Second Blog Post, Day 3 of 365

Hello! Day 2 of my blog experiment. (Had to skip yesterday as it was Sunday and both of my local libraries are closed on Sundays in August, and we don't have internet at home). Here's a picture of one of my local libraries. Would you look at that fireplace, the arching doorways, the old desks and their hallmark green lamps?

But I am super excited about this blog. For my web wizard friends, this may seem silly to get excited about, but I am far from being a wizard with computers, barely even computer literate, so this Blogger website is very user-friendly. Just before we got kicked out of the library on Saturday, I figured out how to put a hyperlink within my post (see the Julie and Julia link) that will navigate you to the movie's website, but when you close the window it will bring you back to this blog! How cool is that?!!

But I am getting ahead of myself....first thing's first...

Projecto Numero Uno - Learn Spanish! I found a super cool website that will teach you Spanish for free and it is super interactive and high quality. It is published by the BBC (not sure why the BBC is into teaching foreign languages for free on the web, but who am I to question their goodwill!) The website translates into My Crazy Life, and you can access it through Mi Vida Loca. (Yay!! It looks like I made another successful embedded link here!! That is so cool!!) You will definitely need HIGH SPEED internet to proceed through their sessions as it is loaded with videos and other interactive media. I can't imagine finding a better website for my needs (beginner Spanish), but if you know of any others or have other study suggestions please send them to me. Oh, and it looks to me like the "post a comment" is available at the bottom of the blogpage, so you don't need to send them to poodlewagner@gmail.com afterall, but you still can if you prefer. All of this is in preparation for this winter's trip to Argentina.

#2. 10/d = Eat 10 fruits and veggies a day. Hmmm. Well this one hasn't been quite as exciting, or successful, I fear, as my first project. I came up with a list of what constitutes a serving - and to keep it simple I basically consider one medium sized sample of each particular fruit or veggie a single serving. Not too scientific, I know, but simple. Here is a picture of a vegan veggie pizza I made the other day. I have never made pizza dough from scratch before and this turned out so yummy!!
I can't remember the recipe for the dough but it was super easy, especially since I used my 11 cup food processor to mix it up. The sauce was about 1.5 tablespoons of tomato paste, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, and 2 tsp of agave syrup, but only used about 1 tbs of the total sauce. The toppings were diced tomatoes, fresh basil, minced garlic, and fresh mushrooms. Ohhh sooo gooood!

Dinner last night was a huge salad, that had to be at least 5 servings for fruits and veggies. It had baby spinach (maybe 3 cups!), cilantro, Italian parsley, cucumber rounds, minced shallot, chopped sundried-marinated tomatoes, capers, fresh dill, fresh basil, raw pine nuts, and balsamic vinegar for the dressing. That was pretty good too. I drank about 3 cups of locally grown apple juice, so maybe that was pretty close to 10 servings of fnv's (shorthand for fruits and vegetables) afterall. I thought I had missed the mark by half. Obviously, writing down what you eat is a good way to keep track more accurately, than by "feel."

#3. Uh-oh, this is getting too big, isn't it? I couldn't remember what my third project was, so I had to review the first blog entry and then I got sort of lost in the editing/posting/viewing of this blog and had a little anxiety until I found my way back to the editing page. Phwew, I thought I lost all of the photos I posted already. The cumbersome size not forgotten, the third project is repairing the damage to our house. We got quite a bit done this past weekend. We met with the contractor, paid the first third of the balance due so that he can get the permits from the township and get started. Finally, I'm getting excited about this project now that it is finally getting up and going. Ask me if I am still excited come January 15, 2010 when it supposed to be all done. I have already looked at more kitchen cabinets and countertop samples than should legally be allowed to exist. When I have more time I will post the damaged house photos and try to update with frequent pix of the repair process.

#4. Exercise regulary and stay injury free (or something like that). Check!!

Saturday - ran 5k on the treadmill and taught a yoga class as a last minute sub. The instructor was there, but acutely overcome with an illness and asked me to sub the class for her. I enjoyed it, I just hope the students did!

Sunday - ran a 2.5 mile loop around the house, on the sidewalk. Not my favorite running surface, but my favorite running place is off limits now that a woman was brutally beaten and raped at my favorite park a couple of weeks ago, during daylight hours, with lots of people using the trail. Scarey! And god dam wrong.

Monday - ran the 4 mile Hill Loop around the house, on the sidewalk/streets. Again, not my favorite surface, but I knew I had the energy today and it wasn't too hot or humid this am, so why not? Then I took an hours yoga class at the gym. Perfect way to end a run - with an hour's stretch and relaxation.

#5. Keep this blog going and current for a year. Part of the reason why I wanted to learn how to create a blog, (well, in addition to the dream of becoming like Julie in "Julie and Julia"), was because I think it is important to stay as current as possible with technology. And not being a fan of the twitter or myspace or that other social networking site that my neices tell me is for "old people" - I thought a blog might actually have some use to it. Other than teaching yoga part time, treating animals with acupuncture in their homes, and receiving royalty checks for a textbook I wrote a few years ago, I do not have a full time job. Which leads me to a few more projects. And I will try to keep it closer to 800 words...

#6. Take care of Poopers. Who is Poopers? As an animal person you may suspect it is one of my pets, but it is actually my husband. And as he is really very shy and wants to remain anonymous in this public posting blog, therefore he shall be known by all the public as Poopers. But poor Poopers just had some major orthopedic surgery and according to the surgeon there was some nerve damage during the surgery and for now he can't contract the quads on his right leg. Going from a 3:02 marathoner, to someone who can't walk without crutches 3 weeks post-op, much less run after a surgery that was supposed to help him run again, he is very depressed and upset. Unfortunately it looks like he will require more than the expected recovery time for the type of surgery he had. And he will need lots of TLC. I will pass on any well wishes you send.

#7. Find a full time job.

If you read this, and happened to read this far, please let me know and please post to my comments!!!