Blue Jay

There are two mama blue jays with nests in our trees. I am trying to entice them with sunflower seed but they avoid it. Today, I moved the ceramic 'pot' full of the seed out to under one of the trees they are nesting in. I see them both in and out of the tree but so far, they continue to avoid the pot full of food. Maybe they don't like sunflower seed? I'll have to research that.

The weekend passed uneventfully and busily as always. I'm baking a cake for no particular reason - using a Trader Joe's Vanilla Cake Mix (tons of vanilla bean flecks!) and then added some fresh squeezed orange juice and some orange zest. Plan to make orange icing also - mainly because we still have a lot of oranges left from our Napa weekend and I'm trying to use them up.

Tomorrow I am mailing off a deposit for 11 nights in Playa del Carmen next summer. 13 months is a long time to wait but oh well - I am hoping that having that trip planned will provide something to look forward to - and I am in desperate need of something to look forward to. We planned for 14 but that seemed too long - we both know me very well and around day 10, I will be chomping at the bit for my own bed and my own home. We have no idea if either of the boys will be joining us at the beach - one is thinking he will be enlisted (but we've heard that before) and the other seems (unbelievably) reluctant to be away from his friends for that many days. We are downsizing to a smaller condo and should both end up going, sleeping arrangements will involve mattresses on the floor. Oh well. It saves enough money for J. and I to plan to do some 'day trips' that we usually don't do because having paid for a condo, airfare for 4 and food, we rarely feel we should spend MORE money doing stuff. But we're hoping to be able to do a couple things that we want to do every time we go down there.

Work feels like drudgery lately and that's not like me. I chalk it up to too much to do and not nearly enough time to do it all in. There's just a never ending mountain of stuff to climb - and no matter how far or how fast I climb it, I am never close to the top. Again, this is 'normal' and 'routine' in my line of work so it shouldn't phase me a bit - but it is. And it has...lately.

On a great note, I am officially down 10 pounds - just under two months of my change in eating and it's been relatively 'easy'. I still cheat now and then - cheese on pizza occasionally (for example) and sugar also very occasionally....but for the most part, I stick with 'the plan'. [For those who missed my post - my plan is: no dairy, no sugar, no processed foods and avoid refined flours]. It's been amazing to learn about the 'stuff' I eat....and every day, I read labels and make choices that are best for me. Not always 'easiest'. Certainly not always 'perfect'. But if something has a bunch of ingredients I don't recognize - or if the first or second ingredient is sugar - or if it's obviously full of 'fake' stuff - I don't buy it and I don't eat it. And if faced with choices that are not great - for example, if I'm running to and from and have to eat something on the road that I wouldn't normally eat - I opt for the thing with the most protein and the most fiber available. It's a small, minor change - but it plays out more often than I used to think about. Example: my old 'rushed' on my way to a meeting breakfast (and this is now very rare because I eat soy yogurt and fruit for breakfast most days without fail)was a Morning Bun at Starbucks. Delicious - and sugary - and no nutritional value whatsoever. Now, if I have to choose something - I choose pumpkin bread. High in fiber and covered with nuts for protein. It's not the 'best' choice. Yogurt and fruit are the far better choice. But if I'm rushed and/or have no yogurt, it's better than a morning bun. Just those small, daily considerations before putting something in my mouth have added up to a loss of weight that two months ago seemed impossible.

Do I miss those things? No. In fact, I don't crave them at all anymore - the only time I crave them is if I've had some - and then it's just a moment of 'oh, I want to eat [insert something terrible]. But I don't eat them....and while a friend complimented me on my willpower on Friday, I don't really think of it as willpower. That implies that I'm having to 'fight' the urge to eat badly - and I'm not. I just choose not to. A simple mind-set switch that has revolutionized my eating habits.

OK - having gone on and on about my healthy eating habits, I have a cake to frost. And yes, I plan to eat a slice....but no milk. Maybe soy milk. But probably not. Just a couple bites of cake as a treat. And to assist in my efforts, I'm heading outside to garden for a bit. We have our first squash blossom so that's encouraging. Our lettuce plants are being devoured by something but some are managing to survive. And our pepper and tomato plant are holding their own!