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!  :)

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.  ;)

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?  

I stand by my decision...

Today, I came across a blog written by a teacher about school lunches. It's called "Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project." Basically, this teacher eats school lunch every day. She takes pictures and describes the food... if you can even call it that. She insists that students need good, healthy food for lunch each day in order to be good students... and for them to learn how to eat well so that they will not have to fight obesity and other health issues.

I agree with her completely. I know how crappy I feel when I indulge in food that is not so great for me. And that food is at least tasty. I can't imagine how I would feel after eating disgusting food that is also not good for me.

Sometimes, she also brings up the fact that the schools are lacking in funding which means that they may have to get rid of some teachers. And that means increasing class sizes -- up to 40 students per classroom. CAN YOU FATHOM HAVING 40 KIDS IN ONE CLASS WITH ONE TEACHER?? I can't.

I worked in a middle school for about 3 years. I wasn't even a teacher. However, I did spend some time in the classrooms. The most I ever saw in a classroom was around 30. And those classes were INSANE. The teachers are at their wits' ends and the students are bored and attention-deprived and not learning. It is not pleasant for students or teachers.

All of this reinforces the fact that I will surely home-school my children. I want my children to learn. I don't want them to have to deal with the crap that public school puts them through. Philip and I were both gifted children who ended up just being bored in school. That is a waste. I don't want my children's talents to be wasted. I want them to be encouraged and pushed. Not bored and frustrated.

When my children reach a certain age, I will probably put them in a private school so that they can participate in school activities and gain an actual high school diploma, but I will make sure that they are going to a good school. And, I will make them take their own lunch. That way I can be sure of what they are eating. And, since my children will be vegetarian, I doubt that the schools will be making an effort to give them something they could eat anyway.

Christmas

First of all, I want to say that today is Cody's birthday. He turns 2 years old today. :)

Christmas was good. Our drive to Indiana went well. We ran into some heavy rain for about an hour, but other than that, no problems. We got there about 3:30 AM. It took about 10.5 hours. Not bad. There was snow on the ground when we got to my parent's house. It was covered with ice though, so we couldn't actually play in it. The next day there was an ice storm. Lots of accidents. My parents took us shopping and out to dinner at my favorite restaurant (the day after Christmas).

We went to see 2 movies. Yes Man and Seven Pounds. Both were pretty good. Other than that, we pretty much just lounged around. It was relaxing.

We opened one present when we arrived very early Christmas morning. Then we went to sleep for a few hours and then got up and opened presents. I got the Twilight Saga collector's edition box set, Edgar Sawtelle, and a beautiful, huge purple vase from Joe. I got a bunch of movies, books, candy (as if we need any... I still have the candy from Halloween!), games, and a Roku Netflix player from my parents and my sister. Joe got a toothbrush sanitizer, bongos, a rain stick (musical instrument), movies, candy, and a beard trimmer from my parents and sister. I got him the Absolute Batman Hush book, a tea infuser with loose tea (he's been on a tea kick lately and he thinks that the loose tea with the infuser is better than the bags), and a handheld sudoku game for his traveling (he likes to do Sudoku while on planes and while he's waiting).

While we were at my parents we also played Trivial Pursuit and Mad Gab. Trivial Pursuit or at least the edition we played, is much harder than I remember. They were a lot of really obscure questions! I had never played Mad Gab but it was a lot of fun. My mom is insanely good at it!

We had a good time, but it's good to be home. We sleep in the spare bedroom there and it's just a full size bed so it's smaller than we're used to and also, my parents keep their house a lot hotter than we keep ours so it was hard for us to sleep. My parents heat their house with a wood burning stove, so the air is really dry. I got laryngitis. I still can't really talk. I'm just glad that it's all I got. I haven't been sick in over two years. However, I forgot my vitamins and my parents don't drink much juice (no vitamin C) and I wasn't eating very well because my parents don't have a whole lot of vegetarian food on hand (they normally stock up when they know I'm coming, but it was a surprise, so no food for me!). And all of that combined with the dry air, my defenses were down. My nose and mouth were dried out so there was nothing to stop the cooties from coming in and then I wasn't taking very good care of myself, so my body didn't fight it well. I'm already getting better though, so I don't think it's going to go anywhere other than my throat. It didn't make it to my nose or my chest. Isn't that weird? I'm still going to insist that because I didn't get any worse than what I did, it's because I'm not poisoning my body with meat. :)

Well, it's back to work today. It's quiet though. We have the day off on Thursday for the New Year. Joe said we might only work a half day on Wednesday or have the day off on Friday if it stays slow. Unfortunately, we won't get paid for that, but a day off is a day off! And the way it's looking so far today (only one phone call all morning), we are likely going to have a day off. :)

Good News, Bad News...

