TOP 5!!!

1. RAW REPORT: Hi there! Still hangin' in there! I'm 27 days raw. My mom is about 2.5 weeks. So, raw is happenin' here at Chez Schulman.

2. THE LITTLE TRAIN THAT COULD: My mom is going through another emotional phase. Yesterday and today she uttered the following phrase at least 10x/day, "I don't think i could do this forever." (referring to her new raw diet). She went out to dinner with friends and I packed her dinner for her. We answer, "Ma, one day at a time!" She retorts, "I'll finish the month out, but i don't think i could do this forever...watching them eat the icecream...it was so hard." I try to get to get to the bottom of it. "Ma, is this really THAT hard? Are you suffering so? I've been doing this for nearly 3.5 years. You love the banana icecream. Is it really THAT hard? You have to deprive yourself, but if your possible cancer leaves, isn't it worth it? Weigh it all out. So, is it really THAT hard???" "No," she answers. So i probe her about a million times more. "Does it taste bad? Does your stomach feel bad? Do you really miss foods?, which are all answered in the negative. So, i conclude it's just FEAR. FEAR of the unknown. FEAR of deprivation. AND, her back hurts her quite a bit and this distresses her very much. "Shouldn't this diet be making my back feel better?" "Ma, sometimes things get worse before they get better," i answer. "Could it be stress", i ask? And then go on to explain that when we eat raw our emotions want to come up and maybe she stores stress and repressed emotions in her back. So i give her a backrub and she seems better for the moment. ONE DAY AT A TIME. Overall emotionally, my mother is so much calmer, she's just fearful. Cliff realizes, "We just need to babysit her emotionally...and spoonfeed her raw food." That's just what we're doing. ONE DAY AT A TIME!

3. THE MAGICAL MYSTERY BUS PROJECT!!!!! HEAR YE - HEAR YE - GET THE OVER RIGHT NOW TO WWW.THERAWSEED.COM FOR MEREDITH FRANTZ'S NEW AMAZING PHENOMENOL RAW E-COOKBOOK! It is packed with not only FANTASTIC recipes, but so much inspirational writing and photography, that you will feel transported to a magical realm where dreams...become reality...where busses...can FLY!!!! Can raw food really taste and LOOK as good as cooked? Well, if you are one of the lucky to sample Meredith's creations, you will come away knowing that HER raw food tastes BETTER than cooked! The ability to follow her recipes? Simply magical!! Each one of you who purchases her e-cookbook will not only be generously rewarded in that you are getting first hand MASTER recipes from a MASTER RAW CHEF, but this meager investment will set you on the path of becoming your OWN raw chef! Master the 5 flavors and you will NEVER be stuck again with tasteless salads. You will KNOW how to flavor raw food. Meredith's e-book shows you how and is a MUST HAVE!!! Plus, get this, Meredith and Dustin have purchased a big giant yellow bus that they are gutting and refurbishing to be a traveling raw caravan so they can cater weddings, come and stay with you and make you raw, and share their loving, healing, inspirational energy and know how and recipes with all of us - far and near. Purchase the e-book today! http://www.therawseed.com/

4. MEXICAN PARTY - UTTER SUCCESS!!!! - Man, was i exhilerated after singing at the Mexican party!!!! You have no idea how AMAZING it feels to sing SUPERBLY WELL after having struggled for so many years. AND i was sick! But, through all of these new lessons...and voice lessons for 15 years...i'm really figuring vocal technique out. I sang OVER my cold, and was FREE, EASY, WONDERFUL! My old choir friends at the party commented, "We've all decided we really hate you...because you can sing like THAT..and be sick!" It was a compliment, but a sort of a mean spirited one. One draw back of getting good is that some people are honestly jealous and envious. It's something i'll have to learn to cope with. And, let me tell you, if i say i was GOOD, i must have been fantastic!!! I'm my own worst critic. I'm telling you, i am REALLY GAINING DAILY control of my voice, more and more SKILL with my voice. Now...if only i could gain that with FOOD!!

5. EMOTIONAL EATING: Okay, so i had one evening of utter BLISS after singing...such exuberance that i performed well, i could hardly calm down, so you know, i had some snacks to celebrate! And then today, i was anxious all day and all i did was snack. Why? My next opera rehearsal is on Thursday and i'm reacting! Uy, uy, uy. Oh well, i really should stop worrying. I was pretty darned good at my first rehearsal, but now this is where the rubber meets the road. It would BEHOOVE me to memorize at least the first act for Thursday, so i can perform as well as i did yesterday! It feels so AMAZING to sing well. It's like iceskating and doing 5 triple axles. That's how good it feels. How good does emotional eating feel? Well, it feels like gas and reflux, that's what it feels like. Not too pleasant!

Please, God, brand that on my brain! I am an amazing singer and I deserve to have more and more success in both controlling my singing AND my eating!!

xoxo michelle joy