It's funny how that, no matter how well you plan things, often life takes you off on little detours. Sometimes if feels like my life is just one big detour.
I had plans. Oh boy did I have plans. I worked tirelessly to carefully plan a garden, so that I would have a pretty good yield this year. I harvested seeds last year. Got out my trusty Farmer's Almanac to calculate when to start my seeds. Carefully I nurtured my lovely little seedlings, only to have another massacre like I did in 2010. Yes, Ms. Phantom Bo-baggins (Known as Hell Kitty around these parts) decided to make my seedlings her play thing again. I am limited on my space, so I don't really have a place to put them where she can't get to them. She leaves them alone for the longest time and then it's like she magically knows I'm hardening them up to put them out. Then BAM, she goes on the attack!
I was dishearten by this little turn of events, but not down. I still had my herbs, thriving nicely in my windowsill and my lettuce, rapidly growing in my boxes on my porch. I went to Seattle for a week to visit my sister, leaving my son in charge of my green things, only to return to dead plants. *big sigh*
Okay, so, no real garden this year. I am going to go to the nursery this weekend to buy a couple of heirloom tomato and several pepper plants. I can replant my herbs, so that is no biggie. I guess this year I will do most of my purchasing from farmer's market. I'm a little disappointed, but not thwarted on my other plans.
I plan to can this year. I had big ideas, but now I'll just small scale it to a few items. This weekend I plan on making some yummy Kimchi. This can't be really canned, but can be saved in jars in the fridge for several months, so I'll make a big batch for me and a few people that have voiced interest. This summer I also plan to can salsa, spaghetti sauce, sour kraut, pickles, and some vegetable soup. I think this is manageable and will help me in my quest to eat 80/20 clean food.
I start juicing this week. I'm not going to do the full cleansing diet like many of my friends and sister's family does, but I am going to use it as a meal replacement, several times a week. This is part of my plan includes Meatless Monday. If you are interested in incorporating a Meatless Monday in your life, be sure to check my friend Lisa's blog Manhattansway.com, where she gives good vegan advice and great recipes. I also plan to eat fish at least once a week and hopefully (crosses fingers) twice. My big goal is to try to acquire a taste for salmon. Used to, I could not eat any fish, with the exception of shellfish. Yeah, a southern girl that does not eat catfish, is there such an animal? I assure you there is. Fresh water fish is very much a don't with me.
Over the past ten years I have learned to eat several kinds of saltwater fish. Recently I tried salmon again, via my sister's salmon salad, but nope, wasn't able to eat, but one mouthful. I know it's good for me, so I am determined. I really want those omega 3's. Stay tune on updates (I'm sure they will be amusing) on my progress with that. I will also probably blog about my progress with juicing.
My sister and I plan on taking a trip to India in three years. I have big ideas that part of this touring will be on bike. I don't know if she's so much game for this idea, but I do plan to start training to ride long distances. I am not interested in marathons or races, although my friend Donna is training for a triathlon this next year, which amazes me and I'm so rooting for her! Maybe one day we can do a bike tour somewhere together. I am so proud that we both have decided to keep challenging ourselves as we approach 50, instead of just resting on our laurels.
I am going to look at bikes this weekend. I have my eye on a pretty mint green retro cruiser. One with a rack in back to carry a few groceries. As you can tell, I plan mostly to ride for pleasure, but would also like to increase my endurance for distance. As I said, I am not interesting in being in racing, but I do have future plans to travel tour by bike and some of it will be long distance. If any of you have any suggestions on how help me, please send them to the email attached to profile section of this blog. I have great trips plan and this is one of my main obstacles. I am determined though! If things work out, I may start taking my bike to work. No way will I be able to ride the full distance, but the bus has bike racks and I can ride that good little jot from the bus stop to work. I may even start riding home from the bus terminal in the afternoon, instead of transferring to my second bus. The more I talk this out in my head, the more I like this idea. hmmmm
The weight continues to slowly come off, but this is how I planned. I want to keep it off and maintain a healthy lifestyle. I feel so much better than I felt this time last year. I am up for just about anything. I look forward to some hiking soon and some bike rides down the River Trail with my son. If you see me on my beautiful new mint green retro cruiser, be sure to wave!
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