If I haven't gotten sick yet...

... I don't think it's going to happen.  Friday I had Taco Bell.  I thought it would make me sick.  And, if I was going to get sick, I was going to go all out.  I had a burrito supreme and a soft taco supreme.  For those of you who don't know me, most of the time I can barely finish a burrito.  I didn't get sick.  Saturday, we cooked out for lunch.  I had hot dogs.  That night I ate a chicken club sandwich from Hardee's.  I also had more smores.  Sunday, I had more hot dogs (and part of an Italian sausage).  

I think that's all.  It's kind of a blur.  But, I have now eaten chicken, beef, pork, and turkey (and a little bit of antelope jerky).  I've had gelatin from gummy bears, poptarts, and marshmallows.  None of it has made me sick.  I think it's safe to say that I am now an official omnivore.  

This weekend, Philip and I are going up to Black Hawk.  We are going to play some video poker, but mostly we are going for the all-you-can-eat-buffet.  This buffet is $16 and includes crab legs.  Philip can just about eat his weight in crab legs.  I am kind of excited to try crab legs again (I have only ever had them once).  I'm also excited because the buffet is enormous.  I will get to try a bunch of different things instead of mostly sticking to the salad bar!  Yay!  :)

Is it just me...

... or does Bartolo Colon look like Ed Bighead from Rocko's Modern Life?  

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Maybe I'm alone in this thought.  However, whenever I'm watching him pitch, I like to imagine him saying, "I hate my life," or mumbling under his breath about Conglom-O Corporation.  ;)


P.S.  Go Yankees!  Bartolo Bighead will be pitching tonight against Oakland.

Begin Rant

I am absolutely sick and tired of hearing women say, "There aren't any good men," or "Men are [pigs, dicks, douches, etc.]."  I want to slap the person saying it.  

Why?  Because it's not true.  Wanna know what the truth is?  Women don't want to date nice guys.  They go for the guys who will treat them like crap and then blame it on men in general.  I have so many nice guy friends who get dumped (or shot down for dates) because they're "too nice."  What the hell kind of sense does that make???  

I think that if women are going to ignore the good guys right in front of their eyes, they deserve the douchebag men that they go after.

So, ridiculous women, stop complaining and open your eyes.  If you want a good man, then find one.  It's not like they're mythical creatures.  I know it for a fact.  I've got one.  And I have a whole lot of guy friends who are good guys, too.  

End Rant.

Adventures of a new omnivore...

I'm still adding meat to my diet.  So far, it's been a piece of cake... or a piece of meat, I guess.  I haven't had any problems with the chicken.  I did have hot dogs on Saturday night and on Monday without any problems.  I also had marshmallows for the first time in years on Saturday night (we toasted marshmallows and hot dogs on a stick over coals/fire in the grill... it was awesome!).  

I had Chinese on Tuesday night (with leftovers last night).  I thought that might be irritating for my stomach/digestive system, but all was well.  

I made my famous "chicken stuff" on Sunday night.  It was delicious (Philip absolutely loved it!).  I didn't have any problems with that either.  

Friday night, I had a chicken salad sandwich from Arby's.  It's one of the things that I had been craving.  It was really good.  I was iffy about it because it was a lot more chicken than I remembered it being (I thought there were more grapes and walnuts).  I thought I might get sick because it was just a lot of chicken for one sitting.  I didn't though.  No problems.

I think that's about it for now.  I am really excited for the weekend though.  Since I haven't had any problems with chicken (and the few random other non-vegetarian items), I get to add something new this weekend.  I am going to go to Taco bell and eat beef.  I am really nervous.  I think I probably will end up sick after Taco Bell night.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my burrito supreme doesn't attempt to destroy me.  ;)

I am happy

Lately, I've been in kind of a funk.  I haven't been motivated and I'm been more of a complainer than normal.  Typically, I'm an optimist.  If I don't like things, I change them.  That's how I roll.  I think that I've been hanging around too many negative people lately.  

Last night, I realized what I've been doing.  I've been focusing on the negative in my life (car troubles after car troubles and then more car troubles,  large expenses, a huge to-do list, etc.) and not paying attention to the positives.  And, the positives FAR outweigh the negatives.  

I have a job.  A good job with a good boss with good benefits.  Sure, I wish I made more money (who doesn't?!), but at least I have a job that I like!  

I have four beautiful, wonderful pups.  They greet me every day when I come home from work. They snuggle with me while I watch Law & Order.  They are just happy to be near me.  It's a wonderful thing.  

I have a perfect partner.  He is absolutely wonderful.  Even when I'm in a crappy mood, he can make me feel better in an instant.  He is smart, funny, handsome, loving, and giving.  He is everything I could want in a partner.  Any time I see his face, I smile.  

