A Compendium of Information and Updates

Okay, I haven't written in this thing in what seems like a while, and havent been able to focus much, so now seemed like a good time to give it a try.

The whole writing and thinking thing is not really happening lately.

I got some organic bananas and apples from the health food store, which makes me happy. There is SUCH a difference between organic and non organic, that I hadn't really noticed before. But as I seem to get more and more sensitive to various foods, it's making a big difference. The apples and bananas I got from the regular grocery store tasted like complete crap. The ones I got from the HF store are amazing. The apples have a bright, vibrant, sweet taste that lasts and deepens. The bananas are a pure, full, lasting banana taste. Someone told me regular bananas are actually injected with things that keep them from ripening for longer than normal. Disgusting.

So, since they run out of things a lot, I got a whole bunch of both, delivered to my house today even, along with some organic chicken, so at least I have food for a while.

Today was New Year's Eve. I went to the health food store and got there by 5 for once. Gave my Trader Joe's truffles to M and J who liked them very much. It's almost more fun giving these things away than eating them. M said that they were so good they are dangerous because they hook you, and once they hook you , you can't get any more :) TJ only sells them once a year at the holidays, and of course there are no TJs around here. I suggested we should hand them out to the customers and she said then they'd be hooked and cause a riot because the sweetest thing in the store is the chocolate covered peanut butter cups and that just wouldn't do. Then they'd have to go to New Jersey to get more and I'd have to ask the New Jersey turnpike authority for 5% of their earnings because I sent everyone to NJ to get more. :)

Talked to my dad on the phone twice tonight, which was very nice, as I usually don't get to talk to him, and that was nice and enjoyable.

Watched the ball drop online with someone in an oldies chat room from North Dakota.
It is apparently very cold there.

Yes, it is 2009. I am trying to think of what to be thankful for in 2009 and how to conclude the past year that just ended. I decided I should be thankful that I was strong enough to get through all of the challenges and enormous struggles that I had in the past year. That is a good thing to be thankful for. I wish for more strength and courage to tackle obstacles in 2009.

Even though this year was another year of moving, at least it can be summed up far more quickly than last year! It was my dad's in Maine Jan-Feb; Vermont in March; Montana from April-November, and now here, New York. Hey, at least it's easy to remember, although it wasn't so easy to live; but enriched me with new experiences I would never have had otherwise.

It amuses me that Burlington was chosen the healthiest city in America. I think by the CDC. I think the title fits them very well. Huntington, WV (might have spelled that wrong), was named most unhealthy.

So, yeah here's to strength in 2009.

Also, this is the TWO MONTH ANNIVERSARY and the absolute RECORD for the longest I have ever lived in an apartment on my own. The longest before was two months. So as of midnight I have broken it. Now THAT'S something to celebrate! A lot of luck, a lot of planning, a lot of help, and a LOT of positive thinking, creative problem solving and perservarance have brought me to this point of being able to say that I have lasted this long, and plan to last a lot longer.

I would celebrate by eating something, but as you remember from before, all I have is chicken, apples and bananas, and I've rather exhausted my quotient of them for the day. I'll just have to celebrate by writing in this blog. And hopefully by some kind of good food my relatives bring who are hopefully coming this weekend. And, hell, maybe I'll have another banana. Ha.

I am trying, as you might have guessed, to be more healthy. I have stopped eating almost all pastries, breads, cookies, anything processed, anything fried (well that's been years), anything with chemicals in it.... Gosh, it's just amazing how much bad things there are in most foods!

Most of that is not a conscious choice; I just stopped eating it because it stopped tasting good. Some of it is harder, like sweet things that still taste good but seem to have adverse effects on my healthy, so while I am eating hardly any of them, I have not cut them completely out of my diet and am trying to.

