The Water Challenge

So, I was visiting my Aunt last month, and she tells me all about her new health improvements. She is seeing a good doctor and also had a few visits with a Naturopathic doctor. Between the two, she has figured out (along with some other clues from our family) that there are many MANY things taxing our immune system. One of the courses of action, is to cleanse the body from the sugar overload that our North American diet encourages. The first challenge... a week of just water. And the amount is 3-4 Litres per day.

I am talking strictly beverage wise (what choices I made to eat would still be the same). No coffee, tea, juice, pop, sugar free of any of those, nothing artificially sweetened, nothing at all...but plain old H2O. If you are a milk drinker, that could be a problem...as milk is also a protein and therefore also a 'food'. I didn't have to worry. I only had cereal 3 times in 7 days, and I don't drink milk as a beverage.

You need to understand though, how much pop I drink usually. It's embarrassing really... I remember watching a show once, on how people were changing their diets etc, and how much bottled pop this one guy drank in an average day. I remember thinking, "WOW, I never drink that much!"...interesting how 5 years later, guess what - I am worse than he was. And that is just pop. Never mind how much water I DIDN'T drink! A few days would go by where my only source of liquid was pop, ice tea, regular tea or juice.

I am tired all the time, I  have trouble concentrating now more than ever, and I have so many food sensitivities, I wouldn't know where to begin on what I should eat to feel better. So, on the cue of my Aunt, I tried the same thing. 7 days with nothing but water as my beverage...you have GOT to be kidding me...

Day 1

Today was spent trying NOT to grab for a pop, tea, milk, juice, ANYTHING that wasn't water. It's just habit! I don't know if I even drank a litre of water that day.

Day 2

Today was the headache day. The problem is, I don't know if it was sugar related or caffeine withdrawal, since it was probably that I was dehydrated! Today was not pleasant. And I was at work to boot...again, I don't know if I made it to 2 Litres for that day. Spent the day again trying not to grab for things I shouldn't. My taste buds just wanted something else!

Day 3

Today was a bit better. The headache was gone (and that was a lot faster than about 10 years ago when I did a cleanse. That headache was about 3 days long!). The other notable thing was that I was no longer bloated, or felt like constantly passing gas. I was having to 'p' a lot more, and it was NOT a pleasant color! Still having trouble getting more than 1 1/2 Litres into me.

Day 4

Still hard to not reach for something else to drink. My taste buds are board. Mom and I did some errands and I had to remember to bring my water bottles with me so I wouldn't be tempted when I went out somewhere. My mind felt a bit clearer today too. Drank 2 Litres today!

Day 5

Starting to feel a little bit more energy. And I notice that my ankles aren't retaining water like they usually do. Still sort of puffy, but NOTHING like they were. I noticed I slept better last night. More relaxed. Still didn't exceed the 2 Litre mark. My skin is starting to clear a bit too.

Day 6

Hand another good sleep, though not nearly long enough. I think maybe I caught a cold, but I don't know. I haven't felt this alert or energetic in a LONG time, and at the same time, parts of me were aching today...like the kind when you had growing pains in your limbs as a child? Or flu ish...Very odd to be awake, alert, and wanting to do something, and not having some parts of your body comply. I still feel hopeful. It seems today was the day my natural thirst for water returned. I WANTED water!

Day 7

Small set back but HUGE revelation. I ate pasta last night. And right away, the bloating came back, pain in the stomach and TIRED!...blah! But, my 'p' color is now clear, my sleeps are more restful (if I could just make sure I allow enough time to get enough sleep!), I usually feel more alert and more energy, and food sensitivities seem more apparent.


So this was a successful experiment in my mind. While I never made it up to the 3-4 Litres of water a day, I know I eventually will. And I know it also takes 31 days to form a new habit. With summer around the corner, and being hot will help me want water even more, I feel hope. I am going to continue until 31 days has past, choosing water more often then anything else. I am allowing one non-water beverage a day. Either one cup of pop, one cup of juice, one cup of tea, OR one cup of coffee a day. I may opt to not have anything but water. But I will make water my first choice.

There is so much I am leaving out since I am just not up to typing it all out. So much of the literature I read that my Aunt was given before she started this. How GOOD water is for you! (shouldn't everyone know that?) How much you getting the right liquid in your body helps your liver (not to mention every other part of your bodily functions!) That drinking water helps you lose weight? Helps your thyroid cool you down...helps your joints to have enough fluid between them so that when you go and visit the chiropractor, it's actually easier to move you into the correct positions to correct what is out of place? (and I experienced that last one first hand more times that I can count!). There is so much....