Wouldn't seeing this face every day make you happy, too?  Too bad!  He's mine!  ;)  

I often think about how I don't think I could love this man any more than I already do. And then he does something that proves me wrong.  I apologize to all of my readers for how disgustingly in love I am.  I can't help it.  :)  

An Update

I'm still being un-vegetarian (ha!).  I had chicken on Sunday and Monday.  Tuesday I had gummy bears (yum!).  And yesterday was a big day.  I had McDonald's french fries (they use a beef powder for flavoring on them) and chicken nuggets.  And I also had a piece of homemade jerky last night (from my neighbor).  At the time, I thought the jerky was a bad idea.  But, I ate it anyway.  I had a little bit of discomfort last night right before I went to bed, but nothing that was unbearable in the slightest (I was able to fall asleep anyway).

So, I haven't really had to deal with any problems related to meat eating.  Again, the jerky was about as far as I've pushed it so far.  I really thought I would pay for yesterday (a bunch of french fries, 10 chicken nuggets, and some jerky!).  But, all was well.  I am really super surprised about it.  I really thought I would have some kind of sickness by now.  

I have noticed that my stomach feels heavier.  I'm not sure if that makes sense.  It's like I can feel the meat sitting in my stomach longer than normal.  I guess my body is digesting it much slower than my normal vegetarian food.  However, it doesn't really feel bad.  Just a little weird.  

I'm going to stick with chicken for at least another week (and not push my luck with any more red meat just yet).  If all is still going well, I may try to add some beef or pork to my diet (but still in very small portions!).  

This is it.

I decided to try eating meat.  Saturday, after Philip and I discussed it, I decided that I would eat a little bit on Sunday at our anniversary dinner (P.S. Happy anniversary to us!).  

Philip was supportive, but nervous for me.  He really didn't want me to get sick, and I think he thought I would have a breakdown.  He's so sweet.  :)

I decided that the worst that could happen is that I wouldn't like it or I would get sick.  I can always go back to being vegetarian if I decide that meat just isn't for me.  

So, on Saturday evening, I did some research as to the best method for starting to eat meat again.  I was surprised at the complete lack of help online!  I did manage to find one fairly helpful link: http://hubpages.com/hub/HowtoStopBeingaVegetarian.  

It suggested eating fish or chicken to start off because it's much lighter and easier on the digestive system.  It also suggested eating something that I liked before so that it would not be too traumatic.  Philip and I already had plans to go to the Cheesecake Factory.  I normally get the four cheese pasta (Mmmmm... delicious!), so I just got the four cheese pasta with chicken.  

For the first part of the meal, I just at the pasta and avoided the chicken.  Finally, I picked up the smallest piece of chicken in the dish and cut it in half (ha!).  And then I took a tiny bite of it.  It made me a little queezy.  It was mostly the texture that was the problem.  I haven't had to eat anything like that in a long time.  

After that bite, I went back to eating pasta for a little while.  Then I stuck a slightly larger piece of chicken on my fork.  It sat on the fork for a few minutes before I could get up the nerve to eat it.  It was a little better.  I actually tasted that bite.  Then I ate some more pasta and then ate one more bite of chicken.  

That was about all that I could handle on try one.  

Later that night, I did get a little indigestion, but nothing severe.  It was just a little uncomfortable.  A few hours later, I decided to heat up my leftovers.  I actually ate several bites of chicken.  I was watching some tv at the time, so I didn't think about it as much and it went much smoother.  It still felt odd, but not as much so.  

And, I didn't get sick from it.  :)

I'm supposed to gradually ease into eating meat.  The link I found suggests eating meat flavored things instead of just meat to get me started (things that include meat broths).  It is supposed to get my body slowly adjusted back to it.  However, I don't actually have any broths or anything at my house.  The only meat we have in the house are Philip's Italian sausages and hamburgers for when we grill out (I don't cook meat and the only cooking Philip does is grilling).  

So, this process will probably take a while.  I'm not really in any hurry though.  If I decide that I'm comfortable with this, I'll pick up some meat items when we go grocery shopping next.  I'm taking this one day at a time.  And, if I'm not comfortable with it, I'll just stop and go back to vegetarianism.

For now, here are a few things that I'm really looking forward to:

• Clam chowder
• Poptarts (they contain gelatin)
• Being able to eat something other than sides at veg-unfriendly restaurants
• McDonald's french fries (they put beef flavoring on them)
• Turkey and stuffing on holidays
• Not being a pain in my friends' asses (trying to find veg friendly restaurants can be tricky)
• Extra $$$ (vegetarian food -- fake meats -- can get expensive!)
• Enjoying my wedding meal and our ITALIAN honeymoon!  :)
• Chicken Marsala
• Chicken Stuff (a recipe of my own -- so delicious... even if the name is weird!)
• Taco Bell tacos and burritos.  Mmmmm!

There's so much I am looking forward to!  I guess we'll see if I make to to taste those items again!  

A Big Decision

I made a big decision on Saturday regarding my vegetarianism.  

For the past 2 months or so, I've been craving meat.  I haven't craved any meat since just a few months after becoming vegetarian.  Being vegetarian has never really been very difficult for me.  And, I've been at it for almost 4 years.  

I've been toying with the idea for a few months now.  I hadn't really said much to anyone because I was curious to see if I would change my mind.  Saturday, I mentioned it to Philip.  We talked about it.  He was worried that I felt pressured to eat meat.  Honestly, I don't.  Philip has always been nothing but supportive of my vegetarianism.  Even most of the people around me are supportive (even if they don't understand).  

