Things Are Funny At My House

My sister bought this space-agey, shimmery, crazy Under Armor coat (which totally goes against the meaning of Under Armor...why is Under Armor being so tricky all the time now?) and she wore it today. I kept referring to it has her trash bag because it LITERALLY looks like a trash bag, like the ones people might put on if they don't have a rain coat and they're desperate. So I told her it looked like a trash bag and she said my face is garbage and I should put it in her coat.

This morning was the 6-hour spinathon for Special Olympics Vermont and it started at 8, but my dad is the kind of guy who wants to get there really early, set up his bike, put on his socks, get the lay of the land, etc. So what time did we leave to get there (the place was 20 minutes away)? We left at 6:15. And I had to make and pack all my lean protein and healthy fat snacks so this means I had to get up at 5:30. Phebe asked who brought Debbie Downer along because I kept complaining about it being way to early to be leaving. It was a vicious cycle: I would make a complain-y joke about how it was a good thing we were at the place 4 hours early, and Phebe would call me a Debbie Downer, my dad would laugh. And repeat. Also, Phebe made fun of me mercilessly because I brought my own little cooler with cottage cheese, yogurt, fruit, and almonds because I wasn't sure if the food they offered would follow my cute little triathlon diet I'm on. Phebe dared me to cook and bring salmon so I could eat it while biking. Maybe next year.

This morning we were given bags with random things inside (common practice at races; the bag includes more non-useful things than useful....you know, pamphlets for races that are forever away, random lotion for callouses, stickers promoting some random sunglasses company you've never heard of, you get the point). One of the things was a tank top. Cute, right? WRONG. Races and competitions just decide to put athletes in this little "you workout so you must be tiny and cute" box. This pepto-bismol colored tank top was the size of Ruby. Of Ruby's pinky. I told the woman who gave it to me that if I put it on, stuff would stick out everywhere. She REALLY enjoyed that comment. Awesome.

Tonight our plan was to have salmon and potatoes (no potatoes for me, of course, Coach-ety) and cole slaw (no cole slaw for me because EW) but now it turns out we're (they're) just having potatoes for dinner. The oven/broiler isn't working. FAIL! That's okay. I ate about 18 teensy weensy shrimp with cocktail sauce (which by the way, I'm pretty sure I could just eat plain by the spoonful), pineapple--but not a whole one this time, like not to the point where I feel like my whole tongue is an open wound--and almonds. Awesome.

Another story about this morning--so at the spinathon, they have about 10 spin bikes up front where the instructors go and then all the participants face the instructors. Well there are only up to 5 instructors and sometimes they like for random participants to join them up there. I feel like they think we're 5 and really would just adore to be up there in front of everyone. Like remember when you were little and were at a magic show, and really hoped and prayed that the famous magician would choose YOU to volunteer? And he'd call you up and you'd wave you all your friends and giggle? Well I think the spin instructors need to understand that we're adults (mature or immature) and we don't feel that way anymore. So just leave us alone and let us spin in peace, NOT in front of everyone else. My father was victim to being asked to go up there. He was wearing a black shirt, black shorts, and he had a cross necklace (throat clearing I'm sorry, I mean chain...necklace is not a manly thing, huh) hanging in front of it all. Phebe told me he looked like a reverend. Father Buck. Reverend Buck. So good.

Not a long blog as usual, but I'm trying to embrace shorter blogs. Might make me blog that much more. Stay classy, San Diego.

Buying a Car. Who Woulda Thought?

Whew. This week, cars have taken over my life. And it all started Monday night.

Driving back from bible study, I was with 2 other girls and long story short, the ball joint randomly broke WHILST driving, which in turn made the tire axle just go ahead a BREAK, which in turn made the front right corner of the car make contact with the pavement, which in turn crated sparks, which in turn made loud, loud, loud, screeching noises, which in turn caused girls to scream....deep inhale....noise caused nice man to come out of his house and offer help, then go back into his house, which in turn caused his wife to come out and as though she were our mother, invite us in saying it's too cold and we can't be outside. She then told us she thought we were about 17 years old at first. No, actually, 26. But that's cool.

