I Don’t Want To Do This (Part Two)

Yeah, I still don’t want to be doing this. Well… at best, I’m divided.

I know that this is good for me; I know that it will help with my immunity and my self-image, my exhaustion, my skin and my weight. This is good, this is good, this is good.

But that doesn’t make me not absolutely crave pop (specifically coca-cola), or fast food. I can taste it and I physically ache for it.

However, I’ve done it. 7 days.  Not amazing, but a start. 7 days without pop or fast food… well, actually, maybe it is amazing…

Day 1 (Saturday) – pretty strong cravings, but I kept busy with a breakfast date and a winter festival. Chose to not drink anything at Starbucks when all I really wanted was a Jones Soda; no point in having something else just for the sake of drinking something. I didn’t feel well in the evening which was probably good, because staying home = staying away from temptation (for the most part… Boston Pizza is across the street).

Day 2 (Sunday) – I felt like absolute crap and slept all day (quite literally); no temptation when all you can keep down is soup.

Day 3 (Monday) – work makes it tough sometimes because I’m incredibly busy and don’t necessarily have/make the time to sit down and eat. I packed a lunch, but picking something up is easier than finding a microwave… but I didn’t.  I found 15 minutes to sit and eat my lunch. Work also stresses me out right now (super hectic), which usually drives me to my addictions, but I made a sandwich and soup for dinner. Hurrah!

Day 4 (Tuesday) – made it through the day (including going to the movies) without fast food or pop. Sarah’s been great about checking everyday how I’m doing with this, and suggested we get our own (healthier) snacks. They were cheaper than pop and popcorn, and tasted better, too.

Day 5 (Wednesday) – been having headaches all week, but Day 5 brought the sort that makes you want to gouge out your eyes. Made it through another movie without pop and popcorn and stopped myself from drinking coca-cola even though I knew the caffeine would stop my withdrawal headache (I don’t drink coffee or tea). Also had dinner out with Bridget without drinking pop or eating anything too horrible for me (though the samosas started some heartburn issues, which I’ve never had before… heartburn that is, not samosas).

Day 6 (Thursday) – slight headache, but not as bad as Day 5 (I’m hoping these end soon). Another crazy work day, but again made time to sit and have lunch. Dealt with the scent of pizza for about 30 minutes, and turned down a bite. I had dinner at my parents, and my Dad bought me some ginger ale (sweet man), but I said “thanks” and had water instead, citing heartburn (which is real). No need to make him feel bad, but no need for me to give up to make him feel good.

Day 7 (Friday) – a bad headache again, maybe they have nothing to do with caffeine; perhaps I have a brain parasite? Anyhow, zero time for lunch, so I ate the orange slices and granola bar that I packed and tried not to even look at the places with drive-thrus as I drove around town. I obviously need to pack more utensil- and microwave-free things in my lunches. No plans tonight, which can reduce temptation in some ways, but increase it in others. I would usually use such a night to grab something delicious that was fried and covered in cheese, drink pop and then sit on the couch and watch a movie. Tonight, however, the plan is to pick up something at M&M Meats (easy to make, but better than take-out), clean my place (to make it easier to cook and pack lunches next week) and read graphic novels until I fall asleep. Maybe I’ll have a bath, too…

So, the headaches and general crap-feeling from my body readjusting to normalcy really suck, but I’m confident that they’ll go away (eventually). I’m falling asleep faster, without the caffeine, so that’s a positive. Also, I’m proud of myself at the end of the day, which feels… well, different. I’m going to keep going with this fast.

Having announced the commitment to do this earlier on The List II has really helped me stay accountable; I think I might make it a part of my personal blog… which will be my only blog now, since this is the last challenge I had to complete.

Proud of myself for doing this fast but incredibly scared of reverting,

Jennifer

Fairly Particular Cookery

I asked my Dad to teach me how to use a gun.

Not that I plan on using one in the near future; I just think that it would be a good skill to have. You know, just in case (of the end of civilization, of the need to life off the grid, of the need to make myself seem more useful in application to a commune, etc).

He said I’d have to wait until the summer, which did not work with the timeline of The List II.

Are people seeing a theme here? Building a shed in the wilderness, wanting to learn how to knit, learning how to make my own compass, desiring gun skills… what kind of future am I envisioning for myself?

Anyhow, along that self-sufficient-die-alone-in-the-middle-of-nowhere theme, I asked my mother to teach me how to preserve food through canning.

We picked a sweet recipe, got all the ingredients ready… and then an unexpected work thing came up for my mom, and I was basically on my own. Good thing I thoroughly read my book on preserving food.  Here’s hoping it actually worked; canning is ridiculous science. Proper ratios of ingredients, temperatures, times… fairly particular cookery.

The Recipe

Beginning to Cook

Two Pots Boiling

Concoction of Delicious

Processing

The (Almost) Finished Jars

I’ll have to wait a day to see if they sealed properly, and only a bit of time will tell whether everything went perfectly (or close enough).

“Yes, I spend my Thursdays canning chutney… why, what do you do?”

Jennifer

Because You Never Know

I was going to learn how to knit. I bought a book and everything. But then I read the book, and realized that knitting is ridiculously hard, and waited for inspiration to hit. The next thing I wanted to learn, well, here, you can learn it too:

Part One

1. On a sunny or semi-sunny day (shadows must be visible), shove a stick in the ground, straight up-and-down.
2. Every once in awhile, throughout the day, mark on the ground where the end of the shadow is. By the end of the day, you’ll have a semi-circle.
3. Find the point on that line that is closest to the stick (use some thread or a shoelace or something to do this).
4. Draw a line between the stick and that point, with a big arrow at the end.
5. You’ve found north. Congratulations!

Part Two

1. Take a needle, or another straight wire-type thing, and rub a silk thread or another piece of wire along it, in the same direction, about 100 times.
2. Put your needle on a leaf or piece of paper (or something else that is light and floats), and place it in some water.
3. Your needle should now orientate itself north/south. Remember which end is north (which you already figured out in Part One).
4. Use your needle and floating apparatus to continue to check for north (since humans typically end up walking in circles).

Disclaimer

This obviously only works if you’re somewhere that has water to float your compass, and wouldn’t work if you were say, in the desert. But why the deuce are you lost in the desert without a compass or transportation?  That’s just foolish of you, wouldn’t you say?

Jennifer