And then...

Something happened. Something magical? Maybe. I don't know yet. But something happened.

Magic

Sometimes I think I'm waiting for something magical to happen, but it never does. Here it is almost 1am, and I can't drag my butt into bed. I'm not satisfied. I want...something...to happen.

This blog post is starting to sound like a crazy person's rambling.

Seriously, though, I often find myself wasting time on the internet waiting for something magical to happen but it never does. Facebook is still the same. My email is still the same. Nothing new or magical. And why should there be? Why do I expect it?

I need sleep.

Vegetarian update

I suck as a vegetarian. I know I said I’d still eat meat when other people offer it to me, but, man, sometimes dead animals are just more convenient. Do you know how hard it is to find something edible, filling, AND meat-free from a fast food joint? *sigh* I know. It’s not a decent excuse. I should stick to my guns, right? I do decently during the weekdays. That’s kinda my compromise with myself – vegetarian during the week when I’m just feeding Riley and myself, and carnivore food on the weekend when I tend to eat more with family.

In other news, kidney beans are delicious. I’ve been eating a lot of rice and beans lately. I don’t have any magically delicious recipes to post, unless you consider rice and beans shoved into a tortilla a recipe.

I’m not giving up on being mostly vegetarian. I just...I am realizing that it’s difficult to have total control over my eating habits when I share groceries and meals with four other people.

I wish dating was simpler

I do. I wish that instead of all this wondering and hoopla, I could go up to a guy and say "Hi. I like you. Do you like me? No? Okay, I'll move on, then." or "Yes? Great. This is the part where you take me out on a date. You don't have to spend a lot of money on me. The point is to spend time together. I'm free this Saturday. Sound good?"

What happens in Texas stays...on the Internet?

Surprise! I went to Texas at the end of last month. Tell you what – Texas is fun. I went jet skiing, sightseeing, country dancing, and ate way more meat than I ever want to again. Texans love their dead cows.

I arrived on a Thursday. And, yes, I puked on the plane.  For all the times I’ve thought I was going to do that and never have, I thought I’d get away this time as well. But no such luck. However, I did feel much better afterward.

Friday I went jet skiing for the very first time in my 27 years of life. So. Much. Fun. I fully admit to being a ‘fraidy cat, though, so someone with a more fully developed sense of adventure would probably have thought my jet ski ride was pretty mild. Sadly, the jet skiing did not get documented with pictures. It’s kinda hard to ride a jet ski and use a camera at the same time. Oh, well.

I remembered the Alamo. Saturday I went sightseeing and checked out Hemisfair Park, the Riverwalk, the Tower of the Americas, and the Alamo. I got to eat lunch at the top of the tower in a rotating restaurant. And I got Riley a coonskin cap from the Alamo.

Saturday afternoon I drove up to Austin and then went country dancing. Oh. My. I would strongly consider moving to Texas just to be able to go dancing to live country music every weekend. Next time, though, I’ll have to be sure and borrow Emma’s cowboy boots and sundress that she bought for her Taylor Swift costume last Halloween.

I was lazy Sunday morning. Got in some good conversation. Organized my suitcase. And then in the afternoon I went up to the San Antonio LDS temple grounds. I don’t know if I was actually supposed to be there, since most of the gates were locked. But one of them wasn’t, so I got in.

I was up late that night talking about everything under the moon. So when my alarm went off at 4:15 Monday morning I promptly told it to shut up. At 4:40 I finally made myself get up and throw clothes on. My flight left at 6 and I got to the airport about 5:15. And apparently airports are busy early on Monday mornings. Who knew? I checked my bag and waited in line for security in a line that would rival the one for Magic Mountain. Seriously. Miraculously I got through the line and to my gate before my plane took off. And then I fell back asleep before takeoff.

My new life plan, and why

I have decided to go vegetarian. This is not a whim; I have actually been thinking about vegetarianism for over 10 years. Back in high school it was mostly because of my obsession with dieting and weight loss. But as an adult I have a couple other reasons:

First and foremost, I find it unnecessary to slaughter animals for meat when there are other sources of protein and iron easily available. I don't think it's morally wrong to eat meat--carnivores are everywhere in nature and it does suit our nutritional needs--I just don't think it's needed. I have no problem with hunters. I think if all of us had to hunt and skin our own food, instead of finding it neatly packaged and seasoned in the grocery store, that we would be eating a lot less meat, and appreciating it more.

Secondly, I'm just not all that wild about the taste of meat. Anything can taste good with enough garlic on it. But the flavor of plain beef, plain chicken, plain pork, etc., is actually kind of nasty to me. So if I'm going to flavor something, I might as well make it plant based.

I'm not going vegan. I am open to the possibility someday, but it seems unlikely. I also will still eat meat in meals prepared by other people. Throwing food away doesn't make the animal any less dead. But any meals that I prepare will be meatless. This is a little tricky for me, since I'm a single mom living with my parents. I don't expect my parents to become vegetarians. I also don't expect my son to eat vegetarian when he is eating a meal fixed by other people. But, again, any meals that I fix for him will be vegetarian.

I will still be taking fish oil capsules because I have like a million of them leftover from when I worked for a vitamin company. (I will also take a daily multi-vitamin to make sure I am getting enough iron and other nutrients.) I'm not going to scour ingredients on prepared foods to see if there is some trace of some animal-related byproduct. It has also occurred to me that I will probably be eating less fast food because I can't think of very many vegetarian fast food options. But that's okay, right?

So that's why I don't want dead animals in my food anymore.

Hit me with your best shot

So…I haven’t blogged in a long time. I have some sort of writer’s block. And, still lacking a subject, I’m just going stream of consciousness here.

Um, okay, now I’m blank again.

So, I suppose this is me asking for suggestions. We’ll make it a contest, a contest where your only prize is that I will blog on the topic of your choice. I also reserve the right to select more than one winner if more than one person, well, a) actually responds to this, but b) if more than person actually gives me an entertaining enough topic to pique my interest.

Okay…go!