I'm confused at this point and think I skipped some things so will halt that paragraph. So not to bring in a cheesy crochet-that-gem-onto-a-pillow saying, but here goes. God's fingerprints were COVERING this situation. Reasons why:

*This is the first night in 3 weeks that I had started carpooling again with other gals. Before I had not been, and I am 100% grateful that I had company. I am not grateful that they had to go through it with me, but selfishly it was so good to be with others. I might have freaked out 67% more if I was by myself.

*This is the FIRST time in my, I don't know, 20 times, of going to bible study (lovingly known as CuGru, which comes from its actually "Community Group" name...be jealous....if you are, just come), that I took 97 rather than 95. These numbers only have a difference of 2, I know, so who cares? Well if you're a MA guy or gal, you know 95 is a busy busy bee highway, while 97 is a back road. Are you KIDDING ME!? This was no coincidence that we took 97 this night. I'm pretty sure I would have been in at least one of the middle lanes on 95, going about 30 mph faster, and would probably veer into another car, and possibly die. Extreme, I know, but God certainly wants us around longer. Again, his angels were hangin' out around us. Thankful.

*This little extravaganza happened right outside a VERY nice family's house. The man said he heard the whole thing from inside, and came out immediately. When he went back inside, his wife would not have that and came out, forcing us to stay warm in their house. So nice. A big shout out to Tom and Lisa from Wenham. Thank you note coming your way soon.

So anyway, that sets the scene. I know. Long blog. Strap yourselves in, people, I've only just begun.

So the actual event, fine, okay, didn't freak out too much because I can honestly say I felt at peace about it and was with girls and had the couple of the year invite us into their house.

The aftermath? Different story.

Many phone calls and freaking out later, here I am, FINALLY with a plan in place. But goodness gracious, people, why can't this whole buying-a-car thing be easier? As I told my friend, "why can't buying a car be as easy as buying a bunch of grapes?" We had been eating frozen grapes so that explains the random grapes idea.

So Tuesday was the day of overwhelmtion. Not a word, but I'm making it a word. It's my blog and I'll cry if I want to. WOW what a great segway. Cried while talking with my father as he told me all these things I had to do. I'll try to lay off all the "mature" comments, because if you read my blog ever, you know I have this thing about maturity. It's hard for me, and I'd like to just be there, but it is NOT my middle name. My middle name could be many other things; maturity is NOT one of them. In fact, I think Please Hold My Hand While I Do Anything That Resembles Being An Adult would be a good one. Yep. Perfect.

Call insurance, call mechanic, call a smart friend to help you, call the dealership, visit the dealership, call the RMV, forget living the rest of your life because you'll have no time for anything. Cancel your easy-money tutoring, and the plans you had with some high-class friends that continue to be cancelled for different reasons, and also all the workouts that you have to do for your triathlon? Cancel those, too. Get rides to and from school, focus on the children and not on the car situation, call me when you finish doing all these things, and relay all the information you have found. And in the meantime, try and keep the dishes in your sink to minimum and put your clothes away rather than on the floor. YEAH RIGHT. Come to my apt and you'll see how I've had no time for things. Confession: somehow through this all I've had time to watch the Bachelor and the After the Final Rose special. Priorities, people.

So my friend DeLuca, who is just plain good at life (how am I not like that?..) was my knight in shining armor. I called her Tuesday afternoon after I wiped the I'm-5-years-old tears away and 10 minutes later she had picked me up from work and we were en route to my apartment. She took out her computer, I drowned my sorrows in about 687 frozen grapes (have at it, acid...), then she did magic. She crunched numbers in search of a budget and how much I'd be able to pay per month. She, in my mind, was the Mary Poppins of Budget. She was literally all glittery and I think she had fairy wings and oh also an umbrella and a big bag. She said some things, numbers happened, a budget was made. In alike 3 minutes. If I was by myself? I'd look at a spread sheet like this and sob and eat another 319 frozen grapes and get nowhere. Dangit, me.

