Taking a break from writing

I'm writing away and writing away and getting more and more irritated by my characters. Then I looked at the clock and realized it was after 2pm and I hadn't eaten lunch yet. Whoops LOL. So I've stopped for a bit of a break. For lunch I mashed up chickpeas with a lime (juice and zest), dill, garlic, red pepper flakes, and McCormick's salt free table seasonings. Then I made a wrap with the chickpeas and light cream cheese. I'm also having a salad of mixed greens and blueberries and a handful of cashews.

I hate writing conversations by the way. In real life people just talk. In real life we already know who's smiling and who walked over and sat down. It's frustrating to try and get a conversation flowing while adding "she said" and "he replied" and "so-and-so fidgeted" and "whats-his-face stretched". I'm not a great conversationalist at the best of times. Maybe next time I'll write a novel about mimes LOL.

I've got the apartment totally to myself this weekend and it's quiet, really quiet. It feels weird to be blogging right now because I've got no idea what I'm doing this afternoon other than writing. Maybe I'll go for a walk if it's not raining... and if I don't suddenly look up from writing to realize it's dinner LOL.

And I'm back to hammering out other people's conversations...

Blogging along...

Yesterday was busy. I worked from 6:30am to just after 2pm. This included wielding a call from the dentist. She was not, as I first presumed, calling to charge my son rent. He'd shown up just before 10:30am for a noon appointment... explaining to me that he simply didn't want to be late. No, she was calling because he'd suddenly developed a phobia of needles, specifically dentist needles, while in the dentist's chair... for a filling. I can honestly say that life is never boring.

I raced to the soccer field directly from work to watch my son play for a few minutes. Then I hurried home and got changed from my work uniform into my rally clothes. The company I work for was having a rally for all it's staff, from stores all over this part of Ontario. I was the one wearing a bright orange t-shirt with a disco ball on the front and a shiny metallic wig. Okay (thankfully) I was one of about 40 in that outfit. It was loud, busy, cheesy and fun. The person who walked into the room directly in front of me won a brand new ipod Nano (I won nothing LOL). I danced on my chair... I danced on the stage. I figure I got some good cardio in there.

We all went out for dinner at the Mandarin. It's a Chinese buffet restaurant and I *think* I ate pretty well there. It's hard when you're faced with table after table of foods, and even harder when you're hungry. But I started off with a plate full of salads and vegetables then went back and had my favourite noodles and a slice of bread... and finally went back with a side plate for dessert.

Today was a lot more quiet. I had a pounding headache by bedtime so ended up sleeping in this morning. Then I exercised with the Wii My Fitness Coach. For lunch I had this salad. I marinated tomatoes, peppers, onions and chickpeas in balsamic vinegar, dill, and garlic then tossed them with baby greens, light salad dressing, dill, red pepper flakes, and a tablespoon of hemp oil. It was yummy and filling! I had a fresh Ontario peach for dessert too :o)

After lunch I caught the bus and went one town over to go for a walk. It was so peaceful, I love walking under the trees, listening to the rustling leaves and hearing the birds singing. There were flowers blooming in the sunny patches and I saw a woodpecker. Cheeky little guy was knocking holes in a tree right beside the path at waist height. The trail meanders along, crossing back and forth over the same creek.

Tomorrow I'm baking banana muffins. I've got almost a full chocolate bar of 90% cocoa. I'm going to melt it down and add it to the batter to give it a bit of flavour. It should be yummy!

A fresh start

That's one of the nice things about life; every day is an opportunity for a fresh start.

We had a huge heatwave and exercise just fell by the wayside. Or more accurately, it melted into a puddle on the floor. Then we went camping, which was great but we brought my son's friend along with us and I went out of my way to pack food I thought the kid would eat (seeing as he was literally panicking about eating "weird vegetarian food"). So away we went with zoodles, potato chips, macaroni and cheese etc.

But today's a fresh start. I picked up a bunch of healthy and natural foods. I've got quinoa simmering on the stove for a chickpea and quinoa salad and I'm currently noshing on a bowl of fresh blueberries. And tonight I'm back to the Y for a half-hour on the elliptical. I'm still a bit stiff from Monday, I went to the Y for two hours and attended an hour long Bars and Plates class and an hour long Yoga class.

I picked up a bar of dark chocolate with 90% cocoa and think that's about 10% too much cocoa for me. I think I'll break it into bits and add it to my banana muffins next time I make them. Then go back to 80% cocoa.

And last week I picked up a bottle of hemp oil and a container of Vitamin D tablets. Someone on a forum I frequent commented that a lack of Vitamin D is linked to weight gain and difficulty losing weight and I found several articles that back this up: Link Between Successful Weight Loss And Vitamin D Levels. So I'm adding a tablespoon of hemp oil a day to salad dressing (for essential fatty acids) and taking a Vitamin D tablet in the morning with breakfast.