The Big 4-0

Today is my unofficial but legal birthdate (long story). Sis got me a birthday cake. No, she did not leave out the year by mistake, there just wasn't enough room for it. And no, it's not my first birthday and no, I'm not trying to hide the fact that I'm FORTY years young. We forgot the candles and the "1" from one of the kid's birthday was lying around so we used it to symbolize the passing of one year.
Great quiet time with my sis, her family and Dad. Mom is away up north with my brother's family and HIS sons, one of which is celebrating his fourth birthday today.
Happy birthday, Tommy!

All cross-eyed from working on social media cross-linking! I don't even know where this message is been posted, tweeted, facebooked, updated, or blogged :D

Big Ben

Testing out the Share feature.

Synchronized Grooming

Zuri (the Bengal) and Rorke (the Savannah) grooming to the same beat.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

CellSpin Simultaneous-Posting on Multiple Social Media

Really enjoying CellSpin mobile blogging, twittering, & facebooking app. Best of all, it has a Palm version!

Testing out the different setting to see if I can post to the blog at the same time. Will likely not continue to do so after this; short updates for Twitter and Facebook but still use this blog for longer write ups.

Reactivating Facebook

I finally caved in and re-activated my Facebook account. I don't like Facebook much --- actually, I don't know/use it at all so can't really say I don't like it. But I need to start using it if we end up using it more for work.
I stuck with Twitter only because having multiple social network accounts seems so redundant. I can barely keep up with my blog, as it is. I wanted to keep the blog more than Facebook. Now, with CellSpin, I can post to multiple sites at once!

CellSpin Mobile Blogging

I came across CellSpin mobile blogging app for Palm OS and had to try it out. I am still surprised when I "discover" Palm apps. Hoping this will also help me with blogging more often. So many things happened these past several months. It's a pity I didn't take the time to document it all.

Let's see how this tool may help.

Elaine Acting Her Age (Not)!

A ritual for Elaine. She runs circles around the treats or toys before picking the one she wants.

Had Forgotten the Colors!

I don't think I ever noticed how colorful food is in its natural, uncooked state. Yes, we added food colorings when we cook and we made stirfry colorful with the different veggies. But that can't compare to the innate color of food.

I was prepping tomorrow's midday snack - honeydew melons (I picked a winner!) - when it hit me. I had cantaloupe today, a nice rich orange and tomorrow, I'll be eating light green honeydews. My salad and avocado salsa side is like a color wheel, especially when there's a tinge of purple from the red cabbage.

Colors that would have looked out of place in a traditional cooked meal seem very at home and natural with my new fresh food meals.

This honeydew camera-phone picture in the dark kitchen doesn't do the color justice. I just have to look at the pictures from the previous post to see the food rainbow!

Fresh Food

Never thought I would enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables so much. It's been 2 weeks since I switched to a raw vegan diet. I figured it would be a good food trial to see what I may be reacting to. I suspected it was to flavorings and seasonings, not necessarily the meat or nuts themselves. And since cooked food without seasonings can be bland to me, I tried the raw vegan diet and things have been going very well. I'll probably write more later but just want to add some stuff here to capture the "beginning."

Stocking up with fresh fruits every 2-3 days.









Mom's stockpile of bananas. We froze some to use in fruit smoothies. We finished the box in 2 weeks.








Learning how to pick melons was a challenge. I got the cantaloupe down (tan or not-green veins and some give on the end) but still hit-and-miss with the honeydews and watermelons.

Waited too long to eat this cantaloupe :)





Dinner from last night. Loving my salads right now. A mix of red romaine lettuce, saladson or what I call bitter lettuce (I get them at the local Asian Farm Market), chopped cabbage, tomatoes, red bell peppers, onions, Thai chili (for the spicy kick!), cucumbers, and a variety of fresh herbs (basil, mint, rau ram). Dressing was lemon, apple cider, olive oil, salt & pepper, and more Thai chili :)

I experimented with a salsa-like side dish and absolutely loved it. It was supposed to be a thick salad dressing but I went overboard with the tomatoes and onions and it became a side dish. Chopped one tomato, one medium onion, half an avocado, juice of half a lemon, half a Thai chili (yes, I like my food spicy!), and salt & pepper if needed (I didn't need it). Mix them all together and yummy!
I chop and prepare extras when I make the salads in the evening and save a large portion for the next day's lunch. The dressing marinates the salad and it tastes even better the next day. I did one with mostly cabbage and it turned out like a healthy coleslaw -- without the creamy mayonnaise. Elias call them "veggie ceviche" --- I can get really heavy handed with the lemon vinaigrette; the onions and tomatoes swim in the dressing.

Added blueberries to this morning green smoothie (bananas, spinach, blueberries, water).

The reusable Copco tumbler from Bed Bath & Beyond is one of my favorite recent purchase. Makes smoothies taste even better and helps me keep up with the water intake during the day.






Cantaloupe for mid-morning snack. If you told me 2 weeks ago that I would eat a whole cantaloupe by myself in a day, never mind as a snack, I would think you're crazy.

Now, I buy these cantaloupes, honeydews and mini-watermelons and eat the whole melon as a snack.




The problem I had was eating enough calories to keep me going during the day. Ha! Can't even believe that I am having problems eating enough calories :)

These smoothies come in handy. Bananas, mangoes, strawberries, apples, and water. Got the fruits in me that would probably have taken me the whole afternoon to eat (assuming I would be able to eat all of them).

Oh, another new find for me ---- all these different nuts. Eating almonds and cashews for now -- unsalted and unroasted; they actually taste great. Throw them on top of the salads or eat as a snack.

Anyway, more later. Things have been busy so I have not blogged much but hope to catch up soon. It's been great though, not having to fight through the mental fog either from the food I was reacting to or the Benadryl I took to counteract it.

Looking forward to sprouting chickpeas to make hummus and trying some tomato soup recipes in the blender!

Adventures in fresh food. Who knew?!! :)