Then we got in the car and went to my mechanic to ask him if he wanted to buy my car (success! $200. Take it off my hands and give my $200. I'd love for it to be $2,000, but if I knew the ball joint just decided to break and the axle broke and sparks happened, I would give $200 too. But anyway, she was such a teacher and told me what I should say, then had me rehearse it to her. Such a teacher. Good job, her. It was so so helpful. Again, knight in shining armor.

Then we went to the dealership, I wasn't impressed, then went to another one. This is where we met Chad, the car salesman. He was pretty young, and hip, and we got along and he kept referring to his not being like other car salesmen and the whole time I was wondering if that was just one of his I'm Actually A Manipulative Salesmen ploys. It would be a good one. Anyway, I test drove a Honda Accord after he convinced me to lease, it was okay. The inside was not pretty, and really, that's what's important here. He showed me a Honda CRV and then we sat down and because Honda North is hoity-toity he offered a beverage. I just wanted to get OUTTA there. He talked about how seemingly great it would be to lease, and did some things on the computer, then told us another guy would come over to negotiate and try to get me to commit that day. DeLuca, because she is good at life, told me the plan of standing up as he came over to show some awesome we-don't-care-what-you-have-to-say body language. He came over, we stood up, and Chad, the I'm-Your-Friend-Although-I-Seem-Like-I-Could-Easily-Just-Be-Tricking-You, Sucker! guy whispered to us, "I liked the standing up move, that was good." It was then that I realized that yes, Chad was truly on our team. Thank you, Chad.

So I left convinced that leasing was the thing to do. Then my friends Sarah and Chris came over to pick up the guinea pigs I had been watching for them while they spent the weekend on a cruise around the Bahamas, no big deal. Setting the stage, she was a manager at Wells Fargo, and he is some salesman who does sales. No idea for what but what's important is he's a sales guy. He's good at convincing. After he told me reasons that I was an idiot for even considering it, I said, "okay you're right" then he said he wished his clients were as easy as me. THIS is why I'm not in that field. Could you imagine? I'd say yes right away. This is why I'm a teacher, where the only negotiation I experience is if a student can go to the bathroom during class if he goes and comes back quickly. So then Sarah used her wicked awesome knowledge to tell me that leasing was NOT a good idea. Gave me all these reasons, etc.

Whew. So at this point I'm not leasing. Still not leasing. Because the salesman that is Chris said it was stupid. And Sarah, who is my car expert, said NO. Okay.

I'm skipping parts of this now because YOU are a doll for reading this far and I should really wrap this up. You probably have kids to dress or ham sandwiches to eat or walks to take or songs to record.

My dad is being a stand-up guy and is co-signing with me (I'm a little bit more mature for the experience alone, but com'n. Getting a car with n0-co-signer? That's a little much, no?). I'm taking a personal day Monday and am getting a car in VT. The end.

Then I will be able to tutor, and drive to and from work, and re-schedule a dinner date with friends and not cancel, and I won't eat as many frozen grapes and all of that is so so good.

Also shout out to my sister for driving 3 hours here to pick me up and 3 hours to go back to VT. I have a 6-hour spin marathon this weekend and I don't know if you've heard, but the ball joint broke which in turn.....you know the rest.

Thanks for reading my novel. You are peachy.

I Appreciatcha!

I always have things to be thankful for. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. This week is no different. I will share those things with you this instant.

*Ash Wednesday. Actually, more specifically the service I went to at SovG for Ash Wednesday last night. I have been a christian pretty much my whole life, but Ash Wednesday and Lent were never times that I observed. From a distance, it seemed like "Lent" was a time to give something up and nothing more. I observed that people usually gave up something food related. No chocolate? No ice cream? Oh man! Part of the reason I never did this was because I didn't really get it, part of it was because I had no motivation to take part in not eating ice cream for 46 days (and of course hope that I would lose weight in the meantime). I also knew instinctively that I certainly would not do this for the right reasons. I mean, I already said it, let's be honest, I would hope to lose a coupla pounds. But there's so much more behind Lent and I was able to learn more about it last night. AND, I just love it love it love it that I KNOW that I am at the right church. I totally agree with what "Pastor Mike" conveyed, and that is, why "subtract" something when you could "add" something? In other words, rather than give up something that is hard to give up (similar to New Year's Resolutions), do something in ADDITION to enjoying food or TV or whatever. Specifically, read one of the 4 gospels, plus Acts during the season on Lent. SO, I'm doin' it. Mark and Acts. Those are my jams for the next 46 days. And I would eat ice cream to celebrate ADDING instead of SUBTRACTING, but I have this triathlon thing controlling my life so I celebrate by eating too much pineapple instead! Whoop!