I will do my best to update on the progress I note as I continue this... I am fast approaching the end of week 2, with better beverage choices. Start small. Don't change everything about your diet right away (unless of course your doc tells you too!). Make slower, more manageable choices that can stick. If you overwhelm yourself right away, you will set yourself up to miss step, fail, and get discouraged. That is how I have been for the last 10 years. Time to change. The only person not living my life to the fullest - is me.

The Peanut Diaries - Part 2

Day 2, Saturday, Sept 24, 2011

Time to Explore

So today I woke up tothe sound of the crashing surf. What a view from my room! Did I mention thatthis is the suite I wanted? Ahh J I madebreakfast and proceeded to set off the smoke detector. Apparently it doesn’tlike toast, even unburnt toast. I made myself a cup of tea, and got ready to go out. Now here is where I made a rookie mistake. You don’t have a shower, getready with the clothes you are going to be in all day, and then go down andbeachcomb! I didn’t get that wet or dirty, but I should know better.

I found a few interesting shells on the beach,nothing majorly interesting. There was Bull Kelp everywhere. I still shudderthinking about it. In grade 7, my class went on a weekend camping trip to SaltSpring Island. There was lots of that kelp everywhere and one of my classmatespicked up a HUGE length of it and started swinging it about. Like a whip, itcame around and smacked me squarely in the back of my calves. I wasn’t standingclose to her either. I had those marks for at least 2 weeks after. Man did thatsting!

I came back to my cabin,changed, and left to go exploring. There is a small little shopping area(plaza?) just down the street from where I am staying. Beaches Grocery is thesmallest grocery store for campers and vacationers I have ever seen. My cabinmight be bigger! So cute though and fun just to say I have been in there. Andthe funny thing is how much they pack in that place. There are lots of thingsyou wouldn’t think they would have, and do! Then around the corner is ChocolateTofino. All handmade, local chocolates and gelato ice cream. Once I was donethere, I left for town.

Tofino really isn’t a big town. I just parkedin the middle and walked in a big circle. There are lots of cute shops, and youcan tell this is a fishing tourist town. If it’s not talking about surfing orfishing, it’s about relaxation and Zen or the native equivalent. There iswireless internet everywhere to keep you connected, and the cutest places toeat. The thing that lets me know I am in a small town; there are no trafficlights. Oh there are one or two flashing four way stop lights, but no actualtime changing green, yellow, and red lights. I don’t think I had seen one sincePort Alberni nearly 2 hours away!

I strolled around,ducked into the main grocery store The Co-Op, The Common Loaf Bakery, TreeHouse Gifts, and The Mermaid Tales Book Store…to name a few. I began to noticesigns that there is going to be a planned power outage on Monday, for Hydro todo upgrades. Fabulous! And it’s up and down the coastal section I am in, somany businesses won’t be open on Monday, my last full day here. My last stopbefore breaking for a really late lunch is Jamie’s Whaling Station, to book myWhale Watching Tour. Now they tell me that they are planning a trip on Sunday,but may have to cancel due to weather! Apparently a storm is coming in! Ohwell, we shall see.

There are so manydifferent people here. There are the transient surfers, who look like the Atypical international backpacker who floated in on their surf boards, and thereare the international explorers, many couples from Germany and Australia. Lastbut not least, you mix in the locals and tourists from within Canada and thatis the population mixed bag

So I head back to mycabin (did I mention it’s cute?) and make lunch. After resting just a bit Ihead the other direction to Ucluelet. Seriously, another cute town. And again,no traffic lights. Gotta love it. I spot a lot of very cute stores there aswell. On my way back, I stop at Incinerator Rock, one of the many access pointsto Long Beach. The waves are gigantic and the sky is brooding. Off in thedistance a large dark gray mass of clouds are heading right for us. And theWIND is so strong and loud, someone could be standing 10 feet from me yellingand I would probably not even hear them. I was quite a ways off from the water,but I still felt like the swells could come and get me.

So I head back to mycabin to make a late dinner. I fill the room with the scent of my fajitas,which I think I make pretty well! The storm has just about hit, the rain ishitting my little cabin sideways, and there is lots of it! Next you can hearthe water begin to surge and pound the shore line. Then comes the thunder andlightning, loud and right above us. Too bad you just never know when it willhit since the lightening lights up the sky enough to actually see the waves.What a picture that would be!

