We picked 16 more quarts of strawberries. And so for dinner I’m having left over kale mashed potatoes and strawberry shortcake. It’s ok…I went for a run this morning! And tomorrow is Monday. : (
First, J became my personal running trainer and I did my first day of training. Then we had our first latin dancing lesson where we were taught by a stunning Russian woman how to do the merengue and the salsa. We ate out a lot and I gained a few pounds. We went strawberry picking and got 19 quarts for $31. I did a little research and a little writing on my book. I got tons of books at a book sale, including a book of Chopin songs that I’m loving playing on the piano. I saw my parents and had a nice dinner with them. I’ve done some weight training and some reading. So why am I blah? Because it’s been raining for a fucking month. That’s not true. Yesterday wasn’t rainy, it was hot and humid. Blah!
Not looking forward to work this week. My boss is creeping me out and my friend D is no longer working there. But I should find out about my raise and early rumors are telling me that it will be a decent raise. I’m trying to be a bit healthier so I bought beer instead of wine at the grocery store. It’s working. I just don’t have the desire to pound beer after beer on an evening. I had one.
I’m pretty close to making a decision on a mini. I may do it yet. I may not. I know I can’t keep driving my subaru every day though or I’ll be filling it up twice a week at $35 a pop. That’s too much. Though I suppose if you factor in $18,900 for a mini, that might not be a logical cost savings. If that’s true, don’t tell me cuz I really do want the mini. I’m feeling lame lately and want a cool car to up my cool factor. I deserve it right? Why the sudden need to impress random people, I don’t know.
Yeah… feeling blah for sure. Time to curl up in bed with a book.
Ok, first of all, to all the yuppies/city dwellers out there who think they are being all local and stuff by going to the farmer’s market, I just want to say…YOU’RE PATHETIC! Do you know how local I got today? Well, let me tell you. It all started at the local farmer’s market, which was sort of pathetic too, but we got some swiss chard (new food - cross it off the list!), beet greens (ditto!), cilantro (I felt sorry for the girl, didnt’ really need any), and then some kielbasa from a local butcher. It wasn’t the actual butcher, just some kid (rather cute kid), but he told us where the actual butcher was and we were looking for some fresh chicken, so J says “wanna go find this place?” Now I’ve been with J long enough to know that when he’s in an adventurous mood, I better take advantage of it, so off we go (me driving). So, of course he obviously hadn’t listened to the kid’s directions at all (why are men so bad with directions?), but luckily I have a sonographic memory and never forget anything (not really) so we’re driving, driving, diriving. We pass the road, turn around, get on teh right road, it’s a dirt road. Pass a “Posted” sign. Pass a “No trespassing sign.” Pass a “Beware of dog” sign. J says to turn around. So I start turning around, then I change my mind because I know the kid said “go all the way to the end of the road.” So the road forks off, I go the direction where there is no dog to be wary of and voila, there is a little itty bitty sign that says ” so and so’s meats.” It’s a house. That’s when i say “it’s all you dear” and wait in the car as he goes searching around for the appropriate door to knock on (on a side note… I hate that! Why can’t houses just have one door? I always go to the wrong one and then they act like I’m an idiot for not psychically knowing what door they want me to use).
Anyway, so to recap, I bought meat at someone’s house today. I am soooo ready for the apocolypse. Grocery store shut down? No problem! Then we went to pick our own strawberries. 15 quarts for $24. So fun day boy am I STUFFED!
Overcast and threatening rain all day, kind of cold so I didn’t feel like gardening. J was working on his alien sculpture..er rock garden. I’m definitely going to hell.
I did a lot of cleaning. Cleaned the kitchen 4 times. Cooked in between. Laundry. Tried to get rid of the cat piss smell in the basement pre sister visit. Cooked, cooked, cooked. Got the guest bedroom ready. Tomorrow we may go to Boston. The weather’s supposed to be crappy again. Hope it doesn’t rain all week. Oh! Last night we went to a used book sale. Got a ton of books… A Carl Jung one about symbols, one called myth in literature (or something), a few kurt vonneguts, several mario vargas llosas (oddly enough) - I went through a big latin american writers phase once…he’s a good one. a margaret atwood one - love her. and one about labyrinths. J got about 20 books about religion. I wanted to tell the guy checking us out that we werent’ religious freaks, but then I thought that maybe he really was a religious freak and didnt’ want to offend him. Usually I think it’s best to just keep my mouth shut and let people think what they will.
