Growing Up

I watched the entire hour of 60 minutes tonight and was fascinated, intrigued, by all of it. Guess I really am a 35 year old ADULT!!

Going Vegan

I get a lot of nutty ideas. Some last, others do not.

For several weeks now (maybe longer) I've been toying with the idea of giving up meat. For calorie and economic reasons, this seemed like a good idea. And not that tough since I don't eat a steak every night or anything.

In my research and through self-learning (totally blanking on the right word - i looked at my life and health and stuff), I've actually decided to try Vegan! This is no meat or dairy (eggs, milk, butter!). The dairy will be tougher on my but I'm going to try it for a month and see what happens.

The good news is that I am SUPER excited!! I've been reading cookbooks and looking at websites and I wish there were more meals in a week!! Tonight I started with one of my favorite restaurant meals that I have only tried at home once - Black Bean Tostadas/Chalupas (Chalupa seems to be a Texas word - only place I've ever heard it!) with Avocado. Mine was simply a corn tortilla fried stiff-ish, refried black beans, and avocado (one of my favorite foods ever). I made some brown rice and threw in a bit of enchilada sauce that I had in the pantry for a recipe that I never made many months ago.

YUMMY!!! So far, I am LOVING my new foodstyle :) OF course, I'm still finishing some things in my cupboard... like the Dr. Pepper!! Cuz did I mention I'm also going to attempt to cut out sugar (the obvious kind - stuff cooked with it isn't on my list yet)??

And I owe it all to Alicia Silverstone and The Kind Diet!!

the things students say

"can I take my pants off?"

6th grade boy, blurted out in class. apparently he had shorts on under his long pants and he was hot.

my response: "no"

Angry Christians

This afternoon I had a 3:30 appt to get my teeth cleaned. My dental insurance is up next week and rather than re-up, I thought I'd just go get 'em cleaned and be done, until it's part of a spiffy benefits package.

When I arrived at 3:20, it appeared that a nice well-dressed (thus, i noticed her) lady was finishing up something - she was standing at the payment counter. She came and sat down in the waiting room and I overheard her say that she was waiting now for her hygiene appt at 4pm. We sat.

The hygeinest called her in at 3:40. I thought this was odd, since my appt was first, but I did just call and get it this morning. No biggie. Then the ladies behind the counter start talking about how she should've taken the 3:30 (me) first, but the hygeniest said the other lady had "been here longer". Well, yes, because she had another something done earlier. I went and got my book because obviously I had to wait another 30 minutes. I also took a moment to pray that I didn't get angry and to remember that it's only 30 minutes and it wouldn't hurt me.

Well, the nice lady walked out 45 minutes later and I was finally called at about 4:30. The hygeniest commented that she was an hour behind.  I replied that she was not behind, but that she had just called the wrong person first, which she denied and I explained that I had heard everything. Apparently this all upset her because she then started to cry and said that she was too upset to do my cleaning and i'd have to come back. Needless to say, THEN I was ANGRY! I have sense called the Monarch HQ and will also call the office manager tomorrow.

But here's why I'm writing this here. I am ANGRY!! I don't want to be. I feel bad for the nice hygeniest who is probably over worked and underpaid. And I feel bad for being upset. But then I think that SHE did the wrong thing and then LIED to me because she thought I didn't realize what happened. I was not really all that upset until she claimed to be behind by an hour which was not at all true! And then she got upset because I called her on it. I did not raise my voice until I was told I would not get the service that I had been waiting over an hour to receive. And then it was mostly in my "WHAT?" when she said she couldn't do it. And then when I learned that the manager was gone and there was nothing anyone could do, until tomorrow, when I'll be in a classroom unable to do anything about it. Besides, I'm mad NOW.

So, how does a good Christian, like I want to be, not get walked all over!?! How do we get our fair customer service and express dissatisfaction when we don't get it, without feeling like the meanie?!? Why do I feel like I am in the wrong?

More from "Food Nation"

From the chapter "Why Fries Taste So Good"...

"You'll find 'natural flavor' or 'artificial flavor' in just about every list of ingredients. The similarities between these two broad categories of flavor are far more significant than their differences...A natural flavor is not necessarily healthier or purer than an artifical one. When almond flavor (benzaldehyde) is derived from natural sources, such as peach and apricot pits, it contains traces of hydrogen cyanide, a deadly poison. Benzaldehyde derived through a different process - by mixing oil of clove and the banana flavor, amyl acetate - does not contain any cyanide. Nevertheless, it is legally considered an artificial flavor and sells at a much lower price.  Natural and artificial flavors are now manufactured at the same chemical plants, places that few people would associate with Mother Nature. Calling any of these flavors 'natural' requires a flexible attitude toward the English language and a fair amount of irony."