It's actually quite the opposite.  I feel pressured to stay vegetarian.  This is for many reasons.  First of all, I've been doing this for so long that it feels like a part of me.  I am reluctant to give up part of my identity.  Also, after 4 years, it feels like I'm just quitting.  I am not a quitter, so it's hard for me to just stop.  

Besides pressure from myself, there is also pressure from other vegetarians.  Some of them are kind of mean about the lifestyle.  I don't want to disappoint.  I also fear a lot of the backlash from them.  

Next up, pressure from my own body.  I am a bit worried about getting sick from eating meat.  It's common for vegetarians to become ill when eating meat again (meat actually isn't good for your digestive system).  Before becoming vegetarian, I had IBS.  I haven't had any problems with it since cutting meat out of my diet.  I worry that it will come back (and that isn't something I look forward to).  

And, lastly, I still love animals.  A lot.  I am not sure that I can eat meat without thinking about what it is I am eating (and that it had a face and a personality at one point).  I'm not sure that I should be able to.  

So, what decision did I make?  

Home

It seems like a simple enough word.  Four letters.  One syllable.  Home.  It really shouldn't be complicated.

Well, mine is.  My family is in northern Indiana.  I lived there for the first 19 years of my life.  After that, it was on to North Carolina for college.  And, now I live in Colorado.  

That means that I am over 1,000 miles away from my family.  And, I'm about 1,600 miles away from some of my very best friends.  Sometimes I get incredibly homesick, for both my Indiana family and my North Carolina friends.  

My awkward sleep schedule, living so far away from work, and living in a very small town of families (Philip and I are the only couple without children in our neighborhood) hasn't been very conducive to making friends.  I have made a few really awesome friends, but it doesn't take away the homesickness.  

I am really close to my family.  And, my college buddies were the first true friends that I ever had.  They understood me and were there for me through some crazy stuff.  So, I'm just going to always miss them.

It may seem that a simple solution would be to move back to Indiana (or North Carolina).  It's not that easy.  I don't like Indiana.  The only reason I really go back to the state is because of my family (and the racetracks!).  Indiana has cornfields, cornfields, more cornfields, and some bean fields thrown in to add a little flavor.  It's also really humid (no me gusta).  I also spent a lot of my childhood and teen years feeling like a freak.  As I said earlier, I didn't have any real friends until college.  

Indiana has a lot of people who I'd just as soon forget exist: closed-minded, ignorant people.  While those people exist everywhere, I've found a whole lot less of them in Colorado.  

Colorado is also breathtakingly beautiful.  I have lived here almost a year and I still can't believe the awesome views I get on my way to work every morning.  The mountains are absolutely gorgeous.  

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Denver is an amazing city.  It's just a wonderful place to live.  

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I just wish I could transplant everyone I love to Colorado.  I'm sure they'd see what a wonderful place it is!  

More bin Laden ranting

I'm going to rant some more about the bin Laden news.  So, if you're not interested, you can stop reading now.  :)  

First, let's start on a slightly lighter note.  I've stated that I don't like the rejoicing in the death of a human being, but I did find this quite amusing:

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...because I think the birthers are absolutely nuts.  :)

Anywho, begin rant.  I watched Obama's speech last night regarding the killing of bin Laden.  I was not really very pleased with it (and I normally do like Obama's speeches).  A transcript of the speech can be found here.  I was with Obama through the 9/11 recap:

It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

 And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.

On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.

However, he lost me with the "I" part of the speech:

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. 

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.

I just think that this cheapens the whole speech.  It feels more like he's patting himself on the back than making an announcement.  I think it feels like a campaign ploy.  And I don't like it.  (There were more sections that were "I" heavy, but that's the worst part, I think)

Next up, the American people.  I think people are being a little nutty.  People are saying that they feel so much safer now that bin Laden is dead.  I don't get it!  I feel less safe!  I mean, think about it.  What would we do if Al Quaeda murdered our leader?  We would be more determined to destroy them (because even if you don't like Obama, you're not going to stand by and let terrorists murder him!).  

I really fear for our troops.  I think there will be tremendous backlash.  I really hope that the death of their leader will help destroy them, but I seriously have my doubts.  

While I am not completely pleased with everything, I will say that I am thrilled to see Americans coming together on something again.  It's heartbreaking to see our country so divided all the time.  At least there are some things that most everyone can come together to celebrate (even if it is really morbid).  

Bin Laden

By now, I'm sure that most of you have heard the news.  Osama Bin Laden has been killed.  

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42852700/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/01/usama-bin-laden-dead-say-sources/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13256676

While I am happy that a terrorist group has lost its leader, I am still somewhat saddened.  I know that Bin Laden was an absolutely terrible human being.  However, that does not make me want to rejoice in his death.  A celebration at the death of any human being makes me sick to my stomach.  

I'm torn at this moment.  I am happy that Al Quaeda will be (hopefully) shut down by the loss of their leader (although I think it's probably just as likely that they will amp up their efforts).  I still cannot find it within myself to rejoice in the death of another human being.