The storm ragesoutside, while I am inside, enjoying dinner and watching a movie on my laptop.I don’t think I am going to be here as long as I want to… I need to come backsometime soon…

The Peanut Diaries

This is my daily journal of my selfish vacation. Actually, I have never gone anywhere like this before by myself and it's only because of my grandpa that I can do this. Thank you Grandpa!

At first this trip was supposed to be about 2 nights, in a cabin 20 minutes from my house. It ended up being 4 nights in a cabin, 2 nights in a hotel 6 hours from my house on Vancouver Island. I am not sure exactly how that happened, but I am glad it did. Most people don't travel because of cost, and if they do, it's better to take 2 or more people with you since you are spending the money anyway! But I was heading out on my own for  ME trip. I am well beyond the age where I am qualified to do this on my own - plan and execute. I still feel excited, like a young child, just starting out on my own adventure.

Day 1, Friday, Sept 23/2011

Orinoco Flow

This day did not start out the way I wanted. In a perfect world, I was supposed to leave super early. I wanted to be on the ferry when the sun came up. In a perfect world I would have been packed fully and my all my reservations be fully taken care of. In a perfect world, I would have gotten more that 4 hours sleep... This is not a perfect world.

At least my trip started. When I finally got on the ferry, I went directly to the most upper observation deck. The wind blowing was warm. I still can't get over how many people insist on staying inside! Do they take this ferry all the time? Anyway, I stalked my spot where I could get the best look at the side of the islands I have never seen. After all the rain we had just had, who knew the sun would peek it's head out of the clouds so strongly? Still, we are heading into the rain clouds. I can see them coming in the distance. I even see what looks like a patch of fog, hugging the coastline of one of the islands we are passing. Being up on the top deck and the clouds being so low, I feel like I can touch them as they pass. I know my camera wouldn't do them justice.

The wind is warm, like a Chinook. I can handle many kinds of winds, but even the perpetually 'cold ones' as I call them would be okay in this. I can almost hear Enya singing Orinoco Flow in my head. Who would spend a 2 hour journey inside unless they had work to do, were unwell or just plain ungrateful for the buffet of nature to look at.

And just as the clouds take over the sun so I no longer need to squint, and we pass through a pod of seals, swimming quite close to the ferry. Cute little black Loch Ness type heads in the water - until I spotted a flipper in the air. The wind is really blowing hard and changing the cloud formations - and with it, the rain patterns falling. Seriously, I live in one of the rainiest climates in North America and I am wanting to take pictures of RAIN?? It's not just the rain though, it's the open water, wind blowing through your everything, the hum of the ship and the sound of the waves it's creating, the seagulls...it's lovely.

It's lightly misting now, I think we must be getting close to Naniamo. The clouds now look like 'the Nothing' is coming to get us, and I should be able to look over at an island and see the Rock Eater there... We just passed seal pod #2... a gentleman came over to tell me that there was a double rainbow on the other side of the ship. As I wander over (you should see my Sea walk), the rainbow is rapidly fading, but I got the idea. And now it's time to get back into our cars.

As I pull off the ferry at 5:20pm, it occurs to me that I 'know' where I am going, but I don't have any road maps at all. I sure hope the signs get me there! I stop in Naniamo to get some groceries, then keep following the signs to Port Alberni. The road there makes me feel like "Where in heavens name am I going? I get into P.Alberni as it gets dark. I find a pay phone and call my parents to let them know I am alive, and then find the last Tim Horton's before I leave. The line up is stupidly long. Doesn't matter where you go, Tim's always gets the lines...

With coffee and doughnut in had, I set off. I know this road is amazing and the scenery fantastic, but I don't see anything. Nothing but rainy mist, fog, and the bright lights of the truck following me in my rear view mirror. As the road progresses I am seeing now why I wouldn't ever want to be on this thing in the winter. In fact, I don't want to be on it now! The turns, the steep hills...the turns....good grief! And my brakes failing on this one hill and nearly hitting someone, that was special! :-( That road took forever...pulled into my resort at 9:40pm. Dark dark dark, but I could still hear the pounding ocean surf. Since I am checking in after hours, I find the key to my cabin and instructions in an envelope with my name, thumb tacked up on this board outside the office door. Thankfully, there are about 7 other people who were obviously late getting there too. My cabin is so CUTE! Everything in it, my hideyhole for the next 4ish days. And it's right where I would have wanted it when I looked at the website. Nice view, and lower suite. I unpack as fast as I can and head to bed...this is not going to be a long enough trip!

