Been busy doing odd jobs here and there, looking for odd jobs, and writing. I've got twelve stories now... rough drafts only, nothing polished and ready to go. I need to pick the best one and start polishing so I can submit it to an agent and I have narrowed down three agents that I would really like to work with, and several others that just don't seem as enthusiastic but say they rep the kind of book I write. I've been down this road before but this path feels more clear if that makes sense... I have a good feeling about it and I'm hopeful.
Not much going on other than that and me finishing four seasons of Parenthood in the last couple of weeks. I keep the tv on in the background while I'm on the computer unless I have to really concentrate on something.
I took the dogs out to potty and saw a large bird shadow move across the lawn. I figured it was a vulture but sometimes we have hawks. I looked up and saw two tiny little birds chirping their butts off and a vulture swooping and circling nearby. At first I thought the vulture was chasing them but that seemed kind of weird because vultures usually only eat dead things, right? And then I realized the vulture was running away from the chirping little birds who were chasing *him*. They ran him in three or four circles and he kept diving lower and lower. I think he landed on the street but the hay in the field was too high for me to see.
Bo got very excited (bird!) and wanted to get in on the action so he ended up on two legs with his leash supporting him, trying to see where the giant bird was. Daisy took that as a sign that he wanted to play so she charged him and then they starting chasing each other (always fun to be holding the leashes when that happens). Finally I got them untangled, the vulture got away, and the two little birds were joined by a third. I couldn't tell if they gave each other high fives or just said, 'way to go man' but they seemed pretty happy... So much for the vulture's street cred.
So now I'm in here sipping on a Canary and contemplating a short lawn mowing session. It rained yesterday but is clear and sunny today. It's not terribly hot though, and the grass is getting to the point that it needs to be mowed so I think it's the perfect day for it.
So what is a Canary you ask? It's a THM drink. I haven't had a soda in two weeks. I've been drinking ice water and ICE drinks (black raspberry, orange-mango and lemon-lime). The ICE was keeping me satisfied because it was 0 carbs and 0 calories with sweet, fizzy liquid. It had sucralose in it, which I don't know much about, but it isn't a "plan approved sweetener" and I did notice that any time I had an ICE... bad things happened in my gut. Really bad things. So I finished the last of it and I'm not planning to buy more. I loved the raspberry flavor though...
So I started looking through the THM facebook page. I had seen some of their drink recipes before and even tried Good Girl Moonshine which was pretty good but not something I'd want every day. I ran across the Canary which was a gorgeous yellow and purported to taste like a creamy lemonade so I gave it a shot. It's also supposed to be good for people with adrenal fatigue and since I've considered the possibility that I have AF, I figure it's win-win. It's lemons and vitamin C and turmeric and coconut oil and vanilla and sea salt... it all sounds funky, but blended together it's awesome (once you figure our how much sweetener to use). I sip on 3-4 quarts of it and then switch to The Shrinker which tastes like a Starbuck's Cold Chai Tea Latte. I normally abhor tea, but I've always like those because of all the spices, the milk and the sweet taste. I was very doubtful about it but I'm glad I tried it. They have lots of good stuff.
The hardest part of sticking to a 'diet' or learning a new way of eating, for me, has always been the restrictions or having to track every single little thing and every calorie associated with it. With THM there aren't really restrictions, there's just a different approach. I can have dessert as long as I use a low glycemic sweetener and use almond flour or peanut flour or coconut flour in place of regular flour. I can have drinks that taste good but don't have high fructose corn syrup in them. I ordered some cola extracts because I know I'll be wanting a soda at some point... I just like the flavor and the bubbles and all that so I will eventually cave if I don't find a satisfactory substitute. So I'm planning to make a simple syrup with xylitol instead of sugar and use that and cola extract in some fizzy water to simulate the cola experience.
It is hard though to change the rest of my eating habits... I am used to hamburgers and fries... chicken wings and fries... pizza... pasta... now I have hamburgers without a bun and have to find another side to eat. I CAN have chicken wings so I had celery and carrot sticks with ranch instead of the fries. I can have pizza but have to make a different kind of crust. I can have pasta but it has to be a special pasta like Dreamfield's that's low carb. I don't know how I'll avoid chips and salsa, but the great thing is I can have them if I want, and I can get back on plan with my next meal. It's not a failure, it's life. I've lost about 5 lbs so far and probably a few inches because the shorts that were tight a couple of weeks ago were a little loose a couple of days ago. So I'm hoping it works for me like it has seemed to work for everyone else... lose weight, feel better, have energy, yada-yada-yada.
Alright, enough procrastinating, it's time to mow... it hasn't really sunk in yet that I have a riding mower so I still have a tendency to dread the whole process... but it really is much easier now and goes by in a jif.