I always like to start with the bad news.

I have always been a fan of Frosted Mini Wheats (the cereal). I recently found out that it has gelatin in it (for those of you who do not know, gelatin is made from crushed up animal bones and ligaments, etc. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin). Some vegetarians choose to still eat gelatin, or at least not go out of their way to avoid it. I am very firm in my vegetarianism. I don't eat anything which required an animal to be killed in order for that item to be made. So, gelatin is out.

I religiously check the ingredients in food to make sure that there is nothing in it that I can't eat. I have no idea how I missed it on the Frosted Mini Wheats ingredients this whole time. I'm guessing that I just thought I had checked it before and then never checked it again. So, I was a bit ill about that when I found out. And, now I will no longer be buying or eating Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats. :(

Also, Joe and I went to this Italian restaurant near where we live. I ordered a vegetarian dish. Several bites in, I thought I got a tiny bit of meat, probably sausage. I spit it out just in case, but I wasn't completely convinced that it was meat, especially since I had already eaten quite a bit and there had been nothing in it. I also didn't want to ruin the meal for Joe. Well, I took a few more bites and sure enough, I bit down on a piece of sausage. I almost threw up. Joe wanted to send it back and get me something else. I didn't want to cause any problems, so I didn't. Maybe I should have. I'm sure that someone just used the wrong spoon or something. I probably would have said something, but I forgot to tell the waitress beforehand that I was vegetarian (As I do quite a bit of the time to make sure there aren't any mistakes). If I would have told her when I ordered, then I would have sent it back and had them take it off of my check. So, that ruined that meal.

More bad news (but this leads to good news!), my parents are officially not coming down for Christmas. They told me that a few weeks ago. I was disappointed, but I am determined to spend Christmas with Joe. And, Joe has a tradition in his family of spending Christmas Eve at his Uncle Joe's house. For those of you that know Joe, you know that he doesn't have a whole lot of family left (that he likes/speaks to) and he certainly doesn't have any other real family traditions. So, I am not about to make him miss his only real tradition. Therefore, I would be spending Christmas with Joe and his family and without my family.

I wasn't moping about it so that Joe wouldn't feel guilty, but he apparently knew that I would be disappointed about it. So, he offered to pack up the boys and go to Indiana with me right after we finish at his Uncle Joe's house on Christmas Eve. That is usually done about 5:00ish, so when we finish there, we will pack the boys into the car and drive to Indiana (roughly 11 hours away). It will be a long night, but I will get to surprise my parents. :) I know that my mom will be especially heartbroken that I couldn't be there for Christmas, so she will be ecstatic when I show up on her porch at 4:00 in the morning on Christmas Day. :) I'm so excited!

Also good news, I re-read Twilight to get the ugly movie images out of my head. It's much better now. I started re-reading New Moon just for the fun of it and then I realized that I don't like the book as much because Edward leaves and Bella is heartbroken. That got me to thinking though... They're making a New Moon movie. The movie should have very little of Robert Pattinson in it. Therefore, the New Moon movie still has a chance of being decent. :) lol... anything to keep my hopes up!

Our house is a very, very, very fine house!

We had a frustrating first weekend. We spent a lot of time at Lowe’s but in the end, they didn’t have the kind of paint that we needed for the tile in the bathroom. Well, they did, but with the paint they had, it could only be tinted a very light color and we did not want to go with something that light. So, after all of that aggravation, Joe and I decided against painting that bathroom. Lol… I’m going to look around and see if we can find anything, but if I don’t find any paint that we can use, then there is nothing that we can do.

Paul Kitchen started on Friday and has almost all of the baseboard heating out of the house already. Luckily, the holes are in the walls and not the floor! :) So, that was good news. And they are just tiny holes in the wall. However, there were thermostats in each room for the baseboard heating and they came out leaving holes in the wall that have to be patched. :(

They will be back again today to finish demolishing the downstairs bathroom and to take out the rest of the baseboard heating units. I think the new A/C unit is being put in today as well.

