Eating Meat Has Been Fun But...

You may remember the national uproar when I announced in February that, after 20+ years of being a vegetarian and being almost vegan for 3 years, I had started eating meat. While there's no denying I've enjoyed exercising my canine teeth, I believe I'm ready to return to my roots and a plant-based diet. 

Why go back? For the same reasons I decided to start eating meat again. My diet just isn't working for me. I feel like I'm betraying my values every time I sit down to a plate of chicken. I do believe we can get all the nutrients we need from plants. And, honestly, meat has stopped tasting good to me.

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Smug Marrieds: Eggs & Wine

Blair and I went grocery shopping today (pause to give a "Wass up!" shout-out to the Super Wal-Mart that is the hub of our little town) and as we walked outside I smiled and said, "Did you see what the older woman behind us had in her cart?"

The woman in question looked to be in her late 60's/early 70's, with the carefully curled hair of those who visit the beauty parlor every Saturday to have it set and do not take comb nor brush to it in between visits. A rouged and powdered face, dowdy clothes, and the withered puckering of the lips indicated a lifelong smoker. 

"She had a sixteen-pack egg carton and two bottles of wine," I said, answering my own question. I winked at Blair. "Looks like a sleep over to me." 

"Funny," said Blair. "I was thinking she reminded me of you."

I burst out laughing. I've been doing the Tim Ferriss Slow Carb Diet on and off for months now. Eggs and red wine are staples of the diet and I buy each in copious amounts. 

"Oh my God, that was cruel," I said, wiping tears from my eyes. "I feel like I should run back in there, find her, and say, 'Are you doing the Tim Ferriss diet too!? Oh my God! We should be diet buddies!'"

"I keep telling you that diet doesn't look pretty from this end but you won't listen," said Blair. 

Maybe she is on the diet. Or maybe she really likes eggs and was restocking on wine. Or maybe, just maybe--and let's all send her some positive thoughts in this direction--she was gettin' her some. ;)

Cheers,

Dena

Decorating Diaries: The Big Orange Wall

My friend asked me to do my best "Vanna" impersonationCheck out my beautiful piece of art!

Ever since March of 2010 when I painted our hallway orange , Blair and I have faced daily the big, blank orange wall that is directly outside our bedroom. We have trucked in thousands of dollars of art, holding each piece up to the wall, looking for that perfect fit. 

Nothing worked. The problem is that it's a BIG wall, but we can't hang anything with big images because there's no way to back up enough to get an overall view. I don't like fussy, little busy art so we just left the wall blank, resolving each January that this would be the year we finally got serious and put up the collage of family photographs we kept saying we would. 

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Ask Yourself, "How Do People Experience Me?"

I'm reading the Wall Street Journal yesterday and almost the entire MarketPlace section is devoted to an article on "The XX Factor: What's Holding Women Back?" 

It's an interesting read, broken into numerous subsections. One of the subsections offers a Tool Kit for society and individuals on how to encourage more/better participation by women in the economy. Under the header Personal Strategies: Tools for the Individual, one of the recommendations is that women do Self-Assessments.

"Regularly consider, 'How do people experience me? Am I a game changer and value creator who builds trusting relationships?'"

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Why I Never Get Anything Done

I woke up this morning ready to hit the ground running (not actually running, but writing) and then looked at today's schedule:

5:30 am - Go over to Mom's house and water cats and feed plants. No wait, reverse that. It's still early. 

7 am - Leave for Greensboro

8 am - doctor's appointment

10:45 am - chiropractic appointment

12:15 pm - Bodypump

1:45 - pick Mom up from airport and return her to Mayodan and two cats that will be out of their minds happy to see her

2:45 pm - Bank and errands

3:15 pm - Hopefully driving back into Greensboro to pick up Lucy and bring her home. 

As I tell my writing students, there is always time to write in each day, you just have to claim it. I'm dragging my laptop to every locale and will spend the day working in 10 minute splurts in waiting rooms, airport lounges, and cat clinics. 

It sounds like I'm whining, but actually I love it. Happy Monday!