The Sun is Shining!

Good morning,

It's a bright sunny day and i'm in such a pleasant mood this morning! :-))

There's mom and dad at Hawaiin night here at their 55+ community a few years back.

Mom is doing GREAT. It's also SO amazing to listen to my mom talk to her friends on the phone about her raw food diet. She uses vocabulary like, "IF i need surgery..." now. It's just AMAZING. She's becoming one of "us"!!!

I started the diatomaceous earth 2 nights ago. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm doing a trial on myself before i put my mom on it.

I ran out of E3Live and haven't taken it for at least 2 days...and am congested with cold-like symptoms!!! I'll be at Arnold's tomorrow and the FIRST thing i am going to make sure i buy before i leave for home is going to be E3Live!!! It has kept me from being sick for MONTHS!! Now, i stop it...and kablooey.

Yesterday was a hard day for me. I had LOTS of cooked food thoughts. Yesterday was day 21 on raw for me, a very important milestone. I held on tight and did not fall off the wagon, though i had many fantasies about boca burger wraps and onion rings. Ever present in my mind, however, are the consequences of going off of raw for me: how hard it will be to get back on, weight gain, bloated face, cravings, worse reflux, how it will impact my mother's raw diet. I'm glad i've been able to hang in there.

However, my raw eating is awful. Constant snacking. From nerves.

I'm under so much stress that i feel kind of paralyzed. Not so much from my mom. Well, yes, she is my main responsibility right now, but most of the stress is from my music work. If you're artistic, you might understand. I have so much artistic energy it either goes into CREATING beauty or into CREATING CHAOS. Unfortunately, i'm stuck in a negative pattern right now. Lots of compulsive snacking, albeit raw foods, it's still compulsive. And it's really the worst thing for me, because it gives me reflux. And reflux affects my singing voice. And I have to sing at a party on Saturday and have my first opera rehearsal TONIGHT for Donizetti's Belisario.

I do feel hoarse and congested. But i think it is just my body's way of saying, "Hey, bozo, cool it with the snacking." I'll drink lots of green smoothies today and clear out the addiction to 2 bags daily of Brad's Raw Chips. They are so good, but even if you overdo flax chips, you still get clogged up.

I have more work to do on my opera today, but worked on it last night with Cliff and feel much better about it today. It's amazing what difference a little work makes in my mental outlook. I feel much calmer today.

In case you haven't noticed, I'm easily overwhelmed and prone to just stuffing instead of taking action. Fear kind of paralyzes me. I'm glad to be chipping out of the cycle and making headway in my work.

Tomorrow and Friday i work at Arnold's Way, so mom will be on her own for most of the day. She's hangin' in there like a total trooper. I am so blessed to have such a cooperative mommy. I'll leave her smoothies and dressings. Today i'm making her a lovely beet and zucchini slaw. And i'll shave some cabbage for her today, too. You need a change up from green salads every once in a while, otherwise it gets boring.

And we're changing up her green smoothies ALL of the time. Today was collards, yesterday spinach, tomorrow will be dandelion greens. She doesn't much like the romaine ones, but they're good for you, so easy to digest. We've also done kale. And i'll use the beetgreens from the beets, too. Ya gotta mix up y'er greens!

Wish my mom and my dad a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY today...54 years together! May they have another 54...!!

xox michelle joy