Weeks

It's been weeks. Nonstop craziness for weeks. I have one more week of actual going to work, and then things get just as crazy or crazier, even though I'm technically out of work for summer break. In June, I'm doing a teaching internship and taking a law class and finishing the administration internship (which I really need to stop whining about because it's pretty much over except for 3 more written assignments. I'll stop now. Officially.) All of this will happen and possibly leave me in a tailspin by July. BUT in July...the beach awaits with Will and my best friends/fam and a fun trip with my old pal Flakey Thomas to D.C. It's been a while since Flakey and I have been road tripping. Luckily, we will just be taking this trip up rather than across the country and so it should be obstacle-free. I don't know why but driving up seems less daunting than driving across. No logic. Just seems that way.

In other news...the chickens in the backyard are growing. I'll post pictures one day. The plants in Will's garden are growing. Seriously. 6 foot tomato plants. WHAT!? I know, very exciting, right? The custodian at school told me I should can them. Well, I lie. She really said that most people just freeze stuff now. I think I want to learn to can though because how cool would it be to look in the pantry which is currently filled with rows and rows of Hunts canned tomatoes (which are possibly from heaven) and see my own jars of canned tomatoes? I might have to try it. Will's honey bees have deformed wing syndrome. I don't really know that it's called a syndrome. It might be deformed wing virus? ailment? pox? I can't remember, but their wings are deformed. This isn't fabulous.

And the biggest announcement of all (not pregnant)...we have decided to be a paper towel-free house. BIG news, huh? I know, not so much. But it actually is a huge adjustment. Yesterday while making the umpteenth batch of salsa in the food processor, I had no idea how to clean up the spilled salsa that always escapes through the hole in the middle of the bowl where the blade goes. So, I just stood there and stared at tomato juice running all over, unsure what to do. I figured it out, but still it was weird to not grab a paper towel. But we use way too many and it's just dumb when we could use cloths and just wash them. So, we hit up Bed Bath and Beyond and found flour sacks which will do the trick I think. Thank goodness for consumerism, right? Just think, had the big box store not been right around the corner, I might STILL have tomato juice on my food processor today. Amazing, right? And if you come to my house, I'll give you a cloth napkin instead of a paper towel to wipe the salsa off your chin! This is funny to me. Growing up my family always used cloth napkins. The parents still do, and it's just how it is. Friends would come over, and my mom would hand them a cloth napkin and they'd be all, "What is this?" because at their houses it was paper towels. Duh, right!? I clearly opted for paper towels too as a grown up because of the laundry issue (meaning I don't want more laundry than already), but I've given it up and will just deal with washing napkins and cleaning cloths because it will decrease the pile of paper towels I throw away daily. But then...water. I'm going to use more water. Is that bad or good? Who knows? I need an environmentalist to weigh in. Help? Robin, where are you?

Dear Food-Making Company,

I realize this salutation sounds stupid, but at the moment I can't think of the right word. Food Industry? Food Corporation? Either way, my audience is the companies that make food that is sold in grocery stores. Not the farmers, but the industry of food makers. That sounds good. Now, you know who I'm talking to.

Here's what I want. I want there to be some type of food that actually tastes good that does not have ALL of the following: partially hydrogenated oil of any kind, high fructose corn syrup, trans fat, cholesterol, saturated fat, a ridiculous amount of calories, enriched flours, and even the random dust/trash/allergens that I'm going to assume build up on all those conveyor belts carrying my pudding cups, jars of peanut butter, and bags of goldfish to the truck headed for the store. What I want is a pudding cup that has about 60 calories and NONE of that other junk. It can have fat even, but really please nothing with the word hydrogenated or high fructose in front of it. Please. Thanks.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how I have to wear a bathing suit in front of people in about 8 weeks. Though I look just like I did last year, I just feel compelled to mentally prepare. So...I've been going to spinning classes in addition to the regular running/weight lifting, eating carrots, and not eating fries. I miss fries. I've also halted all cupcake baking (though I have to make some for a birthday this weekend and will have to dig deep to resist. ugh in advance.) SO to curb my post-dinner sweet tooth, my latest concoction has been a pudding cup (dark chocolate preferably) and a blob (or 3) of fat free cool whip. Stir that up and you can just about fool yourself into thinking you are eating pie out of a coffee cup. I don't know why I have to eat this out of a coffee cup, but I do. Well...this has been a sort of okay sweet-tooth fix (I mean, it's not ice cream or a Milky Way, right?) until tonight. At the store today, I got more pudding cups and cool whip so I'd be armed for the week. I just took a look at the ingredients on both and almost cried. The cool whip, fat free or full fat, is just not good. BOTH H-words are on the list. Hydrogenated AND High Fructose. OMG. SOB! The pudding is more bearable with only Hydrogenated. But still, this is a little tragic. Now I'm back to not having a fix for my after-dinner need for fake pie. Arg. What am I going to do?

I know there are other options--actually eating a piece of real dark chocolate (duh) or maybe plain jello or maybe a piece of fruit. But see, here's what's up with that. I eat fruit all day and veggies. I actually meet the fruit/vegetable/grain requirements for the day. If I was on a V8 commercial, there'd be a 10 over my head. ALL I want is something that tastes like it's bad for me (like PIE), but it can't actually be bad for me (aka FAKE pie). Is that too much to ask? Can someone invent that for me, please?