this thing with the food? not good.

Since it's September still, and I've only written one post, I figured I should do another, and here it goes.

You may be familiar with my never ending struggle with food. I love it. I hate it. It loves me. It hates me. It's a problem, basically. I used to have this idea that if I ate one giant meal at the end of the day, it was okay, because since I hadn't eaten anything for the rest of the day, this would make up for it. This is not the case, friends. And then I said to myself, self, it's time to make a change.

And then I ate crackers and carrots for a whole day and nearly died trying to walk up some stairs. Friends, this is not the way to do it either. Unless you have super powers, saltines and carrots will not give you the power to survive.

During the week, I don't really have time to think about food. I wake up, I run to work (no breakfast, I'm super healthy), I see group after group of children with speech and language problems, I maybe have a meeting or two in there. Sometime around 11 I manage to shove some amalgamation of food in my mouth that I packed hurriedly (spell check doesn't think that's a word. Is it?) that morning, then more groups, and then I am off to a daycare, or to my office to see more kids. Around 6 or 6:30 I arrive at home, too tired to truly put effort into dinner, and I end up eat chips, or a can of soup. And then I am trying to go to bed. On the weekends, this is when I start to think about food, and I start to dislike it. Food makes me unhappy, because really, my relationship with food feels like the root of my problems. I am fat because I eat too much. I eat too much because I am unhappy. Eating doesn't make me feel good, so why do I eat when I am unhappy? Occasionally, of course, it swings the other way, and I am so unhappy that I never want to eat, and I decide that I will survive on lettuce and Chobani.

And this is where we get into the part where food hates me. If I eat anything that has too much fat, I may have a galbladder attack (which means no creamy pasta, which is the love of my life). If I eat too much food, I will inevitably feel sick and/or have a galbladder attack. If I eat too late, I will work myself up into feeling anxious and possibly either make myself sick or I will actually be sick. It's a fine line I walk.

I know, intellectually, that the way to eat healthy involves eating smaller meals, and eating snacks during the day. Eating plenty of protein, little fat, and moderate carbohydrates. I know these things. These are not things I need to be told (again).

Sometimes I think that I would do well on one of those diets where they say "here, eat this meal, and then no more for you until your next meal."It's unfortunate that they cost something like $300 a month.

I'm not sure where this post was meant to go. Probably it doesn't have any deeper meaning, but maybe it lets you know more about the me that I don't like to tell people about.

x-posted to Kirsten and Cari Lose It.

kirsten's unbeatably easy salsa

I've made this salsa recipe at least three time, and it's the simplest thing I've made in years. Here you go!

Kirsten's Unbeatably Easy Salsa

Diced tomatoes (I used 3-4 tomatoes, but sometimes I use the pre-diced ones you can buy)
1 small can petite diced tomatoes (optional. For those who prefer their salsa to have more juice)
1/2 a medium onion, diced (any kind that suits you. Red is great, but this time I used sweet vidalia)
1 jalepeno, with half the seeds removed (the spice is in the seeds, add or subtract, depending on your spicey preference)
Salt to taste

Variations:
1 clove garlic, minced
Some fresh chopped cilantro, maybe a tablespoon depending on how much tomato you've used.

This salsa is so unbelievably tasty, probably because I love love love tomatoes. But if you're looking for a fat free and practically calorie free something to eat with your chips, I think this is your answer.

Mmmm...

one for the money, two for the show

I suppose everyone can tell that I am no English major. I am not a creative writer by any means, I just hope that my tone can come across in my posts, because how else would I entertain myself?

I was over at FireCracker's house today visiting, and she told me a little about her first week at school, though to be honest, she's a little quiet about it. All she says is that it was "good". For a supremely talkative girl, that is a very short answer! Monster (the nephew, born in May) was sleeping the whole time I was there, but I did spend a fair amount of time getting spit-up on on Sunday, so I feel okay about that. FireCracker, on the other hand, hasn't seen me in about a week and a half, and so she wants to have another sleepover.

FIRECRACKER: Can I stay at your house tonight?
ME: Not tonight. It's a school night!
FIRECRACKER: Is every night a school night?

She gives me the giggles sometimes.

Work has suddenly been crazy, I have five days at a school with 80+ students there, and I also have a number of Pre-K students to see. They weren't kidding at work when they said that the school year would bring busy times! I'm not sure if I want to complain or dance for joy.

I'll definitely complain that I am sleepy. Yes. Sleepy indeed.

oh, the adventures don't stop there.

