Slumber Party

So last night was the slumber party for Stephanie. It was strange for me. I definitely had more fun running around with her three boys than I did hanging out with the girls. The girls even at 11 were so full of drama. The boys on the other hand were extremely happy to run around in the dirt. I was very happy for this and ran around the yard with them. I know the thought of me running is hilarious but it was more the fake running you do when you need to let a 2 year old win a race. I also realized last night that I don't think I ever went to or hosted a slumber party during my childhood. Not that I'm upset, I just found that notion interesting. After the girls went to sleep and Annette and I cleaned her house a little I went home. Mind you my 10 minute drive got me home @ 5 am. I have turned into such a baby. I was absolutely exhausted staying up that late and went straight to bed and didn't get up until 1:30 this afternoon. I used to be able to stay up a couple days at a time and not think twice about it. Now I fall asleep at the 24 hour mark whether I want to or not.

Topic change. I tried out my new sneakers Fri. before I went to the slumber party. I liked them a lot. I could definately feel my legs working more than with my regular sneakers. My calves and quads were the most sore but my hamstrings and glutes got their fair share of work as well. I think these sneakers are going to do me a lot of good this summer. The only thing I had issues with on my walk had nothing to do with the sneakers. There are no side walks were I live and the roads are seriously crowned for rain runoff. This puts a good amount of torc on my ankles because my left foot is always inverted and my right foot is always everted. Yes I could change this if I walked on the wrong side of the road for half of my trip but I hate the idea of doing that. Short of driving to a park or place with sidewalks does anyone have any idea how to handle my road crown issue? I am open to just about any suggestion.

New Sneakers

Today was a generally good day. Work was busy and went by fairly quickly. I have been very unhealthy lately. After the cleanse I was doing so well eating a lot of fruits and veggies, nothing fried or sauced or overly processed but this week has been frought with fried, processed foods and very little raw foods. This may be a good weekend to get back to healthy since I do not have to work on saturday and will be sleeping all day sunday.

Tomorrow I will not be blogging at all. I work in the morning and am helping a friend with a sleep over for her soon to be 11 year old daughter. The same one I mentioned in my last post. I know I am glutten for punishment but I felt bad that she would be wrangling 8 girls and her 3 boys by herself. One thing is for certain though. I will forever be determined to never have children after this weekend if there were ever doubts before.

This afternoon I went to Vestal and bought a new pair of walking sneakers. I desperately needed them and I don't feel bad for buying them but I think they are the most expensive pair of sneakers I have ever owned in my entire life. They are Avia brand and they are the kind with the curved souls that are supposed to help all sorts of things including posture, gate and speed up the toning process. I don't know if any of that is true but I know they were very comfortable and seemed to have excellent arch support which I greatly appreciate. Although I did not get back before dark to go for a walk I think I may have time to go for a long walk before I keep my promise to be surrounded by children.

Can't Help It

I had a pretty interesting day in a not so pleasant way. Until about 7pm my day was same old same old. Then I went to a chorus concert for a 5th grader which wasn't all that horrible. I definately remember singing the exact same songs when I was in chorus.

Anyways, I then go to my friends house (mother of said 5th grader). Also not inherently unpleasent. I know most assuredly why I never will have children. THEY ARE EVIL! To the core of their miniature bodies. Don't get me wrong I know 90% of that is parenting but the other
10% is still very important. It's their ability to drive me insane in a single breath.

I do not understand why a person, legal adult or otherwise, would want to raise a child to be disrespectful, mean, insubordinant and down right obnoxious. I know the down right obnoxious part is hard to control in an 11 yr old but still.

