Ash Wednesday, A New Beginning

"Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return". A reminder that there is an ending. Out of that reminder I've taken another message too. For every ending there is a new beginning. Mine starts today.

I got up this morning and fell quickly into my well worn rituals. Vitamins downed. Coffee in hand I wandered over to my couch in the living room. Put down my cup and went to turn on my computer. That in and of itself wasn't a big deal but the draw to check email, facebook and a few of my other groups was a palpable force.

I quickly shut off the email, and the browsers and pulled up my Itunes and put on one of my play lists. Got the kids their breakfast and got my own.

Once we were done eating I got up and puttered about and got ready to take the kids over to their cooking class. They got to experiment with baking soda and make chocolate chip cookies. Then we did a brief shop for whatever we'd need to tide us over until our Saturday morning shopping trip.

We came home and had lunch. Mine was spicy pumpkin soup with a slice of olive brule. Then we passed the rest of the early afternoon with a few games and play doh until it was time for naps. Thankfully, sometimes, L. still requires one. That means I get one too.

Dinner was a quick meal of shrimp on rice fettuccine with sun dried tomato and riccotta. Another slice of olive brule. I've been feeling a bit too stuffed from dinner. Downward facing dog is a bad idea tonight. I'll be spending that time in quiet reflection instead. Maybe legs up the wall if my stomach doesn't protest.

I have a feeling that in a few days the soft addiction to my computer and the noise of the TV will pass. Hopefully, a bit easier than the still repeating craving of diet coke (still haven't had any). I know that I don't need to make all these sacrifices but in a sense I feel I do. I'm trying on a new me and get to do it with minimal effort. It's a gift and I accept it readily.

Now to catch up on the food portion.
Yesterday's breakfast was a simple. Coffee, juice, apple and kashi bar.
At lunch I was pretty hungry (no shock there eh?) I made chicken salad on a rice wrap with spinach greens and...Vegan "cream" of broccoli soup. The white beans had overwhelmed the taste a bit so I added in a few splashes of Tabasco Sauce to counter it. It worked and was delicious.Dinner was 5 mini strawberry flax/oatmeal pancakes with turkey sausage. I drizzled maple syrup over them and the pancakes sucked it up! Still totally delicious. The batch also made about 10 servings of these little pancakes so I've got a good stash in the freezer for the next week or two.

Today's breakfast was the same as last night's dinner (without the sausage) no shocker there. No point repeating the picture.Lunch today, the spicy pumpkin soup with a slice of the olive brule.This dinner, started out as shrimp with rice fettuccine and tomato pesto but I added in the ricotta to help it be more palatable for the boys. The really like creamy pastas. Delicious but its proven to be pretty heavy. I guess I'm not used to heavy pastas any more. It has actually side lined me a little.

Well I'm off now. My hour is up. I'm headed up stairs to try the legs up the wall/meditation. If that doesn't work then I'll just sit quietly and meditate.