Wowsers! This could truly spur me into that garden i've been talking about for years!! In any case, it will make my trip to the grocery today a little different - less processed!!

what i like to see

I don't particularly like basketball, but March Madness gets me intrigued every year. Partly because it's my best friend's favorite thing in the world. He is to college basketball like I am to baseball. I love him anyway :)

This year, so far, has been the year of the "upset". Small schools we've never hear of with a high number (seed) who come out and beat the favorites, the big schools, the ones we know where they're located. This improbability, this win it or lose it in one game, is why March Madness can be so much fun. Have a great day, and you move on. Have a lousy day and you go home.

Cornell is this year's "Cinderella Team" - the ones who just keep beating the other guys. They are a 12 seed - 11 teams, in their quarter of the bracket, are supposedly better than them. They are now part of the "Sweet 16". Who's better now?!

I'm rooting for Cornell. Not because they're the underdog. Because they are proving my point. I have always believed that in order to succeed, especially at sports, you must have fun. Let the pressure get to you and you start to slip. Not Cornell! They are having fun. They're laughing and making jokes. They know they don't really belong where they are so they're going to enjoy it - as a team, the way they've played and laughed all season long. Did I mention that they're a pretty good team?

So, GO BIG RED! Have some fun and see where it takes you!! Cuz, especially in March Madness, you just never know!

Couple of quotes from: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=df-cornell032110&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Is this a normal occurrence, avoiding the cliché; player-speak and showing off the team’s camaraderie? “We normally don’t have any press conferences,” Dale said.

“If you take it too seriously, it’s not fun anymore,” Foote said.

School Advertisement

I'm reading "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser. Really, I'm skimming it. I checked it out and renewed it twice already and it is now overdue. I am on page 57. I am only that far because I've been skimming for the last 20 minutes or so. I really did want to read it once I started, I just started too late.

I'm reading all about how Burger King started advertising in schools in Colorado in the mid-90's. I skimmed and read for several pages and it even brought up Channel One, which is watched in some local middle schools (that I know of!). It is a daily video with news segments and commercials geared toward kids. It's made by someone somewhere and offered nationally, apparently. I've seen a couple segments. The kids ignore it and do homework, which is actually a good thing.

ANYWAY... as I'm reading about these things, and the Top 40 radio that is played in cafeteria's and all those posters in hallways and such, I suddenly got irked. QUITE IRKED!

So, our schools can get money from advertisement about fast food, zit cream, shoes, who knows what else, but we can't pray? Schools can be as commercial as they care to be (sports team being sponsered even!) but they can't in anyway be religious. It's wrong. Just wrong. If a student has the freedom to read a poster advertising Coke over Pepsi, AND MAKE THEIR OWN DECISION, shouldn't they have the freedom to be informed and MAKE THEIR OWN DECISION about their spiritual life?!?!?!

So many questions (loudly) running through my head... how did we get here? who do we blame? how can we "fix" it? What is God's plan for ME in this capacity?!?!?

say it ain't so Nomar

not that I care that Nomar Garciaparra is retiring. But I'm pretty sure this means I've been a baseball fan for too long. I do believe he was a nobody, maybe not even playing pro ball, when I got hooked. Let me rephrase that earlier comment - you can't be a fan too long, no such thing, but this is making me feel old. AGAIN!! it's bad enough to look at a roster and see all those boys. truly boys - 18, 22. but now the boys of "yore" are hanging up their cleats.

ah, such is life. have fun Nomar.

Icons

First "Boner", now Corey. Haim that is. Aren't I too young to see my childhood crushes die?! Not that I ever had a crush on either of them. But that's not the point. A lot has been said over the years about child actors falling by the wayside, not being able to shake the "industry" and such. Then I look at TV and movies and the roles we're asking kids to play today... I pray that someone, a parent or mentor, is there to help those kids through it all so they're not tomorrow's Boner.

3/7/2010

35 down.... ?? to go...

What a fabulous weekend of celebrating! I have a mazing friends who love me and embrace my obnoxious love of my birthday. Life couldn't get much better!!

I'd like to thank the academy...no really, my parents, my brother, my cousins and aunts and uncles...my friends, especially my Jeffy, the Garcia's, Mitzi, Amanda, the First Friday gang... but most definitely, i thank God. i can't imagine my life without God and I devote the next 35 years (and beyond) to serving Him and completing His plan for my life.