Dinner

RJ & I went out to dinner at AppleBees tonight. It was so good. We both got the smaller portion dinners and skipped appetizers and desert. It was probably our least expensive dinner out in a while but it was so good and I didn't have to worry about left overs or anything like that. After dinner we stopped at a couple to stores to get the networking stuff RJ wanted. He it such an electronics junky. It's kinda cute. Anyways when we got home RJ started doing his thing and I went to the store to get some goodies. Not that I need junk food but it sounded so good and trust me they tasted good as well. Ice cream with cookies and milk. I was in heaven it was so good. It didn't take much to fill me up either. Tonight is relax before work @ 3 am. After work tomorow is when I am going to put a hole in the wall so RJ can finish what he's been dying to do with the network. I think I will also do some serious catching up on things tomorow. Although I am not behind with anything I feel like I'm not ahead yet.

catching up

Today has been a catch up day and I am exhausted. Full day at work and unfortunately i didn't get everything done I wanted but Oh Well. There is always tomorow. I mowed the lawn because it was starting to look like a jungle. I was able to ride my bike to and from work today which felt great because walking has not been a feasible option lately. I took a shower after I mowed the lawn and I still feel fantastic from that as well. I didn't get to do any of my normal online things yesterday so I got up to date after the shower.

I have made another observation about my behavior after the cleanse. I don't feel the need to sleep 10+ hours every night. I used to sleep between 10 and 14 hrs every night and would be exhausted with any less. Like not be able to function kind of exhausted. Since I have done the cleanse that has not been a problem I have been waking up after 8 hours on my own. Sometimes I wake up after only 6 hours and feel great and able to tackle the day. I hope this doesn't change anytime soon. I like being able to get a lot more done.

Idiot

Today thoroughly feels like a rinse and repeat day. I unexpectedly had to work because someone called in. Then I came home, made lunch, checked e-mail, facebook, etc then I went for a long walk. I say long walk but I don't know exactly how far it is I just know I walked for 90 minutes at a pace that made it difficult to sing with the music playing in my ear. I enjoyed the walk though. I was able to observe different things tis time. I used my eyes more today than previously. I notice some very cool looking trees and by their sizes most of them were pretty old. I was thinking I should take my camera with me on the next walk but now I'm not so sure. Maybe on a nice sunny day.

This evening when I made dinner for my hubby I made a smoothie as usual. It was different than the others though because this one was papaya, mango and banana. I liked the flavor but the texture was very different. Not necessarily bad just different. On top of that I was so hungry that I made another smoothie for just me. I drank the whole thing but nowI feel completely full without being over full or feeling like like I'll want more to eat later tonight.

So back to my long walk. I got a blister the 1st long walk I took and made the decision to get new sneakers before walking a long time again. Well, my infinite stubornness kicked in and I only wore a different pair of old sneakers thinking they would be better and the blister on my foot won't hurt. I AM AN IDIOT!!! Why on earth I thought that I have no idea. I knew I had a blister and I knew it would hurt if i walked on it a lot or could possibly get worse. Well it definately got worse. I made it all the way home started to stretch and when I went to go inside to change I couldn't even lay my foot flat on the floor. That was 3 hours ago. I still can't even lay my foot flat. I will say it again. I AM AN IDIOT!!! Geesh Rachel. You have a brain. Use it!

Nap

Today was the ordinary stuff work, e-mail, clean, make food for hubby before he leaves for work, etc. The only exception was a nap. Although naps are pretty ordinary on a not so busy day, I was not expecting this nap. I finished the 1st three things on the above ordinary stuff list, went to finish the bikini I have previously talked about finishing, and the next thing I know I am waking up and it is 7:30 pm. I don't remember reclining back, covering with the blanket or dreaming. Something must be up because on top of this spontaneous narcoleptic moment I was freezing when I got home this afternoon even though it was over 50 degrees outside. I even had RJ start the stove before he went to bed, I was that cold. I truly hope I am not getting anything microscopic. I feel fine now but I will have to see if that status changes in the morning.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a lovely day and if my recently acquired blister isn't bothering me too much I think I will enjoy another long walk. This time I will find a different pair of shoes to wear or maybe I will go for a bike ride instead then shoes won't really matter.

