Little Piece of Heaven

Happy Sunday!  It is a GLORIOUS day in Texas. The weather is absolutely spectacular! I spent a good deal of it outside yesterday, kayaking with my friend Nancy. There is a little creek is about 10 minutes from our neighborhood and no matter how many times we go, it always feels and looks a little bit different. Sometimes the water is high, sometimes it is low, sometimes there is a film of something on top of it, sometimes it is choppy, sometimes is it smooth. No matter how it changes, it always feels like we are on vacation. Seriously. We do the hard work of loading and unloading the kayaks, which takes us all of five or ten minutes, but feels like the work you have to do when you get ready for vacation. We have our loading and unloading process down to a good system and it happens quickly and efficiently. We lug the kayaks from the parking lot to the little rocky beach where we put the boats in the water. Plop our butts down on the kayaks and instantly the world melts away. I actually feel my blood pressure lowering, stress levels drop and total relaxation set in as I pick up the paddle and start moving out into the water. 

We have to paddle pretty steady to get through the big lake area and we then head under the overpass with all the car traffic and road noise to get back to this little piece of heaven. This is where we hang out. We float and fish and talk and look for critters and say over and over again "This is the best. Doesn't it feel like we are on vacation."  We say it every time and every time we marvel at how we can just be a hop, skip and a jump from home but it feels like another world. 

Nancy caught a big bass yesterday and it was exciting, but we really just don't care if we fish or have bites or catch anything. We are happy to talk to turtles and point out cool birds, rocks, squirrels, snakes or find old fishing lures or try to reach in the water to retrieve golf balls or our new purple reading glasses that accidentally slipped out of our pocket and fell in the creek (that happened yesterday to me and we did not find them!) Or we have real excitement, like an unexpected storm blows up and we have to paddle like hell to get to shore. That has happened more than once. And recently, the water was a little low and I somehow got my kayak stuck on a limb of some kind under the water and after paddling like hell in every direction for a solid fifteen minutes I resigned myself that I just lived on my kayak under the Parmer Bridge and I would die there. My arms were on fire from paddling as hard as I could. I was bouncing and trying to shift my weight real hard without falling out of the boat.  Of course, there was heavy breathing and howling and laughing and cussing and a myriad of attempts and pulling and pushing and fake panicking. Eventually, Nancy got out of her kayak and managed to get me unstuck, so basically saved my life that day. I owe her. Why didn't I get out of my own boat and save my own life, you might be asking?  Because I would NEVER be able to get my ass back in that kayak.  No way in hell I could go from the water up on to the kayak without a ladder!  But Nancy can. She is my hero. 

Anyway, Mother Nature was putting on a show yesterday. Here are some pictures of our adventure. 

And my Saturday got even better because after spending the daylight hours outside on the water, I got to spend the evening hours outside sitting around a fire pit!  I went up to Beth's little slice of paradise in Georgetown and we sat around her fire pit visiting and eating!  There was delicious veggie pizza and a fabulous salad. Thanks for helping me stick to my plants and also to Beverly for the two new veggies for the week - I needed them to get to 40!  We laughed and ran from smoke and caught up on kids and upcoming weddings and pets and the hunt for a perfect rug, Christmas tree decor and traditions and Instagram accounts we stalk. It was so lovely. I got home about 9:00 pm and felt spent and happy and whatever else feels like a wonderful, wonderful day. 

Hope your Saturday was wonderful too!  

Today, Christmas decorations will be coming into my house at a ridiculously early date and I am here for it! Let's go!

New Week - New List

This has been a week!  I started this post on Tuesday morning and just couldn't get back to it. Work is super busy and the time change has me messed up and it is election week and whew!  We made it to Friday and am so dang relieved!  It hasn't been all challenges this week....there has been lots of celebrations too!  Let's document the good news before we get to the plants!  

On Wednesday, I got a little work bonus!  Out of the blue. Totally surprised. That doesn't happen on just a random Wednesday in November.  It came along with some really nice words of appreciate for the job I do and I am telling you words matter.  Money is nice, but man hearing that you are a valuable employee and are appreciated will fill you right up! So, if you are a boss of anyone...tell them you appreciate them.  Tell them they are valuable. Do it. It matters. 

