Cleanse

After many visits with Dr. Google, I have determined that my liver is having a hard time processing all my food....and alcoholic beverages. So, today I am doing a liver cleanse, sounds fun right? We'll see how long is lasts.

The cleanse consists of only drinking this drink today: 2-3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, couple drops of honey, pinch of cayenne pepper, 1 squeezed lemon & the rest hot water. It's a good thing I think this taste like yummy tea, except for the cayenne part, it's weird to have your tea taste a little spicy. The day following I will try & stick to no solid foods, just eating some broth, carrot juice, things like that, and then very healthy foods that are easy to digest for a while.  Alright, let's go!

9:30am - Drink #1 - I'm feeling excited! I have a good feeling this is going to help me feel a lot better! Still liking the drink (I had a test glass last night to see how it tasted). I do feel a little dizzy, but I think it's all in the mind because I usually don't eat until noon anyway...my mind just knows it's getting no food today.

11:15am - This is totally a mind thing, I feel so weak & it's only 11...haha.

11:55am - Drink #2 - Still good! I switched to a raw apple cider vinegar that I got from a co-worker, it's even better. It helps that I really like vinegar...we'll see if I still like that taste after today.

12:45pm - A burger sounds really good right now.

1:40pm - Hunger has passed, it helps that everyone is back from lunch.

2:15pm - My stomach is making some funny noises.

3:20pm - Drink #3 - Not tasting as appealing as drink #1, but still pretty filling.

6:30pm - Home and hungry. It's so much harder knowing there's a cabinet full of food so close.

7:00pm - I really want something to eat right now. This is tough.

7:35pm - Trying to watch TV to distract myself from food...it's not working.  They are eating chocolate cake on How I Met Your Mother & making chicken dumpling soup on One Tree Hill.

8:35pm - Drink #4 - Doing a glass without the cayenne pepper....makes it taste much better!

9:20pm - Update, couldn't finish glass. Vinegar....yuck!

10:00pm - No longer hungry, but headache has started.

11:10pm - Bedtime - I made it! Pounding head & will probably dream of cheeseburgers, but I did it :)

Summary: I don't see how people do this for more than 1 day...it's tough. I totally underestimated it.  It was good that being hungry seemed to come in waves, I thought once it hit, it wouldn't go away until I ate something.  I don't think I've ruined vinegar for myself entirely, just the apple cider kind, and probably not forever. I am hoping I can keep up with the liquids tomorrow & not ruin it all by scarfing down a huge burger....man, burgers on the brain today, I could never be a vegetarian.

Update: Day after - I thought the hardest part was going to be yesterday, until after a night of headaches & little sleep, I woke up feeling awful. Dizzy, sick to my stomach, I stayed home from work today because I could barely move. Guess that's a detox for you, huh? I've managed to eat a few things, chicken pho soup & some carrot juice.  Feeling better now, will probably make some fish & steamed veggies for dinner.  Geez.

Dirty Christmas Song?

As the Christmas season ends & the New Year approaches, I find myself nostalgic hearing the final plays of Christmas songs on the radio, knowing their cheerful tunes will soon come to an end. I love Christmas music & am always very excited the day after Thanksgiving when 95.5 begins to play these songs non-stop.


One holiday song in particular that has never made me feel all warm & fuzzy inside is "Baby it's Cold Outside". Why is this song not among all the other feel good songs of the season? Let me answer this by going over some of the lyrics:


Line 5: "My mother will start to worry"
Line 6: "My father will be pacing the floor"
This song is obviously being sung by a girl that is under 18, someone who still lives at home with her parents

Line 13: "I ought to say no, no, no, sir"
The man in this song is being called "sir" by the girl & seems to have his own place, giving the sense that he is an adult, an adult seducing a young girl


Line 8: "Well maybe just a half a drink more"
He's providing the young girl with alcohol

Line 10: "Say, what's in this drink"
Lines 11-12: "I wish I knew how....to break the spell"
A drink with a roofie perhaps?


Line 14: "At least I'm gonna say that I tried"
Lines 17-18: "I simply must go...the answer is no"
She told him no...around 15 times actually


His lines?


