Fun Food Friday

We're Back!

So - Odwalla. Have I done Odwalla already? Ah Hell. Who cares if I have. I'm doin' it again!

I am in love with Odwalla bars and some of the smoothies. I had the pumpkin smoothie recently. Mmmm mmm. Pumpkin pie in a bottle. Pumpkin anything makes me swoon. The smoothies can be a bit much though if you aren't used to that whey powder taste.

There are two bars however, that I think would resonate with most peoples' taste buds. They are the chocowalla bar and the sweet and salty peanut. The sweet and salty peanut is perfection in my opinion. There is none of that "off" soy or whey taste, it's full of natural, healthy ingredients, low in refined sugar and so delicious. It reminds me a little of a more subtle payday without all the bad stuff. The chocowalla has a slight tang of soy, but embedded in the chocolate bar are luscious, smooth chunks of true chocolate with little filler. That's just the thing for a choc-a-holic like me. I can almost eat pure cocoa. No joke.

So check it out! And I believe I may have another Fun Food Friday to link for you soon. :)

Hope over to see Jen's Low Carb Peanut Butter Tortillas!

Duuuuuuuuude

DAYUM, but I am feeling soooooooo good! My hormones have been giving me a break, and the anvil on my back has been lifted. I feel in peak condition physically and at ease with the world emotionally. This is how I felt more often before the PCOS and Hashimoto's thyroiditis really kicked in. I was even bubbly back then - most of the time! I know it's difficult to believe, but I swear it's true.

I buzz around work and then come home to wander the house in a blissed-out state. I stop in front of the Hub every so often to marvel, "So this is how normal women feel!" At times like these, I can see why it's so easy for people who maybe haven't experienced hormonal turmoil to tell me to "just get over it," or to "relax." It's a lot easier to do when you're not under attack from your own system!

I can only pray that it's the Met and that this is going to be the norm. Note that I said, "pray." Even in my blissed-outness I realize that it's highly unlikely.

__________________________________________________________________

p.s. Apparently I'm, "lookin' good" too as Jen and a dirty old man in the neighborhood have reminded me repeatedly lately. I'll be sure to tell you about that one soon. Thanks for bringing it up Jen. :p

p.p.s. For all of you who feel the burn of the green eyed monster when I brag about our lovely Fall - Remember that I drive a beat up old car without air conditioning - in Florida - in the Summer - on the broad baking expanse of a main interstate. That should tide ya over. ;)

Glorious Day

What a gorgeous, glorious beautiful day! I got some weeding done in the beautiful 70 something degree sunshine of the Florida Fall. I'm trying to learn how to manage my emotions better, and how to appreciate everything in life again. This was one of those days. Despite some family drama, I was still able to dig my fingers into the earth and turn my face up to the sun for some blissful communion with the outdoors.

Tonight, I plan to buy some more yarn and work more on a beautiful scarf I've started for Christmas. Pray that I can keep this up because damn it feels good. I even looked more into adoption today.

Update

I've been crappy - no Fun Food Fridays, irregular posting, rare commenting - I'm just not very into it lately huh? I am sorry for that, but at the same time, I'm not. I've been very distracted, but it's finally in a good way. We've had quite a few visitors to our home. I've spent lots of time with friends outside our home (Hello Jen!). We're very slowly starting renovations along with the regular demanding yard work, house work and work work. bleh. Hub and I are back in stride, which means a lot more time just hangin' out together. That's always my favorite thing to do. And Christmas is coming, which means more planning for presents and the like.

By the way, Halloween was also a welcome distraction with a few new fun decorations and a higher than usual amount of little witches and ghosties.

So I'll still be here when I need to be, but home and work come first so hang in there!

And now for the updates:

Thanks for coming out of the woodwork about the kitty!! Very very unfortunately, he escaped when Hub had to open the back garage door the other day. According to Hub, he took off like a rocket and wouldn't come back. Perhaps that's why he's homeless in the first place? And even worse, he had a visit set up with a very nice lady for the next day who would have made a fabulous Mom. Darn cat. We're still keeping an eye out for him just in case. He had started to fatten up and seemed to be feeling good, but he was still stick skinny.

I'm still waiting to hear about school, and still open to low interest suggestions on how to pay for it up front until work reimburses me. (which I hope they'll do considering the economic climate). I'm also finally into a new cycle and nearing what should be the middle of it. Will I ovulate finally on Met? My hunch says no, but hey, wouldn't it be awesome if I did? At this point, I can't wait for my check up so that we can do the bloodwork and decide to stick with it or not. argh.

A new Filipino grocery opened up about a mile from our home!!! WOO HOO!! Lots of sinigang, palabok, puto, kutsinta, pan de sal, ensaymada, silver swan soy sauce, Lily peanut butter and more for us!!!!

FCiF out after that disjointed update.

Titles Elude Me

Wow. Just wow. I feel so privileged to witness this period in history. No doubt it is tumultuous and uncertain, but it is a pivotal moment in our country in so many ways.

I stayed up quite late to watch the election coverage last night, and I'm paying for it today. May I say that both Senator McCain and President-elect Obama delivered amazing speeches. I feel that both said just what needed to be said. I am in awe and so glad that I stayed up to see them live. I clutched Hub's hand as I drank in each word.