Also, in the good news column, my sweet niece found out this morning that she got into her first college choice! We have a Baylor Bear in the family! I was heading out the door at 6:15 a.m. to meet Martha for a walk when I got the good news! Martha is a Baylor Bear and one of my favorite people and I couldn't wait to tell her! I got all choked up walking in the dark, thinking about The Queen getting her good news this morning and imagining how proud and excited she must feel. And my sister, The Nice One, I know is beaming with pride!  The best! 

Finally, this evening, I picked up my mail for the first time this week and buried in the giant pile of junk mail, I found a little note from my friend Jenny saying that she is happy I am blogging again! She signed it "Your #1 Fan". Who does that? Who is that thoughtful?  Jenny!  She does that!  My first piece of FAN MAIL for Bourbon and Blowpops!  What a thrill!  Thank you, Jenny!  Got me motivated to get after this post and finish it tonight! 

One last thing before we talk about plants.  

I just got back from McDonald's where I scarfed down a Filet-o-Fish and order of fries. I have been thinking about a Filet-o-Fish for days and I just went and got it and ate it. And I enjoyed it. And it wasn't made of plants and I am okay with that.  

I started eating plant based on July 16th. It has been 16 weeks and I feel great! I don't have aches and pains. Lots of energy. I feel even and steady, if that makes any sense. Kicking butt on my Peloton. I am losing a little weight. I feel like I can eat like this forever. I really enjoy it. But tonight, I wanted a Filet-o-Fish.  In the past, I would fight the urge and think of myself as weak and someone who doesn't finish things and all kinds of negative crap.  I am not doing that anymore. I am grown. I am living life as best as I can. Giving myself grace. Speaking to myself like I would talk to a friend.  It is better this way.  Kinder.  

ENOUGH OF ALL THE FEELINGS!  SNAP OUT OF IT!  PLANTS!  PLANTS!  PLANTS!

I kicked off Monday with a clean slate and a blank list on my kitchen counter.  I also kicked it off with two live proposals and a early morning start for work! 

Thankfully, I had some leftover lawnmower mix for a breakfast taco, that I heated up and topped with avocado for an extra plant!  This little ensemble below has sweet potato, red bell pepper, jalapeños, mung beans, onions, spinach, cilantro, black beans and avocado.  That is a nine plant breakfast and it was delicious! 

For lunch, I threw together a quick vegan grilled cheese with smoked gouda, red onion and Trader Joe's spicy zoug sauce.  It was quick and tasty and provided me with some wicked breath! I needed to brush my teeth after eating raw onions, but no new plants for the list! 

I cranked up the plant count for dinner and made some bulgur with black beans, garlic, asparagus, onions, cilantro and toasted walnuts.  Added 4 new plants at dinner! 

I was also kind of snacky on Monday and ate some peanuts, apple slices and some seaweed sheets.  Seaweed sheets are so fun to eat and they taste great.  My favorite so far is the red pepper flake ones. I fold them and try to put them in my mouth without touching my lips.  No idea why, but it cracks me up even while I am doing it!  Anyway Monday ended at 17 plants in one day! 

I have only added 17 more plants over the rest of the week and am sitting at 34 on Friday evening.  I am eating lots of repeats and haven't made many new things.  Let me tell you of one new fruit I tried and my two favorites new dishes this week. 

I ate a Guava. Just sorted through the HEB fruits and veggie section online and saw a Guava. I have never had one, so of course I added it to my cart!  I was wondering if it would be mango size or toaster size like the ol' surprise gigantic papaya.  It was the size of a lime.  Again, I had to watch a You Tube video on how to eat it. I liked it!  The seeds were super hard and even though The You Tube said some people eat the seeds....eating the seeds will crack all your teeth.  Trust me.  Do not eat the seeds. 

This is Jessica in the Kitchen's Vegan Coconut Curry Lentil and it was fantastic.  I ate it at least three times this week! 

This is Trader Joe's frozen Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels.  You cook them 18 minutes in the oven and they get tossed in some yummy sauce.  I dumped them on some arugula and parsley and topped them with a little extra red pepper flakes, sesame seeds and green onion. IT WAS GOOD!  I will want this in my freezer at all times for when I am craving a little something spicy and quick! 

That's it!  The best of the week so far!  I have got to get busy on Saturday and Sunday to get to 40!  This will be my eighth week eating at least 40 different plants! That's good stuff!   

Are any of you counting your plants?  Tell me!