Day eighteen

Breakfast: Puffins with soy milk; gluten-free toast with sugar-free blueberry jam
Brunch: Oatmeal with raisins and soy milk
Starbucks: Decaf, sugar-free, iced vanilla soy latte
Dinner: Butternut squash risotto; salad; popsicle

Today I met the inimitable Erin and Mandy at Cabazon. We spent quite a while at Starbucks just chatting; I mostly grilled Erin about genetics (about which I'm [not quite inexplicably--though it might take a while] reading for my upcoming exams), and she clearly and thoughtfully explained all about DNA and genes and transcription. She knew the material and mechanisms so well, as I explained it to my dad later, that it was like having someone studying calculus explain addition. How great is that?

None of us is much of a shopper, but somehow we did the entire circuit of outlets, and all ended up with a bunch of great stuff. They put in a Banana Republic outlet just last month, and everything there was 40% off. I got a pair of jeans, a pair of slacks, two tops, and a jacket, for $153. Elsewhere, I found a pair of brown flats, argyle socks, a teal button-down sweater, and a sun dress (J. Crew! $24!). I don't remember the last time I bought so many clothes. It was nice to be able to stock up, though, and at such good prices. It's probably too much to hope for not to teach sections next semester, but at least if I do now, I'll have something to wear.

Afterward, we sat around and talked some more. I babbled about my "research," which (thanks to the friends who ask me about it and nod encouragingly when I try to make sense out of the different things I've been studying and want to explore) is starting to take a bit more shape in my mind. Mandy spoke much more elegantly and coherently about therapy and life.

I came home exhausted but glowing. "I like those girls so much!" I exclaimed to my mom. "Ahhh, blog friends," she responded. It's kind of funny to me that they are "blog friends," and that if we didn't have our blogs, we wouldn't know each other. It's more than that, though. Through this whole weird blogosphere-deal, I've met two thoughtful, intelligent women, who can discuss the implications and ethics of eugenics, and then help me pick out which color of top looks best.

I have my doubts about Internet dating (although I know I shouldn't knock it till I've tried it, et cetera), but Internet quality-friend-finding? Yes please.

Day seventeen

Brunch: Waffles with peanut butter and applesauce
Late lunch: Butternut squash risotto; salad; sugar-free popsicle

I ended up spending a lot of the day sleeping, which I guess cut down on the eating.

This thing is over after Wednesday!

Days 15 & 16

Day 15
Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins and soy milk; nectarine
Snack: Apple and peanut butter
Lunch: Vegetable-tofu curry; grapes
Snack: Apple and peanut butter
Dinner: Pasta salad; cherries
Later, at the street festival: Sugar-free (strawberry and pina colada) shave ice

Day 16
Breakfast: Puffins with soy milk; gluten-free toast with sugar-free blueberry spread; cherries
Lunch: "Haystacks" (Mine were black beans, brown rice, chopped greens, black olives, and salsa on Fritos)*
Dinner: Roasted butternut squash risotto; dressed mixed greens with toasted pecans and grapes; cherries

Friday Favorite
There is this little place in downtown Palm Springs, on Palm Canyon just south of Amado, that I love. It's where my brother bought me that bead necklace for "like, a buck," and where yesterday I found this fabulous ring ($5, because it was "old sterling") and necklace ($4, because when she rubbed it, it didn't smell like formaldehyde, which I learned is the tell-tale sign of Bakelite. If it had been Bakelite, it would have been expensive; as it is, it only looks like it, and was cheap!):
I don't know what the store is called, but I do know that the woman who seems to co-own it is named Mindy and that her daughter is April. In fact, last night, she remembered me from the last time I'd been in, saying, "You have a sister named April, right?" I whole-heartedly recommend checking it out if you're ever in town.

Finally, the Fourth
Independence Day doesn't tend to be one of those sentimental holidays for many people. But I remember the first one, eating popsicles and catching fireflies on my front porch before biking to see the fireworks; the next one, where he got a ticket at the last minute and flew to Columbus the night of the Fourth--we missed the fireworks, but had a nice little picnic on a floating dock before driving the hours back to BG; and the one after that, where we climbed the hill behind my parents' house and watched four cities' fireworks displays from the top of the world. I think he used to think it was silly the way I would remember those things.

Sometimes I think forgetting would be easier.


*As Mandy has said, it's cultural. Plenty of my "non-card-carrying" friends are still all about the haystack.

Day fourteen

Breakfast: Puffins and soy milk
Snack: Cantaloupe
Lunch: Vegetable-tofu curry; nectarine; pistachios
Snack: Apples and peanut butter
Dinner: Brown rice pasta salad; cantaloupe

So today ended the second week, and quite honestly, I'm feeling pretty over this whole cleanse. For one thing, although it's not too far from my usual fare, I'm getting a little bored with my meal options. For another, despite all my eating, I'm hungry much of the time. (If I didn't have to do all this reading, I could eat all day long, but as it is, it's rather disruptive. Also, I'm trying to keep weight instead of lose it, and so hungry isn't how I want to feel.)

Then there's the fact that I'm not feeling all that great. Once again, it could be anything from the usual list--reading all day, being inside all day, feeling stressed about my exams and life, the heat, the early morning workouts, the not running--and not a direct effect of the cleanse, but I've been feeling tired, headache-y, and depressed instead of cleansed and energetic. For a while I thought my skin was doing better, but then my face broke out again.

Maybe it's like running, where two miles are hard, but three feel great?

Day thirteen

Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins and soy milk
Snack: Apples and peanut butter
Lunch: Taco soup (the last of it!) with corn chips; nectarine
Snack: Dates and almonds
Dinner: Vegetable-tofu curry (tomato/garbanzo/zucchini/carrot) on brown rice; cantaloupe

Also, I drank Gatorade, for the first time since the cleanse started. We did The Butt-Kicking Workout today (we alternate days), and I decided I needed some Gatorade afterward. I don't know if it's exactly Elixir of Life, but it certainly made me feel better. I wasn't able to skip my morning nap (I don't know if it's the heat or the working out or the studying or the cleanse or what, but I've been finding it hard to keep my eyes open), but was much more productive all day long.

Is it the electrolytes? The sugars? The blue food coloring? The fact that I've been wheat-, animal product-, caffeine-, alcohol-, and sugar-free for nearly two weeks? I do not know. But I'm going to keep drinking it.