Line 21: "Man, your lips look delicious"
Line 23: "Gosh your lips are delicious"
Line 27: "I thrill when you touch my hand"
Creepy


Line 28: "How can you do this thing to me?"
Line 29: "Think of my life long sorrow"
Talk about pressure


Line 31: "Get over that hold out"
A song about date rape of a minor should not be turned into a happy warm & fuzzy Christmas song...case closed

The Break In

I came home on August 3rd expecting it to be a normal Monday evening. I was going to play with Ellie for a while, maybe take a nap, and then go grocery shopping. Once I walked in the door...all those plans changed.

I noticed the door was easier to unlock than usual & once inside saw that part of the door frame had been ripped off. It didn't hit me what had happened & at first I wondered why my friend (who was supposed to stop by during the day), had taken apart the door frame. Once I looked over to the TV stand & saw the TV, Wii & Blu-Ray player gone & realized my laptop was also missing from the arm of the couch, I knew what had happened. I had been given a sheet a few weeks before from my apartment complex telling me there had been numerous break ins in the area, and I had been worried about it ever since. I had been robbed while at work that day.

I heard Ellie whining from the bathroom & rushed over to her, so thankful she hadn't been harmed or taken. It hit me immediately how grateful I was that she was ok & kept telling her over & over how glad I was that she was a loud barker, it was probably the reason they didn't enter the bathroom.

I called 911 & told them I had been robbed. I was informed that it wasn't a robbery because I wasn't home, but a burglary. Ok 911, great time to correct someone, I don't care what it's called, just help me! They then told me to call non-emergency. This confuses me, shouldn't an emergency consist of anything that could eventually land someone in jail? Yeah, a cat in a tree...non-emergency, but someone kicking in my door & taking almost everything of monetary value....uh, non-emergerncy? Doesn't sound right to me.

I was kind of in a daze after that, a bunch of people came by; my dad, Angelique, the police to fingerprint, the apartment people to repair my door. The whole time I was in shock that it had happened at all, and even now, 2 1/2 weeks later, it still doesn't seem real.

After that, the happy place I loved to be at & cherished, became a scary place. Everytime I went anywhere I was afraid when I came home that the door would be busted in & they would have come back for Ellie. Lying in bed I would hear noises & jump up, afraid someone was breaking in. I've started to have nightmares about it. Since then I've had an alarm system installed, and it has helped a lot, but I don't think I'll ever feel the same in my apartment, or maybe any home, from now on. I hate them for that, for taking my sense of safety away from me. TVs & laptops can be replaced, but that feeling of being completely safe & secure, it's harder to come by.

Puppy Anniversary

1 year ago today...on July 13, 2008, I got a call around 6:30 am telling me that little Ellie was on a American Airlines plane to Austin, to arrive a few hours later. I went back to sleep for a while & then my mom came over & we headed to the airport!


Her flight was a little delayed, but she soon arrived in a little crate filled with newspaper...she weighed only 2 pounds. This is our 1st picture together:

Once we got back to the apartment she immediately made herself at home, peeing on the carpet (one of the only accidents she had), and went to snuggle in her pink puppy bed.

I can't believe it's only been a year! I never thought she'd teach me as much as she has...patience when she takes forever to find a place to poop, preparations for kids one day the nights I am up with her when she's sick, and just learning to take care of something other than myself.

Happy 1 year anniversary little one....your gift is me home all day with you...even though I'm home because I'm sick, so there will be more sleeping & less playing....sorry :)

Dogs Barking

This may not seem like a big deal to those who don't have dogs that like to bark at the passing of a leaf, but it's a slight annoyance to me & my "bark at anything & everything" pup.

Every time a scene in a movie or TV show takes place outdoors, there's a dog barking in he background. Why? Do they think we won't believe the actors are outside if there's not a dog barking nearby? How often are you standing outside & a dog is barking within earshot? Maybe 10% of the time....not every single time.

This is not something I noticed before Ellie came into my life, but now I find myself wincing when the people on TV start to head outside, because I know what's to come next. Random dog is heard barking in the background, cue Ellie who goes crazy trying to figure out where it's coming from. Sadly, saying "Ellie...it's just TV", just doesn't seem to work. Even when I'm watching a movie in a theater or somewhere without her, I find myself tensing up, until I remember Ellie isn't there.