Our doorbell started working! The inspector said that it didn’t work. Well, I pushed on it a few times and it didn’t work. Then a few minutes later, it rang. It scared me. It turns out that something was just stuck and it unstuck itself. Now it works perfect. :)

We cleaned a bunch. It was me and a crew of three men. :) Joe, Dan, and Philip. Lol… it was amusing to watch them scrubbing the walls because I don’t think they’d normally be doing that sort of thing. I got all of the caulk off of the tub in the upstairs bathroom. It was disgusting. Then, I tried to recaulk the tub. So far, it’s just a mess and I’m probably going to have to remove that caulk and try again. lol

The bathroom floor has stains in the grout. I’m still not finished in there. I couldn’t find a brush at Wal-Mart so I had to use a toothbrush to scrub it. That was working, but I wore out quickly. Joe went last night and got be a good scrub brush, but I was busy playing with the caulk at that point and then we went back to Gastonia. So, the floor in the bathroom still has grout stains over ¾ of the floor. Joe doesn’t want to go back over there tonight. I’d like to go back over and get more done! I understand that he needs a break though.

I found places where the wallpaper is peeling. I pulled and it came up easily. I think that we may be able to get it off there!! :)

My mom comes in on Wednesday to help me do the painting and the other stuff. She'll be here until the following Wednesday. It turns out that my ex-boyfriend and his parents will be in town at the same time. His parents have asked if we could go out to dinner on Sunday, so I'm hoping that they don't mean with Michael and his girlfriend. That could be uncomfortable. I'm not even sure they'd be comfortable this way (especially if Joe goes with me). And, they invited us to dinner at a Barbecue place. I checked out the menu. Not Veg friendly. So, I'm probably going to have to pass on that unless they don't have their hearts set on that restaurant.

The dogs were with us at the house in Shelby all weekend. They seem to really like it. It's quieter so Jippy seems to be quieter. Not as much to bark at, I guess. And that is awesome. Speaking of Jippy, he went in to be neutered today. He will be neutered between 12:00 and 3:00. He has to spend the night at the vet. It will be the first night that he's not spent at home or with us since he's been with us. I hope that he won't be too traumatized.

Oh! and Joe admitted that he'd probably miss Jippy if he were gone. It's a huge step. Joe has had a lot of trouble getting attached to Jippy and Daly. He's still not close to admitting love for Daly, but I have high hopes. They're doing well now, so it's easier to love them. Daly is still such a needy puppy that Joe gets annoyed with her. And Jippy isn't the smartest dog (Jack and Cody are really smart), so Joe has had trouble bonding with him. But, Jippy tries really hard to be a good boy (and Daly is a brat!), so Joe is getting closer. :)

Also, while we were in Shelby this weekend, we ate (again) at this awesome Mexican Restaurant. It's called Mi Pueblito. It's got a vegetarian section on the menu! :) And it's absolutely delicious, and FAST. It's a wonderful place, and should you ever find yourself in Shelby, North Carolina, I highly recommend it! :)

Vacation...

Well, I got back from Indiana today. I had a wonderful time. I wanted to blog multiple times, but my parents only have dial-up internet and it wouldn't work right (they live in BFE, so they can't get high speed).

My family was wonderful. We went to the Blueberry Festival (my hometown's annual Labor Day festival), to the racetrack, shopping, eating, vegging out, and plenty more. It was quite splendiferous. :)

I watched the second season of Dexter while I was there. I was disappointed through much of it, but all's well that ends well, I guess.

Jack came with me. The other boys stayed with Joe. My mom loves Jack. She is one grandma who definitely plays favorites. I met my mom's new dog. He's sweet. He's the one who was temporarily paralyzed. A bit annoying at times, but he seems to be good natured. However, he's not the cutest dog... I said goodbye to my old dog, Magic. She died in June, but I hadn't been back to Indiana since May, so it was strange to be there without her. I was okay for the most part, but when I was playing with my parents other boxer, Tank, I started to miss her. He reminds me a lot of her.

I made my family vegetarian lasagna. They liked it. Even though my dad was extremely surprised that he did. :) He thinks that anything vegetarian has to be gross. He's a freak like that. :)