Day 31: Are we there yet?!

This morning began a day of mourning.  I woke up with that sadness that sometimes comes over us when we realize what we no longer have.  For some of us it's a grandparent, or a pet, or a friend.  For me, it was not having a job, not having a sense of purpose, and not having a partner to share those feelings with. 

To be honest, today started off really horrible. 

But I finally got out of bed, got ready, and got outside. That seems to be the big change for me: the outdoors.  I feel like if I can make it outdoors, I'm okay.  If it's sunny, my mood immediately improves.  If it's rainy, I take a little longer to get happy, but I make it there; between the cold drops on my face or the wind swinging open my coat, I begin to feel alive again.

It turned out that my volunteer commitment with the American Diabetes Association fell through because they had the happy situation of having too many volunteers.  Lucky for me, that meant I got to go to the library and hang out with Angel and Jason while looking for jobs and sending out thank you notes for informational interviews.  I had one today, in fact. It was with a great guy who is working in NYC with the Department of Public Health.  He moved there from Oregon and gave me some very insightful comments about the change of pace.  It made me realize that I'm not ready for NYC yet.  Maybe one day, but not today.

Given that I wasn't feeling so great this morning, I ended up skipping breakfast.  Not good, Devra.
Not good.  But for the life of me, I wasn't hungry.  That definitely changed when I arrived at the library.  Luckily, I had a juice on me.  It was another Mean Green.  In case you don't recall the recipe for the Mean Green, I've listed again for you below. 

Mean Green:*

• 1 apple
• 1 bunch celery (I typically use 5-6 stalks)
• 1 cucumber
• 1 in ginger
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 lemon

 I decided that I really need to go to the grocery store and pick up my weekly allotment of fruits and veggies.  I figured that getting a whole new selection of fruits and veggies would make me feel good about juicing.  While I could drink 6 more servings of Mean Green or some sort of green drink with apples, lemons, kale, and spinach, I knew I would tire of that easily.  Getting some fresh produce would give me some options that I really wanted to try out.  And yes, I finally found fennel!!!! Hooray!  Let's hope it yields a yummy juice. 

Anyway, I left the library to head to the grocery store to stock up.  While on the bus, I got to speak with my friend Michele, which always makes my day.  I hung up with her just in time to head into the Wallingford QFC and see that berries were on sale.  Yippeee!  I kid you not, I gasped aloud, I was so happy.  I love berries!  And I needed quite a few varieties to make the juices on my weekly menu. 

So I went shopping and bought a cartload of goodies.  I was able to get everything but cranberries, so I settled for blackberries instead.  We'll see how they work as a substitute.  =)

My list was pretty impressive:

1. tomatoes (5)
2. limes (2)
3. cilantro (1 bunch)
4. jalapeno pepper (1)
5. apples (11)
6. pears (3)
7. blueberries (1 small package)
8. watermelon (1 small)
9. cranberries (ended up subbing blackberries here)
10. kiwi
11. celery (2)
12. green pepper (1)
13. grapefruit (1)
14. oranges (10)
15. parsley (1 bunch)
16. cucumbers (5)
17. carrots (1 bag)
18. raspberries (1 package)
19. rhubarb (2 stalks)
20. strawberries (1 package)
21. fennel bulb (1)
22. beets (3 tops)
23. spinach (2 bunches)
24. zucchini (1)
25. red pepper (1)
26. peaches (2, but I subbed nectarines)
27. kale (3 bunches)
28. asparagus (1 bunch)

My grand total for all this fresh goodness was $72.84.  Because of the berry sale, I ended up saving over 10% of my total cost.  Thank goodness, because if I had spent in the $80 range, I think I would have had a heart attack.  My fridge is now good and full.  So full, in fact, that the oranges, apples, and watermelon have to be out on the counter right now.

This is when I get some perspective and realize how 1st world my problems are.  Man, I am so lucky. I'm no longer mourning, I'm just basking in how lucky I am.

While I relax and enjoy all the good fortune I have: a great apartment, good friends, you, my health and food, etc., etc., I will have my dinner juice: Carrot Mango Juice.**

Carrot Mango Juice:

• 8 carrots (I used four, because I thought 8 sounded like too many)
• 1 mango pitted
• 1 navel orange (I bought mandarins this time around, so that's what I used)

Okay, so this juice did not yield very much juice.  However, what it did yield was the most delicious drink I have made thus far.  Oh my goodness, was it good!  I recommend this for anyone who loves mango and would like to incorporate some veggies into their drink.  Yummy!

Given that I have only walked about a mile today, I think it makes a lot of sense that I wasn't very hungry today. Nevertheless, I'm going to be excited for tomorrow's juices, while I work up an appetite walking to the Convention Center.  I'll be volunteering with the American Diabetes Association at their annual EXPO, so feel free to come check out this wonderful and FREE event from 9am until 3pm tomorrow!

In the meantime, I'm going to head to bed, read little bit and then try to fall asleep as early as I can.  I have a phone interview tomorrow at 6:30am, and I need to be in tip-top shape. 

Wish me luck and enjoy your Friday evening!

 




* Found via the web at  http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/mean-green-juice/
** Found via the web at http://www.marthastewart.com/317161/carrot-mango-juice