Adios May

Couldn't let a whole month pass without a post. Even if it's just a tiny post like this one. June should be better!

Catfish Queen

Well it's Fish Fry weekend in the city of the World's Biggest Fish Fry. I was going through some old books today and found a "book" we put together in my senior English class with the fabulous Ms. Rhea. I laughed when I read my entry - it was about Fish Fry, and was dated April 28, 1989. I figure with timing like that, I should share:

The sun beat down, setting the pavement on fire. The hot, moist air coupled
with the large crowd made for difficult breathing. People lined both sides of
the street, sprawled on chairs, quilts, or on the ground. Some sat in the backs
of trucks, on cars, and some stood. Others walked up and down the street calling
to friends as they passed. Some people wore shorts, some were in bathing suits,
and some were in jeans. Toddlers ran around on the grassy lawns in their
diapers, their little tan feet hopping back and forth. Dogs tied to lawn chairs
sat with their tongues out, trying to find shade. The air smelled of hot dogs,
cotton candy, and hot asphalt. Men pushed carts loaded with novelty items like
balloons, snap-n-pops, whistles and stuffed animals. Small cramped trailers were
hosts to long lines of people wanting hot dogs, snow cones, and Cokes.
Clowns roamed in and of the crowds selling balloons and making little
children laugh. Beauty queens on flowery floats rolled by. Little girls twirling
batons almost as big as them strutted by in their leotards. Girl Scouts and Boy
Scouts rode proudly by, throwing candy to the crowd. Bands marched, following their ever-moving directors. Music filled the air. The big horses with heads held high marched proudly, bringing up the end. Slowly people began to collect their belongings and leave. Paper littered the streets, the sidewalks, the yards, everywhere. Another
Fish Fry parade was over.

Hello again

I'm really not sure what has been keeping me so busy lately, but it hasn't been blogging. I've had pretty poor posting habits lately. Must be spring fever. So, let's catch up:

Running: Had some knee pain that scared me, so I took a week off. Maybe I'm too old to run!
Soccer: Thankfully, someone else stepped up and saved those kids from me and me from them. And to think I almost agreed to that lunacy....what is wrong with me?
Meat and diet: I had chicken twice today. So sue me. But overall, my meat consumption is way way down. I crave veggie burritos from Blue Coast Burrito. MMMM MMMM My soda consumption is almost non-existent. I have slipped a bit on the coffee here and there (once even at Starbucks -oopsy.) I have to say that I can tell a real difference in my energy levels lately. I think I was getting more caffeine that I realized, and it was affecting my energy.
Home improvements: Painter will be here next week. There is now no wallpaper anywhere in my house. It's all gone! And after many agonizing attempts to choose just the right shades, all of the paint colors have been finalized. Who knew there could be so many shades of brown? It's ridiculous, really. Terra Brun (Sherwin Williams) is my current favorite brown. It's an earthy, reddish brown, but very dark. If you visit my bonus room (that is slowly but surely going to become a media room) you can see it for yourself!
Transportation: Last week I rode my bike to work. How's that for some alternate transportation? It was the most awesome thing. When I got this new job and I realized that it was possible for me to ride my bike, or even to walk if I had to, I could not wait to do either one. After driving 50+ miles a day for 8 years or so, the thought of riding my bike to work sounded so ridiculous and wonderful that I could not wait to do it. So, last Tuesday, I put on my little bike helmet, (some girl at work pointed out it was not very fashionable, and I pointed out neither are brain injuries) put my work clothes in a gym bag in my basket, bagged up some dog treats to fend off ravenous canines (like that would work, but it made me feel better), and headed out. It was glorious. The weather was perfect. No one honked or tried to run me off the road. I got to work on time. Life was good. I turned into a chicken, though, when I thought about how much traffic there would be on the way home after work, so I rode it home at lunch and drove my car back. I can't wait to do it again!

Hope you have enjoyed my little update, and hope everything is well with you.

Spring means tulips!!

Those who can't do, teach

I'm not sure where that quote comes from, and I don't necessarily think it holds much truth, but it may just apply to me pretty soon. A friend of mine, in a state of desperation and obvious poor judgment, has asked me to coach a soccer team. You don't remember me playing soccer, do you? Of course you don't. I never played soccer. I have never even watched an entire soccer game. I don't know the rules, or the jargon. But these are 6 year old kids, and apparently all you have to tell them is: Run! Kick the ball! Go that way! So I may help out, at least as an assistant coach. Could be fun. Could be a source of blog topics, anyway. We'll see.