smells

Today is the first full day after the cleanse. I didn't over do it too much. I had dried fruit, raw cashews and fruit puree for breakfast, a yogurt and some more of the fruit puree for lunch then I had the last of the fruit puree with some potato chips as a break snack at work. When I got home I made some Mac & Cheese but only had a small amount and put the rest in the fridge for RJ to eat before work tonight. While RJ was getting ready for work I made a smoothie and we both had some. Things I notice greatly about the three solids I chose to take in today, mac & cheese doesn't seem to have the same drawing taste it had before the cleanse. I used to be able and want to eat an entire box but I didn't today, I wasn't even remotely tempted. The potato chips were BBQ and that part of the flavor was wonderful but the salt part of the flavor made it so I could not eat many at all. The three pieces of dried fruit I had peach, apricot & pear didn't have the same appeal they normally have. I think this time of food transition may be a good time to try new foods and to retry foods I previously disliked. Maybe I only disliked them because they weren't overly sweet or salty. I am definitely going to take this as new and waiting opportunity. Maybe that will be a recurring theme for this blog. Food, the rediscovered frontier, and my mission, to boldly try more new or previously discarded flavors than I have ever tried before.

Changing the channel. I went for a walk this afternoon and it took a little more than an hour. Although I have a blister because I didn't realize how thin the soles of my sneakers had become, I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I smelled Lilac & Honeysuckle the entire way. There was the occasional farm, cut grass and exhaust smells as well but they seemed to mix in pleasantly today. It was kind of weird when I returned to our road though because I could smell so many more things than I usually do. For example, I never realized, before today, how much the first house radiates the cat urine odor. Maybe after the blister heals and I get new sneakers I will be able to explore some new walking terrain and get ready for serious hiking.

Smoothies

Day 7 of the cleanse ended up being the last day of the cleanse. It was convenient though. The last of the syrup was used with the last lemon so the only left over is the cayenne pepper and I can use that in other things.

To come off of the cleanse I made a smoothie. I am glad I did too. At first it seemed to hit me like a lead weight then all of a sudden I felt great and the whole time no cramps. I made a second smoothie later when my husband got home and he had some too. I have a feeling this may become a regular thing for us, which would be nice because there is nothing but fruit and yoghurt in the ones I make so they are pretty healthy. He seems to like them so I guess that's good. I used to live on smoothies when I was in college. I have a feeling I may get back on that band wagon. I always felt great and I remember that being the slimmest time in my life.

I did have a piece of a potato chip today but I mean a small tiny piece which wasn't bad. I also had a small piece of pizza which I ended up giving to the dog because I couldn't eat the whole piece. Oh well. What I ate tasted amazing.

I applied with the NS railroad today. Hopefully I will get a call or e-mail. More likely an e-mail from them. I applied for the train conductor position. There are a few available in the area and how cool is it to be building and driving a train around. If this pans out I will be so stoked.

It's been a great weekend and looks to be a busy week but I am looking forward to it. Now that I am done with the cleanse I am not sure what topic to turn to next but I am sure I will figure it out tomorow.

Party

Today is day 6 of the cleanse. I can now understand why they say to do the cleanse for 10 days. The first 4 days not so much movement, days 5 & 6 have seen much more movement. Excited in a not so excited kinda way if that makes sense to anyone but me. I was tempted to ditch the cleanse today but with the encouragement of my husband I kept going even through the birthday party with cake and ice cream. One good thing about sticking to it was seeing the look on my nephew's face when he tried the mix. It was priceless, too bad I didn't have the camera.

Rj's out getting wings. I have not wanted to quit this cleanse more than I do today. Missing out on cake, ice cream and now wings. Granted all these things are part of what made me want to do the cleanse in the first place but that is besides the point, I am still allowed to miss them.

My one biggest fear when I start eating again is that I'll do something stupid and binge on food and then feel like shit afterwards. I guess if I'm thinking about it now I will be aware of it later and it probably won't happen. That's the dream anyways.

Since I mentioned it, Nikara had her 2nd birthday party today. She made out like a bandit. Although that is too be excpeted for the only grandchild from an only son. Don't get me wrong by no means would I classify her or her father as spoiled brats but the only from an only is bound to be spoiled by one generation or another. It was fun none the less. Rj & I got to see family we hadn't seen in a while and see the rugrat run around and play with the other kids. Nikara is smart for two. Without saying a word she pretty much told her older cousins to piss off when she was tired of entertaining them. It was kinda cool.

