Dear Veganism

Dear Veganism,
Oh how I love you. Let me count the ways you make me happy...

1. I never have to worry about my food going bad if I forget to put it in the fridge. With no dairy products or meat, I don't have to refridgerate things all the time (which comes in handy for a picnic)
2. I am afforded a luxurious life of regular BMs. Ahhh, the regularity. It's ok to be jealous.
3. I have the opportunity to try out all kinds of new healthy recipes using ingredients I'd never imagined
4. I am able to spread the word (I am not a Vegonomicon thumper, don't worry) when people ask about the yummy food I've brought
5. I have experienced some weight loss, but my knee pain and massive appetite have not allowed it to stay as steady as I'd like. That seems to be a constant struggle for me-vegan or not
6. I find that my decisions about my diet have helped me to stay flexible as well. This may be a terrible thing for strict vegans to hear, but I have a rule...Vegetarian 100% of the time, and Vegan 98%. I haven't eaten cheese or had a glass of milk or an egg, but I have had food that had some egg white or milk in it...I find that flexibility to help me out in emergency situations, and also shows people that are interested in the lifestyle that you can deviate and still make healthy, animal-friendly choices
7. I'm discovering vegetables, spices and flavors I've never tried, and finally learned to love tomatoes, which is crazy for me, but the ones out of my garden were amazing!
8. I've met a lot of wonderful internet "friends" who share their recipes and experiences and provide me motivation with continuing the lifestyle

Ok, enough lovey dovey kissy veganism. It just makes me happy and I'm glad that I am doing it. And how the heck can I like tofu this much? Even I don't understand.

Are You Ready for the Weekend?

This has been a very interesting week for me. I’ve had a lot of time for introspection and self-soothing as I don’t have television or any other interruptions (plus my Wednesday class was cancelled). I’ve learned a lot about myself in this short amount of time and have spent a lot of time piecing together the roots of the insecurities and fears that I have and I think that I may have pinpointed them. Being the child of an addict is all I have ever known, and I never realized it was abnormal until I was in college. I’m realizing now that I’ve been holding on to beliefs and “scripts” that I created when I was a child and not looking at them like a reasonable adult. So hopefully with some more counseling, introspection, and a lot of trying, I will get through this and begin to enjoy the gift of life that God has given me.

I don’t really have much fun stuff to talk about, mostly because I haven’t seen any tv. Mircea TIVO’d Moment of Truth for me, and we’re going to watch it tonight. Other than that, its just been the King of Queens on dvd and a lot of journaling.

I did create a shirt for my bowling team, but we’re deciding on whether or not to purchase them because we’re not sure we’ll compete next year. We’ve been getting worse and worse lately and it’s sort of putting a damper on some of the spirits. Not mine-I’m improving, but I had no where to go but up!

Looking forward to the weekend and some time away from the office. Tonight I’m going to Mircea’s house for a date night (as well as my online class) and tomorrow I’m babysitting for my friend’s little boys while they have a date night. Sunday is the Super Bowl (yeah, I barely care) and I’ll probably hang out with friends for that as well…since I don’t have tv.

Hope you all have a nice weekend!