vet for our walk home.  My voice sounded like that of an 80 year old smoker.  My tone was all wrong I said words loud that are normally soft spoken and vice versa.  I was in no shape to be around other humans.  I called my brother so someone knew I was still alive and pretty much made it back to the refuge of my home.   The top and back of my throat was killing me - Maybe from tensing my jaw all night when I was sleeping?  Not sure, but it hurts.  I’m extremely tired.  I decided to spend the day watching movies and reading.  I am no longer drunk, but still not exceptionally well at driving my vehicle.  I finished the Ravenous book in between movies and made myself some noodle soup and sweet tea for lunch.  I didn’t think my stomach could handle much else under the conditions.  I ate two turtles for breakfast and water, glasses of much needed water and some nice cold milk. 

When I finished the book I was toying with the idea of doing the three day fast the author’s yoga teacher recommended.  It was a tool for her to identify her real hunger from the other normal hunger that she easily relieves with food.  She is allowed to drink a strained broth and water for three days. 

At first I panicked and wondered if I could commit to three days without food.  Then I realized TomTom wasn’t going to be home and I really had no reason to prepare food much less have anything substantial in the house to eat.  It would be three days to learn about myself and the way I would react to it.  I have decided the timing is perfect and I have no reason to not do it.  Besides, it will help tip the scales in my favor for this week’s weigh in after a weekend of too much excess.  And not to mention help my stomach by completely emptying it of whatever is in there bothering it.  So I ventured out for the simple ingredients of the broth.  I felt like I was in a fog.  Like I existed in some separate universe that none of these other humans I saw in public could enter.  I was detached from head to toe and barely able to make conversation enough to check out. 

I went to three different stores for my last meal and broth ingredients.  I returned to my house that is in such a state of disarray I can’t even think about it now.  I will deal with it tomorrow when I am trying to keep myself busy and away from eating.  By fasting for three days I will be able to eat again Friday morning.  A nice breakfast I am thinking - for now, no more thinking about it.  When I was out in line at the grocery store it dawned on me how much I hide behind my son.  He is my main reason for existence at this point and everything I do is for him.  I have no agenda, no personal need for survival.  It is all energy that goes to him.  I do not go to the grocery.  I go for him, because it is the normal thing to do and to supply food for him.  I would just grab take out as needed if he was not around.  I talk to him at the grocery store, not others.  He helps me make up the grocery list, he makes it all worthwhile.  I was floating in space out there with no particular reasoning for anything, and I missed him like crazy.  I felt out of place without him there.  I wondered how in the hell I was going to survive when he moved away as I listened to horrible elevator music waiting for my turn to check out.  Who in the fuck was I in this lifetime?

What is it that I want?  Who is it that I want to be?  And what will I have to do to start to make my place in this life?  These are some great questions for me to think about when I have this time to myself.  A week ago I was frantically trying to make plans to keep myself busy so I would not miss Thomas.  Now I am looking forward to experiencing the next three days without food and how I am going to react.  What do I need to realize so that I never feel like I have felt these past two days.  I didn’t like the way I felt and I don’t want to feel like this again in the future.  Those are the only two things I am certain of right now as I type on my couch. 

These are the first steps on my journey.  This is another step in my awareness of myself.  This is where I will spend the next three days.  I think this is going to be harder than any mushroom trip or acid trip.  This is three hard cold days with me and my mind and battling through the various results of addictions, habits and the way I deal with things. 

Kitty update

The cats are still living with us as we battle TomTom allergy issues.  Here is a photo of me and Alice.

I tried to get them both in a photo, but you can really only see Edward in this one.

Endymi - NOT!

Endymion was postponed this year due to the weather.  We had a whole Saturday with nothing to do.  We made the best of it and decided to hang out at Wits End where my cousin was working.  Dave and Jojo picked me up on their way in from Baton Rouge and I got to eat a filet burger at Lakeview Harbor.  My favorite parade specialty!!!!  We met up with Jeanne and her sister and had many laughs as the rain hammered down on us.  Before we left the area of the restaurant I stopped at the Tastee Donuts to get one dozen turtles and buttermilk drops (McKenzie style).  The turtles were AWESOME!

We headed down to Wits and continued to have a great time even though there was no parade.  I had some feathers for my hair that made there rounds to people I have no idea who they are, but they didn't mind making friends with the feathers....

Here is Jojo, Dave & I at the table.  I kept giving Dave Wet Willies hence the finger up toward his ear. 

Why do I love to aggravate Dave so much?????  Here he is deep in thought... will Jojo make it up the stairs on her own???????

Then later my brother and sister in law showed up.  My brother squeezed my nose when he showed up - or so I heard - I don't really remember him doing it or having any pain when he did it.  But moments later people started to try to wipe stuff off my nose for me.  Here is a photo of me and Taty..

And this is about the point when I got pissed because I figured out how bad off my nose was..

Thanks bro!

Spring has Sprung

Hopefully a high note to off set my previous post about the bird deaths.

Spring has sprung and there is new life all around us in the city.  The pear trees are absolutely beautiful with all their white flowers!

Death becomes them...

Last week was a hard week for the birds... around my office building.  It is a sad, sorry state of affairs and our office area are the main ones that get to deal with it.  We have two trees outside our office windows and countless innocent bird victims smack into the mirrored window mid flight expecting to continue soaring on through the trees.  The mirrors aren't prejudiced against any bird... hummingbirds, sparrows, geese, they have all been mystified with their reflection and brought to an early death.  Upon impact I have Francesca run out and if she is able to bring them back we keep them in a box until they can fly off again.  Many do not come back. 

This week we met the Bohemian Wax Tip - a bird we have met before in the past.  The trees outside our office have berries on them that come out at the beginning of the winter.  Those berries have sat, and sat, and fermented - and the Wax Tips swallow ten or eleven of them whole at one sitting.  We discovered by researching the birds that they gorge themselves on these fermented berries and get drunk.  We think they are in the middle of their migration when they stop by our office.  Not soon after the gorging we had about five dead birds scattered along our sidewalk from flying into the building.  This is a photo of one of the innocent birds, brought to death by flying head first into the windows, you can see the remnant of the berries on both ends of his spectrum.

We have plastered post it notes along the first floor windows by our office and they have seemed to help stop the birds from flying into the windows.  We have not had any deaths since.  I can only hope we are able to continue to help the birds, it is a sad sight to see such beauty lay so still.