Excited

It's day 5 of the cleanse. I still have not had any serious hunger pains which I think is very good. It also confirms what I already knew; if I'm stranded anywhere for a week I will survive as long as I have a source of water and I wouldn't look the least bit famished when found. I have also learned that until today I wasn't sure if this cleanse was working. Today I pooped for the first time since I started the cleanse. I was thinking if there is no poo there probably is no cleansing happening. I'm not sure if there was just a lot of stuff to sort through before my body decided to get rid of it (sorta like me and house cleaning) or what but I was super excited to poo. Wierd; I know.

Another note of personal cleanse education. The Grade B maple syrup tastes much better than the Grade A. When looking for supplies all I could find near me was organic Grade A maple syrup so I bought it thinking "This will have to do." However, a week after I bought it I was at the craft festival in Athens, Pa and found this vendor who was selling his own maple syrup and I found Grade B. YAY!! I was so excited. Now I started using the cleanse with Grade B because that is what was called for but when I had (2) 8 hr days in a row I left the Grade B syrup at work and used the Grade A while I was home. Thank goodness the Grade A is almost gone, it definately doesn't taste as good. I am going to use it up this weekend while I am home.

Another cleanse thought came to mind while typing. I will probably run out of syrup completely before the 10 days is up because I am definately going through it faster than anticipated. I don't know if I will look for/buy more if I run out early. I definately will no run out of the other supplies but I had a hell of a time finding the right syrup the first time and it was expensive to boot. I guess I will just have to wait and see. Maybe if I stumble across some that isn't too much money I will get it.

On the blog testing note, I think I like this a lot. I was never good at meditation at FLSM but quite a few people said it made them feel focused and grounded and that is how I feel when I am done typing. I guess maybe I should have started doing this a long time ago.

Mangos

Work went well today. It stayed a steady busy. A couple rushes but nothing too drastic.

Day 4 of the cleanse. I was dreading today because I had heard and read everywhere that day 4 is the hardest day but it's the same as the other 3 days to me. It must be because I'm a little wierd.

The grocery store where I work has mangos on sale $1 each. This is awesome except I'm not eating right now. I am buying them anyways. I figure after the cleanse I will not want/be able to eat a lot of solid food without great discomfort so I am chunking them up and freezing them to be turned to smoothies after the cleanse. Hopefully they don't taste funky after being frozen for a week. Lesson learned if they do taste funky I guess. Right?

Stars

Today has been a very good day. I was able to stay busy at work. I found out I was star of the month in March, star of the quarter for the store and star of the quarter for the zone. I am very excited about this. I guess it's the first time anyone from our store has ever been picked for the zone. YAY for a great day at work.

On the cleanse note...today was ok. I am starting to get mild hunger pains today. Yes they go away when I drink the mix but they seem to come back sooner than I expected. I'm sure they will simmer down as I keep going. I think part of the problem may have been that at work I can't drink as frequently as I was able to the first two days when I was home most of the time.

I read a number of diffrent places that a salt water flush is common practice during the master cleanse but it makes you have to go quite a bit. I have the supplies to do the flush I just don't have the courage. Hopefully courage will show up Friday, my day off.

Good Morning Planet Earth

Day 2 of the master cleanse is going very well. I haven't been hungry but I have realized how much I ate out of boredom. This morning was a prime example. I had three glasses of the mix this morning and still wanted to eat even though I wasn't hungry so I went for a bike ride instead and the desire to eat went away. I will see how many more things I become aware of during this cleanse.

Totally different topic...I finished part of the christmas present for Jon (my sister's boyfriend) before I went on the bike ride. I am very stoked about that. Next thing on my crafty to do list is finish the bikini I started for my sister Tasha. She was supposed to be going on a cruise this month, that fell through but I am still going to finish the bikini for her. Maybe she can use it this summer.

First Time

Today feels like a good day to test out blogging. I'm not exactly positive the direction this blog will take but I'm sure it will be fun none the less.

I think I will start with the master cleanse I started this morning. It's also my first time for that. I didn't buy any book or guide just read up on it online and talked with a few friends who had done it before. I don't know if I will make it the full 10 days but I am going to try really hard. Here's the recipe I am using:

2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp Grade B maple syrup
1/10 tsp cayenne pepper
10 oz distilled water

I heard it gets pretty hard around day 4 but we'll see. My biggest problem right now is a headache but I am more than positive that's from the lack of caffeine.