ReTALE

Working retail has so many advantages. You have the opportunity to see a huge range of human behavior and interaction with people. You have an amazing cocktail of potential issues to choose from. People's personality, expectation of product performance, expectation of clerk performance, the weather outside, whether or not the shopper was fighting with children or spouse that morning, if someone cut them off in traffic, if the moon is full.... Mix in with that products and services, some of which go well, and some go horribly wrong.

I wish I was joking. Over the years I've observed many, many "You have GOT to be KIDDING!" moments at work. I have spiced up many a dinner table conversation with some of the stories I picked up at work. I was even told I should write a book. Oh the volumes I could fill... The thing is, people often ask things or answer, without thinking. It reminds me of when I was in Elementary School and asked the teacher "Can I go to the bathroom?". They would always respond "I don't know, can you?" then the correction came, "You mean, MAY I go to the bathroom?"

The one thing that now causes me to laugh, almost in a mad hysterical kind of way, is how people call in and ask for things. Here are some examples:

Me: "Switchboard, how may I direct your call?"


Caller: "Hi, can I speak to someone in hot water please?" (He wanted hot water tanks)

Caller: "Hi, can I be put through to Ladies Lingerie?" (We have men's lingerie?...)

Caller: "Can I be connected to Vacuums?" (Well maybe, but it could hurt...)

Caller: "Can I get the Beauty Saloon please?" (Saloon? I didn't know we served drinks here...)


In the old days, when I worked out on the floor and not in the office, I heard some good ones at the registers. When asking if the customer wanted to charge it to our corporate credit card as payment, often I would hear "No thanks, I will just pay for it." What did they think I was asking them? That is paying for it! Or my favorite (a mother to her 4 year old child) "Honey, I will buy you a watch when you learn to tell time". We have children's watches that help TEACH them to tell time!

But the BEST story I ever heard was one relayed to me by co-worker. An employee working in Parts and Service had just told a customer that the part they needed to fix their stove was no longer available. After the inevitable blowup that came about, the customer used some choice words in telling the employee just where they could put their low quality merchandise. Without missing a beat, the employee said, "I am sorry Sir. I already have a fridge, a washing machine, 2 microwaves and a lawnmower there. I have no more room."

Thank you all you consumers, for the never ending stream of verbal "Seriously? You have GOT to be KIDDING!" moments.

Didn't mama say?

My friend's mom was getting ready to dash out the door. Her good pair of Henkels scissors had broken that morning and she was getting ready to run out and have them repaired. After telling me the tale that led her to this moment of decision to do it now or wait a few days, she resumed her rushing about, all the while carry around the scissors in her hand.

I may have pointed out to her that she is a mom, and that didn't her mother ever tell her not to run with scissors? As she chuckled at the thought, she said, "Now there is a blog!".

That's a Blog!

It's very humorous I find myself in situations that always end up with me saying "I need to blog about that!"...and then I never do. It isn't for lack of want, but more for lack of opportunity. Since I don't have a computer connected at home to the Internet, I depend on other sources. By the time I am next online, I am either too tired, or I have forgotten all about what struck me as SO important. I am a wellspring of ideas, between my knack for experiencing the bizarre and my ability to attract the absurd, there are no shortage of blog topics.

So there. I blogged about blogging. When the idea actually struck me. I will take my victories where I can get them.

Fall Dayz

There is something so refreshing about Fall. Summer is over, but the hot unending Summer days are coming to an end, and at night, the chill has returned to the cool air. It has rained too, a usual custom for the timing of back to school. I can hardly recall a first day of school that the sun was actually shining.

The leaves are turning color and starting to fall. My favorite thing is to drive through the leaves as they swirl downward, hitting my windshield. My moment of bliss is to walk through them in late October/early November when they are piled up and crunchy. Then the wind will pick up. That is another happy moment. To be curled up on the couch with a cup of something warm, covered by a cozy blanket. A book lazily strewn beside you, as you look out at a grey, blustery, rainy afternoon, watching the wind whip the wet leaves around the yard. At night and early morning, the fog rolls in, blanketing the ground like a cozy air blanket.

Then are the smells and tastes of Fall. Smells of cinnamon, roasting pumpkin seeds, homemade soup or stews, breads, apples and apple crisp, All the outside summertime cooking, bar-b-cuing and eating comes back inside, filling up the house with lovely scents of tasty comforting familiar foods. Thanksgiving offers the chance to sample turkey or some other form of fowl.

There are so many farm markets and festivals. Proud farmers that love to show off their hard work and fruits (or vegetables) of their labors. For my mom and myself, it is the start of craft season and craft shows.

Fall is my favorite season. Not too hot, not too cold, plenty to look at and do, inside and out.