Have had sort of a change of mindset lately. It’s hard to explain and it may not last anyway, so maybe I shouldnt’ even bother. But it has to do with value. I’ve been thinking about my own value to people, which led me to think of other people’s value to me. It’s an interesting way to think about things because when you do, you sort of realize that there’s no point being around people who dont’ add any value to your life. It’s a simple math equation. I dont’ know what that equation is since I suck at math, but I’m sure someone could tell you what it is. I also think that maybe quitting drinking was a good thing, because sometimes you have to suffer in order to know you have to make some changes. For example, in my early 20s I was a big stoner. A really big stoner. A 175 pound stoner, but that wasn’t really what I was referring to (hey all those munchies make you fat. It’s true!). So not only did I lose weight when I quit (I didnt’ really quit by choice, by the way), but soon thereafter I also finally got out of the dead-end job that I hated with the bile of satan for 2 years. Sometimes I wonder if I would still be at that job if I was still doing my daily bong hit. I don’t know… I’m just saying.
Well, my sister is kicking my ass at the reading challenge, so it’s time I grabbed my book and put this one in the bag.
Well, I’m halfway through my no-drinking month. I’m doing ok. I would like to say that today was a turning point, but I still thought a glass of red wine would be really nice for this yucky rainy day. It’s really amazing how every day I can find a different reason to want a drink. But I’m pretty proud of myself. It’s certainly a test of will, and saying “no” to myself is very hard for me. I would’ve thought that I would’ve lost weight though, and also I thought I would feel oodles better. But tonight I did some weight lifting and some stretching and maybe that helped with stress a bit. I couldnt’ honestly tell you what I’m so stressed about or why I feel so tense and irritable all the time, but I’m starting to think it’s just my personality. : )
Went for a brief walk at lunch time and it was 99.9 % humidity, so I had what basically amounts to an afro when I got back to the office. But I read in prevention magazine that 17 minutes of walking a day is enough to significantly reduce your risk of heart disease. So at teh very least, you’d think I could do 17 minutes a day, right? I think the key with me is to just get in the habit of doing somethign and then I can pump it up later.
Last night I took my aggression out in the kitchen and cooked like mad. I made homemade crab cakes, pasta and bean salad, and oatmeal cookies. Crab cakes are gone, cookies are gone… lots and lots o’ salad left. Guess I’ll be bringing that to lunch for the next month.
Oh! I also went to lumosity.com last night to see if quitting drinking has made me any smarter… the short answer is “no.” doh! why am I torturing myself again?
Stella d’oro daylillies are bloomign and my roses are going crazy, but it’s rainy and I’m never home so I feel like I’m neglecting them. I shoudl get out and prune the roses but every year I have to look up how to do it and I haven’t done that yet. hmm… I think I’ll make myself a hot chocolate and then curl up with “the botany of desire.” I still think that is the absolutey best title a book could ever have. I’ve been carpooling with J and he listens to books on tape. Today we listened to one called “the jesus dynasty.” It’s kind of interesting. I’m not sure why J is all of a sudden fascinated by religion. He has his nose in a book constantly. I guess it’s better than having his nose somewhere else, so I guess I’ll shut up now.
too bad I had a wicked bad hangover. : ) But, I didn’t let it stop me. We went strawberry picking! Pickin’ was good.
16 quarts. Already got 8 of them in bags in the freezer. Hopefully this year they’ll last past July. : ) We may go back and get more. Didn’t do much else today. Pulled a few weeks, took a really long nap, making beef and noodle casserole for dinner. Hung some laundry, cleaned up.
Last night was fun. Me and AB bonded a bit over a ciggie. : ) We played pool and then fuzzball with R and his new “friend”. I had a really good time. We came home fairly early..before 1, and I didn’t feel like I drank that much. But feeling a bit rough. NOthing hair o’ the dog can’t cure. : ) I”m living in paradise! I love my life!
Here’s J having fun. : )