*GOOD GOOD friends. I have some friends that are just so good. The kind that, when they ask me how I'm doing, truly want to know HOW I'm doing. I am so thankful that I have that at my work. I have lunch dates with one specific friend sometimes and we eat in her classroom, and we talk about everything, but most importantly we involve God in our conversations. I don't have many friends my age I can genuinely talk to about God. I always leave this gal's room feeling refreshed and sometimes I forget that I'm at work. THAT is a gift.

*Salmon.

*My pen pal friend at work. I almost never see her during the day but I hear her next door during class. We drop notes in each other's tutorial spaces. It's pretty amusing. And that sometimes she walks out of the school door and yells with her hands in the air with pure excitement, "BAKE SALE!" as about 5 other faculty are walking her way. Oh man she's so awesome.

*My Cinderella helium ballon. Gotten for me from friend mentioned above, because it was my half-birthday and I randomly shared that in the last blog and I also randomly talked about getting myself a Cinderella helium balloon. .....I also would love a million dollars.... !?

*The guinea pigs sitting next to me (in their cage of course...I'm not man enough to take them out), because I think they're cute so far. I have them tonight through Tuesday night. And also their names are Barbara and Mini Pig. I thought it would be spelled Muinea Pig, but it's plain old boring Mini Pig. LAME.

*Humor. Jokes. Witty remarks. Seriously, people WHAT would we do without them!?!? I just love them to pieces.

*Good internet reception. This is actually something I DON'T have, therefore I have not skyped Phebe and Ruby in AGES and it feels like Ruby is probably about 14 now and I've missed it all. It's only been 1.5 weeks but it seems like a lifetime because I usually have skyped at least 4 times in that duration of time. It's okay. I'm hittin' the road Jaq a week from tomorrow. So...I appreciate it because I don't have it. Hm.

*Fruit. I am surprised I haven't turned INTO a mango. Or pineapple. Or cantaloupe. But what I DON'T appreciate? I was told I should eat less fruit and more vegetables because fruit has a lot of "sugar" and vegetables have a lot of "nutrients". Blah.

*My church. Have a mentioned that before? Seriously, folks, it was a long time coming. I have been searching for this place for years and years and years. I am not a huge fan of the oval stickers everyone has on their cars, and I'm not one to jump to the chance to put stickers on my car, but when I was given this sticker, I put it on without hesitation. I am this church's biggest fan.

*On Wednesday my tutorial student was reading a piece on corn and its importance. She read the key words and their definitions, then before reading it she goes, "Ready to get our corn on?" Like, "ready to get our game on?" Or something...I'm not sure...but I still think it's funny.

*My outside tutorial student told me that when she was reading Junie B. Jones (VOMIT I can't stand that series. Any series that encourages being a spoiled brat with attitude does not have my vote.) she read "announcement" without having to ask for help. She used the strategies we work on in tutorial outside of our sessions together! Her mom was so excited and she was so proud to tell me. THIS is what teaching is all about:)

I'm going to stop now because really, if I think about all the things I appreciate this week, I could go on and on and on. There's no reason you should be reading all that. This is just a tidbit.

I love life.

Please. Come and Read A Girl's Dream

So I was recently thinking about Gentle Giant...

...you know it's going to be a great blog when that's the first line, right?