Please movie makers of the world, I understand it for movies with pups as characters, but other than that, cool it down a little with the barking dogs. Thanks.

No Place Like Home

I've been traveling a lot lately for work...Orlando, Philly, Louisville, the list goes on. It's always exciting to visit new places, experience new things, but I find myself missing home before my plane even leaves the runway. In new cities I always feel on edge, worried about everything that is out of my control. What if my taxi never shows up, plane is delayed or bags don't arrive? What if I go to the wrong venue or have the wrong time & show up late? What if I don't sell enough, hotel lost my reservation, expo doesn't have our company name listed? Questions flow through my mind like speeding bullets.


I'm the type of person that has to go through every scenario & figure out what I'd do in each circumstance, so I'm ready for the worst. I hate being caught off guard. It helps me to be prepared, but it's very stressful to always be figuring out the many ways something can go wrong, and these work trips make it so much worse because I'm there representing someone else, it's not just about me.


This is why my favorite place to be is home. Sitting on my couch, snuggling with the pup, I can't think of a single thing that could go wrong. I love the feeling of being somewhere familiar, somewhere comforting. A place where I know where everything is, where the smells and the sounds are almost a part of me. I know what it sounds like when the AC is about to turn on, what I'm going to hear when the puppies in the apartment nearby are out on their balcony. I'd know which room of my apartment I was in just by the smell & the feel of it. There is no place like home.


I miss it when I'm away. I miss my bed, having all my things, being able to get up & make dinner, playing my music loudly with the windows open & the breeze blowing in. Even the little things like the taste of my tap water, the feel of my soft paper towels, the way the mirror in my bathroom never fogs up. Mostly though, when I'm gone, I miss this little pup...
Ellie Bear
....and I can't wait to come home to her.

I Run, Therefore I am Nuts

I ran the Chicago marathon on 10/12/08 in 6 hours, 26 minutes & 19 seconds. My goal time was 5 hours….yeah, not even close. In my defense it was around 85 degrees when I crossed the finish line…in Chicago….in October….what?!?


I was never a runner. In college I would sit on the couch while my roommates went running, eating Cheetos & drinking beer. I just didn’t get it, it wasn’t fun. My best friend Melanie convinced me to start doing short runs with her when we both moved to Austin after college. I would do a mile 3 or so times a week & that was plenty. Why would I go further than that when that itself was so painful? I thought I was tough shit running a whole mile.

She started talking about this 5K in Brenham that she wanted to do with her boss (who was like a real runner). 3 miles? Yeah right, that’s crazy talk. After a few days, I finally agree to go (mainly because I heard it was run by Blue Bell & there would be free unlimited ice cream after the race). So we drive there & her boss goes to sign us up…..for the 10K. Huh? What? I’m sorry, you must have me confused with someone else, I can’t run a 10K. Well, we didn’t quite run it, we walked a lot, but I did finish….and I was hooked. From them on running was in my blood.

After running the Cap 10K a few times & some other races, I decided to try for a 1/2 marathon & completed the Austin 1/2 in 2:20…which to this day is my fastest half. This picture is after finishing that race…you can see it in my eyes, I have the running bug for sure!

The day after the Austin 1/2 I signed up for the Chicago marathon….I thought I must be insane! I trained for 6 months & during that training, woke up at 5:30 every Saturday morning, had group training in the 90-100 degree heat on Wed. evenings & ran the San Francisco 1/2 in August. Then the day was finally upon me, I was so nervous! I don’t think I slept a wink the night before. My parents & brother had gone to Chicago with me & we all took a taxi to the starting line. They tried to give me some pep talk, but I wasn’t listening at all.

It took almost half an hour to cross the starting line after the race started, there were so many people! It all started out good, my time at the 1/2 was 2:42, only 12 min. off my goal time! Then it all went downhill. It started getting hotter & hotter and I was getting slower & slower. I started feeling sick & had to start walking around mile 21 or so. For a while I didn’t even think I was going to finish. I just kept telling myself, “just make it to the next water stop & then you can stop”. Then I would go to the next & then the next…and then I saw the finish line. Yes, I am crying in this picture.

From someone who used to sit on the couch while everyone else was out running, I had come a long way! I placed 30,081 out of 31,34, but I DID place…I finished!