My problem, of course, is what to replace the foods with. I need something that tastes good, is healthy, available, and that isn't hard to prepare or cook. Preferrably something that doesn't need cooking at all. I don't imagine there are a whole lot of foods that fall under that list? Sigh. Any suggestions? I would like to broaden my diet but am not sure how. But at least I'm trying . It's not much of a choice, though. If something makes you feel sick it's pretty damn easy not to eat it. You just kind of develop a natural aversion to the food. The only exception are the foods that I'm still not completely sure if they correlate to health problems, but am pretty sure they do, and still taste good. Currently that includes the chocolate truffles and rugelah that I love to death but had reactions after eating both, severe enough that I have avoided eating them since the first consumption, but still torture myself every night about how much I want to eat them and how the reactions might not have been related and how I should try them one more time to get the desire to eat them out of my sytem and find out for sure if it was caused by them. But then I think what could happen and manage not to eat them. Ugh.

At least I can get pleasure out of watching other people eat them. A said that the chocolates were the "most chocolatiest thing she had ever had in her mouth in her life" and she could only eat half of one. J said they were very good and he could only eat 2 at once. J also said they were extremely good and was very enthusiastic about it. M said she "ate one, then ate another, then ate another, and all she could say was "These are great." So I think it would be so much fun to have them in a bowl and give them to customers and gauge their reactions. Some probably wouldn't react, but some probably would. They are extremely good chocolates. Hey, maybe I should give some to the bakery and say "Here, this is what chocolate is supposed to taste like," lol.

When I was in the HF store yesterday, I got into a conversation with a man who runs a retreat center nearby. For transcendental meditiation. So I told him my TM joke about the Buddhist who goes to the dentist. And we got to talking for a bit. At the end of our convo, he mentioned that he goes to Woodstock, a town about an hour away with a much more hippie bohemian spirit and coffee shops and civilization etc, and that I could come along if I want. He goes there on Sundays to hang out at coffee shops. I don't believe there are any around here. Seattle this place ain't. So, that was really nice of him, and I don't believe I've had a conversation with a random stranger in my life that ended with them asking me if I wanted to do something with them or go somewhere with them, but it still presents problems. Obviously the biggest one is if I can go in his car, if it's scented or not. And the second biggest one is of course how to go to a town I've never been to and plan to spend a few hours when I have no idea if I can go into any of the shops or not, and the answer is much more likely than not that I can't. DRAT. And it's winter, hard to hang out outside, etc. If I can find some way around those obstacles, I would love to go.
I'll have to work on that.

A came over to give me toilet paper yesterday. She hasn't been to my apt since I moved in. When I heard her voice, I seriously could not place who it was at first. "There's a female voice calling out to me." "What? I don't get any visitors. I don't know anyone female. Ohhhhh, wait." lol. Talk about a surprise. I wasn't expecting her. I was actually just getting around to calling her to beg for toilet paper, so it worked well. And she helped me clean out all of the boxes and junk in my stairwell, which I probably never would have gotten around to, so that was good. I should really try to keep that area clean. I'm just not sure what to do with the boxes. Maybe I could just add them to the stack downstairs. Or put them in a trash bag, or something.

I managed to successfully call Medicare and sign up for Part D Prescription coverage. That felt good, as I didn't think I would be able to. I was on hold the previous night for 40 minutes trying to do it with no success, and there was only two days left of open enrollment. Whatever that means. Is there a such thing as closed enrollment? Sheesh. So yeah mission accomplished. I must say all missions are a hell of a lot easier when they can be done after 7 pm.

I spent days trying to order Seventh Generation toilet paper. It was such a hassle. You wouldn't believe it. Long story that involves two different companies and a lot of seeming incompetence and websites that can't seem to handle any user traffic. Anyway, it is supposed to come on Friday, and I hope it does.

Ugh, too many things to worry about, the no transportation thing is really annoying. I need something at the Shop Rite across town that I can't get, and trying not to worry too much about finding an alternative.

Okay, enough writing for now. Going to stop. At least I had a clear enough mind to write for once. I had to pretty much force myself to write the last entry and it took hours. I think it was brain fog from the rugelah as much as I don't want that to be true. Why do all the best tasting things in life have to be the ones the worst for you? It's so annoying.

Happy 2009. My mom's birthday is in 23 days. My birthday is in uh a month and 24 days.

I might have an MCS person visit me on January 20, so I have to call her and arrange that.

Okay. Time to do something else.

Kate