More specifically, how awesome it would be to live a day in the life of a Gentle Giant guy. But put aside the constant weight lifting I'd have to do in order to prepare to be huh-YOOJ for the job. Just pretend I could surpass that step and still know what I was doing, how to do it, I knew the other workers, and knew angles and where not to grab the furniture and what not. Do YOU think it would be fun to live a day in the life of a Gentle Giant worker? I do.

So there it is. I am a teacher. I like my job, although it makes me tired to think about doing this for the rest of my life. There's so much out there, and this is the inspiration for the blog. As with the Gentle Giant, I am going to pretend I didn't have to go through training of any sort or get to know my co-workers; I am already acclimated to the tasks and know the people and what is expected of me. So WHAT jobs would I love to do for a day?

*Gentle Giant. Duh. I'm obsessed. I think I've referred to myself as a "Gentle Giant groupie" before. Yes, that's it.

*A greeting card writer. I've always been proud of my witty little remarks, and if I were to pick a favorite between writing them via a FB status or a blog, I'd pick status without hesitation. A status is like a text message. You can pretend to be in a good mood with the click of an exclamation point and wah-lah. But with a blog, you spend a longer time creating it and maybe the bad mood might come out, or the lame ideas come out, etc. Well same thing. Phebe says she'd read my book if I wrote one. Heck no! I can't be funny for THAT long. I'd run out of funny so fast. THAT'S why greeting cards are like FB status' (statii). You with me? No? See? the blog. I blame any pathetic entry I create on the whole blogging empire.

*A Starbucks barista. Do you know the training they have to go through in order to learn all the drinks and the ventis and lattes and mochachinos and flippydippies and looshoopoopoos? I don't either, but it's gotta be a lot. And I am just not motivated to learn it all. But I am a secret snob and just love it there and even the sight of the lady in the Starbucks picture makes me happy. My friend used to work there and said the smell got old and she always went home smelling it, couldn't get rid of the smell, so maybe it would get old fast. BUT, this is a day in the life, not any shorter, not any longer. Remember the rules.

*A garbage lady. I know, I know, weird, but I get so inspired when I get stuck behind a garbage truck and watch the guys non-chalantly hang off the side of the truck, only to jump off and speed around, grabbing nasty barrels and throwing its insides into the truck, return the barrels (or throw it carelessly, I've seen both but no judgment here, just pure awe and respect) and hop back on, like it's nothing? AMAZING! Have you ever seen it in action? I wonder who would win an awesome prize, garbage men, or Gentle Giants. Hm. PS, a prerequisite of my being a garbage lady obviously has to be that it's not too cold, there are no snow banks I have to maneuver over, and it CANNOT and WILL NOT be hot. None of those conditions would be ideal. Yet another reason to give the garbage workers more respect that I think they get. Because their jobs are dirty. Pun most certainly intended.

*The woman who is already so pretty that if she puts on loads of make-up then she will look JUST LIKE Cinderella, at Disney World. I'm pretty sure that I would only last a day doing that anyway. But I'd get a warm fuzzy every time a little girl's jaw dropped. I would pretend that the girls just really were huge fans of me. Me, Jaquelin. Yeah. What can I say. Jaw-dropping, that's me.

*A delivery person of some sort. UPS, mail lady, Stop and Shop PEA POD!! And along that, maybe a limo driver. No, I take that back. Traffic is the death of me. I applaud anyone who has a commute that drags them in and out the sludge that is traffic. Yikes.

*An actor in a really funny show with a cast of other really funny people. For example, The Office. Have you ever seen those bloopers? I can't imagine being able to do a scene that made me laugh once, and then try to do it again, without laughing uncontrollably every time. Especially if everyone around me had great senses of humor. It would be impossible. And SO MUCH FUN!

*One of the factory workers in the Ben and Jerry's factory. I don't know, it's always been a weird thing of mine.

*I had a date with a friend today and she was let go last summer. Here's the crazy part: she is still getting paid until May I think she said. This started in October. So she's just hanging out, getting things done, dedicating time to working out and training for a triathlon. No work responsibility but still getting paid. SERIOUSLY!? When is it my turn? I want a turn! The kids can teach themselves. That's what the Kindle and all that crazy tech stuff is for, right?