I've been in Florida for about three months now. My birthday has passed, which it's fair to say was a horrible depressing mess. My first birthday away from friends or family, excluding my sister, niece, brother in law, and nephew. They make a fine group, and I love them, but occasionally I feel as though I am intruding. As far as gifts, it wasn't super exciting, except for my best present: one of my BFFs (referred to as Coxy) decided that he is coming down from Kansas to spend Christmas with me. WE've not ironed out the details, but I am not sure that Tampa is ready for two like us.

Am I rambling? I think I am rambling.

My new home is coming together, though not as quickly or as easily as I had hoped. It's difficult to feel okay about spending money when you owe money to people and have bills to pay. It was hella expensive to move down here, and I have paid back approximately 10% of my debt to my parents.

And the decorating. Oh, the decorating.

I keep believing that I want one thing, but then I change my style completely, and try to go with another thing. This is frustrating, as you ca imagine. At this point, I believe I have some things figured out, but if I had to define my design style I would call it modern elegant eclectic. Does that even make a modicum of sense?

Well, as far as the adventures, I've been out line dancing, which I enjoyed quite a bit, though my toes appreciated it a lot less in my new burlap TOMS. Ouch. I've started hula hooping for exercise, which has been less than successful so far, as I can only get the hoop to stay up for about 3 seconds. I made a new friend who turned out to be a bit crazy, and I am trying to make friends in my office. Barring the hurricane landing on us, which seems unlikely, I plan an IKEA excursion, and I would love to go line dancing again, but I am not sure I am brave enough to go all alone.

Honestly, I am so tired, I don't think this entry is very exciting. I'll leave you with a funny conversation with my sister (hereby referred to as The Lovely Sister) and my niece (referred to as FireCracker). Some background: FireCracker is a smarty pants kindergartener, who loves anything with sparkles, pink, and color, as long as it's pretty. She started kindergarten today, to great success as I understand. She also looked adorable, in her pink glittery skirt, ruffled shirt, and leggings.

THE LOVELY SISTER: FireCracker got some Jitter Glitter from her teacher to sprinkle on herself the night before school starts in case she has first day jitters.
ME: That sounds so cute!
TLS: Except you should hear what she calls her Jitter Glitter.
ME: And what would that be?
TLS: She calls it her Shitter Glitter. I told her you never want that kind of glitter!

In terms of phonology, FireCracker's misuse of the /dz/ phoneme into /ts/ is quite unremarkable. But even the unremarkable create hilarious results. Imagine a child trying to say "truck" who replaces his /tr/ with /f/. Cracks me the truck up.

more of a general wondering... ment.

I've decided to call this blog "colorless green ideas sleep furiously." It has long been a favorite quite of mine (Noam Chomsky, by the way, if you're wondering), because I just love those words, and I love how the sentence itself makes absolutely no sense, and yet, syntactically, it's a perfect sentence. I love it in a similar way that I love "The Jabberwocky", by Lewis Carroll... you should google that right now, if you are unfamiliar.

I am now installed in Florida, in my new townhouse. I intend to post some pictures, both here and on Facebook, but I have a million things to do at the moment, so nothing quite yet. But they are coming, I know you are eagerly awaiting them.

Today has been both an extraordinarily boring day and a wonderfully exciting day. Today, I woke up early so that my internet and cable could be installed. I also ran errands, such as renters and car insurance, the bank, and getting gas for my car (which is about 40 cents cheaper here than in the mitten). Then it was back to the house, waiting for my mattress and the movers to come deliver my things. A day of moving things in and unpacking somewhat.

The wonderfully exciting news came later, but I don't want to spoil it before it can be shared by those who's news it is. Though, you may be able to guess anyway.

My Last Days in the Mitten

Wednesday night was the first time that I was sad about leaving for Florida. Some of my friends wrote me these lovely cards, and it made me realize how much I am going to miss them. Tonight, I went to a Tigers game with Caitlin, and when we said goodbye, we both broek down and cried. Right there in the middle of the street.

We're such girls.

But tomorrow, I get to see Lindsey, who I haven't seen in ages! It will all be good fun, and then the car packing frenzy will begin. It's going to be a bit crazy, since I haven't really packed everything up yet. Yikes!

28 hours until I leave for Florida!

It's the final countdown...!

You know, when I opened up my browser I thought I had a whole entry in mind for you, but apparently all I have in my brain is a whole bunch of random strings of thought, which are barely coherent.

Six days to Florida!