Warning: Soap Box Ahead / Meat lovers beware

I have a radical new (radical to me anyway) way of eating and I feel awesome. My taste buds have changed, just like this way of eating (I refuse to call it a diet) promises. Water tastes really good. Fruit tastes amazing. Cravings are down. I'm not hungry -in fact, I'm completely satisfied. I think this is the healthiest, most sensible that I have ever eaten.

Here's what I have cut out:
Milk (gasps from the audience)
Meat (more gasps, a few snickers)
Sugar
Sodas (I can't believe this one)
Coffee (Really shocked at this one, too)
Most processed foods

Already this week I have had more oranges than I have had in probably the last 8 months. I've had bananas, pineapple, and strawberries. I've had squash, tomatoes, celery, zucchini, onions, red, yellow, and orange peppers, carrots, water chestnuts, sweet potatoes, spinach, chard (a leafy green vegetable that I cooked like turnip greens, wasn't bad at all), broccoli, black beans, and brown rice. I've had peanuts, pistachios, whole grain cereal, chai tea, and soy milk. And that's just this week.

There are so many wonderful and healthy foods out there. But we don't want them because our taste buds are all screwed up from the processed crap that we eat. We are so used to foods filled with high fructose corn syrup that natural foods just don't taste right. We don't really think about what we eat. We get our nutrition advice from TV- we drink milk because the commercials say it does a body good, -and the dairy manufacturers paid for the ads. We eat lean mean like chicken because it's supposed to be good for us -and the poultry people paid for those ads. We use Splenda and Equal and Sweet-n-Low and other fake sweeteners, even though there is scary, scary research out there about each and every one of them -like it took aspartame something like 8 times to get passed by the FDA. But wait, don't be fooled into thinking those things are so bad that you'll just have good old natural sugar. Good old natural sugar isn't good - or natural. It's been uber-processed, refined, stripped of any good qualities it once had, and then bleached because apparently they think people wouldn't buy sugar if it weren't white.

We don't really think about what we put in our mouths. We eat meat because it's there. Because we have always eaten it. And I know, I have an advantage here. While some of you really and truly love meat - I can tell from the visceral reactions I have got from people when I tell them I am trying to give it up - I really could take it or leave it. I do enjoy a good grilled hot dog. I love BBQ. Occasionally I crave pork chops. I like bacon. (Noticing a pattern here? I'm a real pork lover, eh) I used to say that I loved chicken, but the truth is it's the most tasteless meat out there, and what I love is what's on the chicken -like honey mustard, or BBQ sauce, or cheese, or spinach, etc. So it's been relatively easy for me to give it up. I'm not saying I will never have meat again, believe me. I had some this past weekend. But I'm definitely trying to avoid it for the most part.

Why? Because you do not know what you are eating if you eat meat. If you eat meat you are eating growth hormones and antibiotics. Every time. It's not the old days anymore, and your chicken did not come from Farmer Joe. It did not eat corn in a grassy field before being carried to market in a little red pickup truck. In all likelihood it sat in a cage barely big enough for it to fit in and was fed antibiotics to stave off the infections caused by its nasty living conditions, and hormones to make it bigger so someone could make a buck. Little girls are entering puberty at a much, much younger age now than ever. The culprit? Hormones in the meat they eat.

I'm sure many of you will think I have gone off my rocker. That's OK, that's nothing new. And while I suppose that everything above that I have read might not be true, it sure makes sense to me. Besides, I'm quite the animal lover. As Sandy says, I'm a hormone away from PETA. So when I think about what I am really eating - a COW, not a burger, or a CHICKEN, not a chicken tender, a PIG, not a pork chop, it's even easier for me to say no thanks. Especially when I think about how many animals I eat in the course of one year. Ew.

So, that's that. If you are interested in reading what I read (actually I listened to it on CD) to come to all these conclusions, it's a book called Skinny Bitch. As you might could tell from the title, the author has a little potty mouth -admittedly for grabbing attention, but a potty mouth nonetheless. So if you can look past that part there is some really, really interesting information in there.

Ta-ta

Obviously there is a spy

reading my blog and reporting to Kevin. No way he just happens by every time I mention him, but it happened again. So, who is it? Which one of you is selling me out?