No, no, but like a good little writer that's a good segway. I am so so so thankful for my job, and the people I work with, and the difference I KNOW I'm making in the lives of these kids. I just...get a little antsy and wonder what it would be like to do something else.

BUT!!! The most important thing and I cling to it whenever I think this, and sometimes I need to cling a little tighter, is that I know God has me here at this specific place, at this specific time, with these specific people, for a reason. If I got MY way and happened to be a barista with some garbage responsibilities, who on the weekends flew out to LA to do some recording and Cinderellaing, but then had to get back in order to carry some furniture up the stairs (and of course during my flights I'd write my greeting cards) and then deliver some packages on the way over the the Ben and Jerry's factory and oh also I would be getting paid for not working at all (just pretend with me, you've been doing a great job so far), something unfortunate would happen. I'd forget my hair net for the factory, or something. What I'm saying is, I believe that God's plan for me is to be a teacher for the time being. And while a girl can dream, I couldn't be any happier since I'm where He wants me to be:)

PS I told a long lost friend and faithful fellow blog follower (if you're not one I double dawg dare you to be...it's what the 9 cool kids are doing) that I would write her an acrostic for giving me a great quote and being awesome. So I'm going to write one, but don't judge. I'm tired, I just wrote a long blog, and I still have to create math homework for the week (i-yi-yi).

Absolutely adorable!

Never a nuisance

GradeA personality

If only she weren't a stranger

Eventually we shall see each other again!

It's My Half Birthday. Let's Celebrate.

It's true. Today is my half birthday. I am not one to celebrate half birthdays. It's not your birthday, so get over it, right? But I thought it was pretttty crazy when last year I randomly realized that it was March 5th and after doing some month recitation in my head, realized it was my half birthday. I was pretty excited for a moment, then got over it and moved on. But this year, I think I'm going to celebrate. How? I don't know. Here's my plan for today...

First, I've already woken up to something other than my alarm clock. And I've done something other than swim laps at 5am, only to be followed by showering and heading to work, then tutoring, then doing homework or working out. It's the yoozh schedge (too much shortening, to the point that it's obnoxious...but I'm celebrating my half birthday so I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to...) but not for Saturdays:) This morning I got up to the sound of the green bin tops opening in the Stop and Shop Pea Pod truck. Every single freaking Saturday morning it parks directly across from my extraordinary apt building (have I mentioned that my honeymoon is over, but at the same time it totally is not....I will never be unhappy with my location and apartment here) to deliver groceries to an older chap. I'll confess, I have stalked the worker every time I happen to be up and around. Remember the clips on how things are made from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and Sesame Street? I was never ever into puppets and the stupid cartoons but I LIVED for the "how things are made" clips. So anyway, I think they should make a "how Pea Pod works" clip. I'd totally watch it. Might even post it on my blog or something. Well, anyway, I associate the bin tops opening (it's this obnoxious sound of plastic hitting plastic non-stop) with Saturday mornings therefore I love the obnoxious sound.

Second, I read the bible and drank coffee without being rushed, always a plus. And I spent some time on iTunes. I LOVE new music. It's crack to me, and fortunately I don't have enough time to iTunes shop most of the time. And what's up with the increase from .99 to 1.29? They're already ruining my life (and yours) with the increase of gas prices. Can't a girl get a break? Leave my (and your) iTunes prices alone.

Third, here I am, blogging (I really think I'm entering a phase of blogging consistently!) I would like to make a general shout out to all my blogger friends who have hollered at me to stop slacking. You are all dolls. I am also, at the same time, listening to some new music that I downloaded. OMIGOSH if you're one who appreciates christian music and doesn't scoff at it, "Hold Me" by Jamie Grace. This gal is my new jam. And "Hold Me" is my new favorite. Also at the same time I am sipping a smoothie with yogurt, banana, frozen fruit, protein power, and FLAX SEEDS up the wahzoo. They're all in my teeth. Mmm.

