La Vida Fresca

This is going to be a sad little post. All I have to offer is food from throughout the day. Work was long and I’m tired and didn’t get the least bit of activity in my day.  Ugg.

Eats:

Green Monster– lots of spinach, a frozen banana, some vanilla almond milk, and a handful of blueberries. I missed these over the weekend and I’m glad I have more supplies now.

Tuna salad on rye with pear. I’m getting a lot better at using up what I have at home and creating meals with what we have on hand.

Half bagel with cream cheese.

Since we were on the road at dinnertime once again, we had to stop somewhere quick and convenient. This time it was Sonny’s (yick). I got their candied pecan-craisin-raspberry viniagrette salad with turkey (not really what it’s called) plus some salad bar goodies someone was good enough to swipe for me . Note the super fake-looking pink color of this dressing. I didn’t finish all of this salad. Nice try, Sonny’s.

At home there was a banana with chocolate and a bit more chocolate later.

Oh, and last night I had to have a can of soup and some bread because I got really hungry before bed. Must’ve been all that paddling. I don’t know why I seem to be in full on food journal mode right now but I suppose I’ll go with it for the time being, although I don’t intend to record every single thing I eat here. I have to say though, every time I make a Green Monster I want to photograph it. They’re just so darn pretty!

I’m hoping tomorrow there’ll be something a little more fun to report.

Until then!

I’m quite tired after a wonderfully fun day of kayaking and splashing around in the springs. The water was gorgeous and refreshing as it always is. There’s really no way to ease into it. You just have to go from being blazing hot in the kayak and jump into what feels like ice water in comparison. It’s really not that bad. Of course I started with dipping my legs in and inch by inch worked down until I finally was in the water just jumped right in. Seriously though, the springs are my favorite place to swim.

Some of our photos from today:

Eats were rather boring and basically fast food all day. Brunch came from a gas station (except for the cookie. That came from Steak n Shake where Kevin got his food):

Once we were back and had the kayaks loaded up again we were very hungry. I ate most of this melted Kashi bar in the parking lot. Then we had sandwiches from Subway. I got a 12-inch veggie sub, (not shown, didn’t finish it all) and then a McDonald’s cone. Important and exciting news, no?

Off to get some much-needed sleep before my workweek starts tomorrow. Night!

My day started at 6 a.m. with some coffee, computer time, and my Fairfield Four radio station on Pandora. I really like listening to that station (some of the songs that come up aren’t my style but most are awesome), especially on Sundays. Kevin had lots of work to do, so our day was planned around that. But when we innocently drove past Dick’s Sporting Goods toward Panera Bread, our late lunch destination, we both did a double take because they had kayaks on sale outside. I was rather hungry by then because I was lazy all morning and hadn’t eaten anything yet but I forgot all about hunger.

Our best intentions and efforts at budgeting evaporated at that moment. Dave Ramsey would not be pleased. He says TVs aren’t emergencies, and I agree, but surely these great deals on kayaks qualify. Well, maybe not. There is something wrong with a person too cheap to replace her work shoes that are literally falling apart and drop big $$ (or relatively little $$ as the case was — they were on sale, after all) on impulse for kayaks. But Kevin needs them for business, so there.

Actually Dave Ramsey wouldn’t approve of the shoes thing either. He says you need to budget for clothes.

Needless to say, we have some new kayaks. Hey, there aren’t many big-ish purchases that we’ll get on a whim, but when you find a good deal on a kayak you should probably go ahead and snag it because you don’t come across them every day (deals, not kayaks).

So, at Panera I got a Sierra Turkey sandwich and Forest Mushroom soup which I only used to dip their yummy baguette in because it was just like mushroom gravy to me. The sandwich was pretty good.

And I sampled their orange scones and raisin bread.

There might’ve been a big iced green tea at the bookstore as well as a giant coffee with cinnamon dulce syrup later on. I adore coffee but have never cared for Starbucks because it always tastes dark and burnt to me. I have to pour out some of the coffee, occasionally add a flavor shot, and always add a lot of half and half or a combination of half and half and skim milk.

When we got home, Kevin kept working and I got to work in the yard. It was getting late so I was in turbo mode trying to make the most of the daylight remaining.

My helpers:

(poor thing taking a much-needed rest)     (yawn-panting)

Today’s workout consisted of:  lawnmower sprints, sparring with citrus trees (while armed with hedge clippers), and debris deadlifts.

After I’d finished mowing and had been taking it easy for about 30 minutes, I snapped a photo. It cracks me up because it looks like I got in a drunken fight or something. Normally I can open both eyes all the way but one eye was really stinging at the time.

I was more thirsty than hungry when I finally got inside and showered, so I had a strange dinner, which was a bowl of applesauce followed by some vanilla frozen yogurt with some semi-sweet chocolate chips and a banana well past its prime and approaching old age.

Strange, but it worked.