It's obvious from my blog who I supported. And I supported him because I believed in the possibilities of his policies. However, no matter which candidate you supported, you can't deny the historic event that is a mixed race man becoming President. This whole race was historic with a female vp candidate (run one other time) and a very viable candidate for a female President as well. But watching Barack Obama stand up there to deliver his speech, I was struck. We can do it. We can heal some of our divides. Women and ethnicities other than whites are still the minorities in almost all positions of power in this country. To see a person of color standing on that stage giving an acceptance speech - awesome. It filled me with hope, excitement and pride.

I grabbed Hub and looked him in the eye. "Do you realize," I said, "that no matter how we have a child... if we conceive or if we adopt, we will very probably have a mixed race child. Isn't it amazing that our child will have this hope... that our child will see Barack Obama of the dark skin and the Muslim name and know for a fact that anything is truly possible for him or her."

I hope we can put aside our differences and work together to help our country. The divides scare me. I want us to come together. And the reason I voted for my candidate is because I thought he was a man who could do it. I pray that it's true. In any case, I'm so proud of all of us for our huge voter turnout, and the surge of patriotism we've seen these past few months. Hallelujah.

I need a home!

Hi! I don't have a name yet because I don't have a home. Barb and her husband were at the local bank the other day when I came up to them for a pet. I was very lonely and hungry, and when I saw them, I knew they were animal lovers.

I turned up the charm and wound my way through their legs as they made those weird beeping noises in the big shiny thing in the wall. Sure enough, both bent down to check me out. Score! I knew I had them when they both exclaimed over how thin I am. They're right. I've been so hungry. My hip bones poke out and my backbone is (sadly) no fun to stroke because it's so prominent. My fur is also dirtier than it should be because I'm just so tired and had to fight so hard to survive.

I was elated when they both seemed to decide that they had to take care of me. Barb picked me up, and I started purring right away so that she knew I was a good kitty. Then they did something I didn't expect. They carried me into this little room and closed all the doors. I sat on Barb's lap happily at first. Then the little room started rumbling and moving, and I could see things whir by outside a clear wall! It was very scary. My heart started pounding, and I couldn't help but let me claws out a little bit. I was very careful not to hurt Barb though since it wasn't her fault. I was just nervous. I stood with my front feet on the clear wall so that I could keep an eye on what was speeding by. I started to wonder if this was a mistake!

Soon enough though, the room stopped rumbling, and they carried me into a warm, dry area where I got a little bed, a place to potty and yummy food and fresh water. I couldn't eat too much at first, but now I'm doing much better. Barb calls my room, "the garage." She said I can't come in because I'm a danger to their other pets, but that they'll find me a true home soon.

Does anyone in the central Florida area want to come visit me to see if I would fit in their home? I'm a really sweet kitty. I really love people and am so calm. Barb and her husband seem to really like me, but her husband is a bit allergic, and her other pets wouldn't like me at all. I'm glad they took me in though so that I could stop being so hungry and lonely. I love company.

Here's a photo of me so that you can fall in love and take me home:
Barb's Note: I'm pretty sure he's a neutered male, but I'm not positive. He really is very friendly and calm. It's unusual to find a cat this sweet and cuddly. I wish we could keep him, but it's just not possible. We couldn't let him out there to fend for himself though, and I'm scared of taking him to a shelter. All the really nice cat places are overwhelmed right now and can't take anymore. If anyone is interested in meeting him, please let me know in the comments and I'll be in touch.

Where has my time gone?

Recently, certain people have felt that I spend too much time on the internet. That's funny because lately, I've hardly even had time to post here, let alone read other blogs. (as I'm sure you've noticed) I keep thinking it's going to get better, but I don't know that it is. I think times have changed. I will post when I feel the urge, and read as I can, but gone are the days of regularity. I guess I went and got a life. It's not always in the positive sense, but that's how it works eh?

So - since it's been so long, here's my current life in bullet points...

• I VOTED TODAY! When I'm filling in those little ovals, I get a thrill much like when I see the shuttle go up. I'm such a geek, and I love it.
  
• I learned recently that even though infertile women often have trouble with being around pregnancy (my particular trouble is when I'm forced to be in close proximity to it at all times), that we often feel just as much if that pregnancy is not viable. If the thought of being near a pregnant belly every single day makes me anxious and jittery, the thought of the loss of that pregnancy makes me slightly nauseous. I doubt too many others empathize quite so much with that sort of incident.
• We found a kitty we're trying to find a home for. New post about that next.
• Hub and I went through a sad phase together. Finances and stress will do that to ya. Better now. :)
• We painted some of the living room a lovely shade of light sage. NO MORE WHITE! It makes the room look so rich. (not this color - they don't have it)
  
• I sent in ALL my materials for application to my graduate certificate program! Now I just need to wait and pray that I get in and that my work will actually agree to reimburse me... AND that I can work out how to pay for it up front before reimbursement without too much extra money out of my pocket. (Any ideas? Throw 'em my way! I have a few.)
• I'm feeling much better and less exhausted so far since my period has finally been here and is ending. Now if I could just ovulate...
• We may be seeing the in-laws in December!

Thanks to everyone for being so kind even when I'm silent. That's all I have to say for now. :)