Fourthly, I have a to-do list full of gross things. Work for work, a run and a swim, doing other little things. We'll see how much gets done. I think a great way to celebrate would be to get all things done and cross all of them off. A girl can dream.

Fiftheroo, movie and dinner with a great gal, who I lovingly call Amybeff. I love this kid! AND, we will be eating salmon, as you all know, my new favorite. No wait, I have known that I like it for a good while now, but it was expensive, and smelled like fish, and was attached to scaly skin and that is WRONG, so I had no motivation to make or buy it. Well this whole nutrition thing has made my nights eating salmon like gold. Salmon AND a cool kid? Double whammy.

Happy half birthday to me. Maybe I'll indulge and go buy a Cinderella helium balloon from the grocery store. Do you think Pea Pod would deliver it? Dang I should have asked this morning when I had the chance.

Lean Proteins, Healthy Fats and Produce WHOOP WHOOP

So...I started a strict you-are-training-for-a-half-ironman-and-need-to-be-serious-about-food diet this past Monday. Now, here's the thing. Tell me to workout this much and in this way and at this certain heart rate and I'm there with bells on my toes and some toe touches in store for ya.

But tell me to stop eating ice cream? You have gone too far, sister.

So this is how the first 2 months went. I was a workout superstar but a nutrition failure. So Coachy gave me the option to get serious about this "Metabolic Efficiency Training" nutrition game (don't remind me that this is not a game...calling it a game makes it seem a little bit fun). My stomach said no but my heart and soul said yes. So I went with my heart and soul. And here I am, Wednesday night, feeling pretty darn good about the past 3 days. Yay.

Here are my thoughts thus far on this nutrition game.

*Spinach. I always thought I hated spinach, but have realized that was COOKED spinach that I couldn't stand. So, yay! But every now and then I DO smell the gross cooked spinach smell and freak out a little bit. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

*Cottage cheese. I'm so thankful that I'm not one of those "texture" people who are extra sensitive to things with weird textures. I'm one of the least picky eaters you'll ever meet, because, well, I just LOVE food. I think if I tried even a little bit I could start hating cottage cheese to the point where I might gag. But amazing things happen when you mix fresh fruit with it. Amazing.

*Nuts. I have suddenly started to eat a lot of nuts. Technically, I'm supposed to eat lean protein WITH a healthy fat with every meal I eat. If I don't have a healthy fat included in it, I just eat some walnuts and call it a day. Great just great.

*Flax seeds. I'm pretty sure I will never get the seeds again, just the oil. Yesterday morning I put flax seeds into my smoothie and then realized how awesome I was because I happened to have dental floss in my car. What a savior the floss was. I drink my smoothies on the way to work, and am pretty sure that by the time I drove into the school parking lot, I had at least 63 flax seeds stuck in my teeth. Who WOULDN'T want to learn about percent from teacher who had flax seeds for teeth? It would make for an interesting class. Hey, I'm here to serve:)

*Salmon. When I was younger, I associated "fish" with the casserole (I think it was called "Aunt Betty's Fish Casserole"...you can just TELL how revolting that dish was from the title) that we always had. This is definitely when I requested a "no thank-you portion", a smaller portion that I had to eat but it was a compromise because I didn't have to eat a ton. I'm totally stealing that for my own kids. But I will NOT be making them suffer through Fish Casserole of any kind. So anyway, imagine how blown away I was when I ate salmon for the first time in college. My life had officially changed. All fish didn't taste like the casserole that included some random kind of fish, onions, peppers, and cheese (isn't cheese supposed to make things taste better!?)! So salmon is awesome and I am so thankful that salmon decided to be omega and fatty. Thank you, salmon. I love you.

*Healthy fats. I am thankful for healthy fats, because any kind of fat is more delicious than cooked spinach and fish casserole from my childhood. But since you asked me if I prefer unhealthy fats over healthy fats, yes. Yes I do like the fats found in ice cream, cookies, chocolate, and Frank's buffalo chicken dip. But if I have to stop eating those, I guess I'll be fine with eating mature salmon. And I guess I can put up with flossing my teeth at work.