In my two whole days off from work, I did almost no housework, zero laundry, have not washed the dogs or cleaned the vehicle, haven’t written much of anything or shopped for groceries or baked. So I have done almost nothing on my to-do list yet it’s been a pretty fabulous couple of days.

For some reason, I have the feeling I will be going somewhere sunny and watery tomorrow ;-) Perhaps I can squeeze in some laundry time beforehand but it’s almost 1 a.m. so it’s doubtful.

Since I am obviously feeling very long-winded today and since it is Sunday and since I don’t do it nearly enough, I’m listing some of the things I am most thankful for at present.

• my husband and my family and friends
• my dogs
• good times with my favorite people
• books
• freedom
• the good health of my family and friends and me and everyone who is fortunate enough to have it
• shelter
• water
• my bed
• plentiful food (not just for fun or photos but for actual nourishment too)
• that my almost disastrous slip in the shower today didn’t turn into a real disaster
• that while displacing the many banana spiders outside today none got on my head that I know of
• God-given talents (which everyone has)

So, thank you, Lord.

Finally I am going to bed. Good night morning.

We got a late start today and I knew there would be no time for a trip to the gym or even a run outside so I got some coffee in me and did one of Craig Ballantyne’s 7-minute bodyweight circuits that I found a long time ago on Skwigg’s site. I did the circuit three times (subbing a resistance band exercise for the close-grip push up to limit strain on my bad mouse wrist) for an effective and super fast workout. I was so glad I did it because otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten any workout in today.

For lunch I made a salad of Spring Mix, chickpeas, shredded cheeses, onions, bell peppers, squash, and Italian vinaigrette. I had the grapes after my little workout. I don’t know why but fruit is so much better than water sometimes at quenching thirst.

This evening, we went to see a movie and had dinner at Carrabba’s with my sister, brother-in-law and niece. Good times, good times. I didn’t take any photos inside the restaurant but dinner was nice. I had a Mediterranean salad (ate half - is was heavy on the dressing), about a whole basket of bread by myself with olive oil and Alfredo sauce for dipping, and my whole plate of Tagliarini Picchi Pacchiu (”fine pasta in a sauce of crushed tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and basil”). We also got three of these little dessert shot custard things and shared them around. I forget what they were called. I got the cannoli one, my sister got a vanilla-y one with berries on top, and my niece got creme brulee.

I’m really glad I only got a half order of pasta. I am so stuffed and thirsty right now. I’ve been drinking water and just switched to hot decaf green tea.

Once again it’s time to hit the hay. I don’t know exactly what’s on the agenda tomorrow but we shall see. Night!

Well today was long and I’m ready for bed.  But first, here’s a recap:

Eats were strange, mainly because I worked late and had to forage for food and eat what was available. Breakfast was a Green Monster with 2/3 of a frozen banana, a whole bunch of spinach, some blueberries, and vanilla almond milk.

And half a bagel, toasted, with warmed blueberries on top.

Lunch was leftovers from last night’s salad followed by midday dessert, Puffins with strawberries and almond milk.

For dinner, I was at my desk and had yet another breakfast:  oatmeal with a banana and almond milk.  Then at home there was dessert, naturally. Vanilla frozen yogurt in a tiny bowl with semi-sweet chocolate chips.

I still had a small bit of tenderness in my shin so I went to a Spin class tonight. Before the class I did some lifting, mostly upper body stuff. It was a good Spin class, I liked the instructor, and it was pretty hard on my legs. I could never get to the “almost breathless” state the instructor was talking about because apparently my legs are less fit than my lungs. I just couldn’t seem to make ‘em do more than they were already doing and I wasn’t out of breath. Those legs sure were wobbly when I hopped off the bike.

Now I’m going to read a bit, possibly while icing my shin, possibly with some tea, and go to bed. Night!

Good evening! I didn’t have much time today (what’s new) but I was able to get in 26 minutes of Yoga for Runners (also free from yogadownload.com) before dinner.

Dinner was a Tex-Mexy Southwestern-ish salad with Spring Mix, seasoned black beans, a combination of corn, diced tomatoes, and diced red, green, and yellow peppers,  shredded cheese, avocado, salsa, and drained yogurt (in place of sour cream).  I also had lots and lots of blue corn chips with salsa. This salad was so good. I really liked it. Kevin said he did too, but I can tell he’d prefer the regular taco salad type salad.

I might’ve also had a few tiny cups of chocolate almond milk and a bite of watermelon.

This afternoon I snacked on a fruit cup I got from the supermarket and some grapes.

Lunch was another breakfast.  I give you:  whole wheat bagel with garlic and herb cream cheese. Served with a pear on a paper towel. Classy.

And of course a Green Monster, which is what I’m going to start calling them, since that is what everyone on the Internets calls them.

Going to clean the kitchen, drink some tea and (hopefully) turn in early. Night!