10 pounds and BALLS!

Still managing to eat right. Still cooking or preparing nearly every meal. My trip to Texas this past week was a combo of my normal plan and improvisation, and included having my grandparents' menudo (the BEST bowl of menudo in the world), along with my grandma's tortillas, thankyouverymuch. I managed to have only one tortilla with my bowl and didn't feel deprived at all. (Usually, I'd have at least three to a bowl.)

On Saturday, my aunt and uncle went all-out, renting a big ol' smoker to smoke two briskets, three slabs of ribs, several chickens and maybe even sausage, I can't remember now. My aunt made these amazing beans, potato salad, cole slaw, deviled eggs; Mom made a tres leches cake; my aunt and I made pumpkin fudge, a pineapple upside down cake; and guests brought other sundry items, including pumpkin cobbler (!). I had little bites of anything I wanted. I also made sure to eat some lower-glycemic things throughout the day so I didn't attack any food out of angry hunger. After all was said and done for the weekend, I'm now a pound down from this time last week.

I can friggin' do this. It's ten pounds altogether now.

Speaking of being home, that was really nice. My cousin won't be able to make it down from NYC for either of the holidays, so we seized an earlier opportunity to have all the family together and soak up some time with Grandpa. The only person missing was Lee, who had just traveled so he couldn't take more time right away. I also managed to catch up with my bestie Angela. We were inseparable in college and, since moving here eleven and-a-half years ago, it's gotten harder and harder to keep up. But we talked until 3am Friday night. She's in the midst of some pretty intense changes and I think I'm happier for her now than I've ever been.

As always, any visit is divided (not always equally) between my Lopez half and my Hinshaw half, so despite this trip being pretty focused on the Lopezes, I got some time in with the Hinshaws, too, including a lovely lunch with my Aunt Dixie and brunch with my Dad and siblings.

My sister Asia (read her blog here) has this wonderful guy in her life who is constantly befuddled by our lack of planning.

Him: Isn't your sister here?
Asia: Yeah, I think she got in yesterday.
Him: Well, are we doing something with her?
Asia: I don't know, I'm sure we will.

Thing is, we've grown accustomed to waiting until I'm actually in town before planning anything. Because, for Asia and me, quality time can come at any time of day or night, doing just about anything. (Except napping. She hates when I want to take a nap.) So, we usually let my schedule fill with the less-flexible events and my work schedule (Go, telecommuting!), then fill in our time around that. This isn't very easy on our significant others, though, who may find themselves kicking off their shoes to lay down on the couch just as one of us gets off the phone with the other and annoucnes, "We're going to a movie!" I love my sister. I love that we have a way we do things, a style that is common to us and uncommon to everyone else. But, point taken: We need to plan a little more or we're gonna drive our boys crazy.

And then there's BALLS!, a show I guest-starred in last year, but have now joined for the whole crazy ride. We've been working on refreshing some of last year's bits and will soon work on totally new material. One of the things I'm most excited about is that this year, each of the six nights will benefit a different local non-profit. Read all about it and then make your reservation! It's gonna be a blast!

Remember that time when I was all addicted?

Exactly one week ago, I couldn't imagine how I would make it through the rest of the week. I pictured myself, lying in an alley, passed out with an empty Lamar's Donuts box over my face and the awful stench of failure surrounding me.

But I did it, I went the week (with a minor adjustment to make room for life on Thursday night). The reset ended Friday evening and then I was released into the wild, into a world of ALL THAT FOOD, and you know what? Still towing the line. I've been preparing my meals, planning my day, walking past the kitchen at work which smelled suddenly of bacon and mac n' cheese all the time (eff you, office mates), and still I'm really doing a-ok. I did indulge in three vodka sodas at the LUPEC Crush Party, but that doesn't count.

Everyone knows the clear liquor doesn't count, right?

Anyhoo. I don't think I'm cured, by any stretch of the imagination. It's just that I can see so clearly now just how much I was shooting up with carbs. There are things in my kitchen now that only uber "with it" people know how to prepare: bulgur wheat, couscous, brown rice. Turns out, all you do is add hot water!

Okay, I knew that. But honestly, I thought it took a genius to cook well enough to make that stuff taste good. Turns out, anything tastes good after a week of not eating!

Okay, that's not really true. Found out not to ever EVER cook mushrooms in lime juice. (It was an accident.)

But seriously, people. Good food. It's worth the effort to reach past the Nutritional Industrial Complex and get your hands on some. I've been hot on the trail since reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, which inspired me to grow a garden. But I think I was missing a major point: You can't really get the most out of real food if you're still also eating so much of the fake crap. But now, because I can feel a physical lightness, a clearheadedness, I'm a believer with a whole new fervor. (Don't worry, I don't have to talk about it at parties if you don't want to.)

Plus. Over six pounds gone and counting. Come on. I get to learn how to cook new recipes AND lose weight? Hey. Know what we're having for dinner tonight? Filet mignon.

Lamar's Schlamars.

For the love of all that is food

I've been eating ANYTHING that fits in my mouth. And I've been wishing (as if I have no control over these matters) that I could just clear the slate and start over with my habits. I've done it before (at least twice), but it seems that this proposition gets harder every time.

Enter: my pal C, who, on a trip to Aspen to celebrate our pal Julie's birthday, got us all geeked up to do a Reset. Man. Three girls can work themselves into a frenzy for just about anything. And I paid money for this strange form of torture.

This is my 2nd of five days, and if I don't run screaming to the movies for popcorn first, (CRAVING. Hard) I can tell by my body's reaction that there really is the potential for a reset because it is clear that I'm in the throes of withdrawal, here.

Headache? Check.
Irritation? Check.
The shakes? Check.

It's disturbing that, by the way I eat, something that should be so simple as food, repast, sustenance, fuel, nourishment, has instead become a full-blown chemical addiction. And let's not even get into the emotional addiction part.

I love food. LOVE it. Love to grow it in my garden. Love to prepare it for my family and friends. Love to eat it. Here's hoping a little time away from it will help me put it in a much healthier context. Because it's true that you can love something so much that it hurts.

El DeBarge is coming! With Mary J. Bl- WTF??

Remember my post about El DeBarge? Of course you don't. But even so, this is still exciting and bizarre news: According to Denver Post's REVERB, he is coming to Denver! With Mary J. Blige! (I mean, duh, right? Those two: Like peas in a damn pod, I tell you.) El. De.Barge. C'mon, y'all. Don't even try to deny your excitement.

"When you feel like the world is on your shoulders
And all of the madness has got you goin' crazy..."

Oh my god. I can already feel the pleated pants and sequins against my skin.

CORRECTION: I didn't read REVERB's facebook post very well. El DeBarge will not be stopping off in Denver: "EL DEBARGE IS ON TOUR! With Mary J. Blige? Random. No Colorado date. [<----I read that as no Colorado date yet.] But still. EL DEBARGE."

First post of 2010!

Pitiful.

I just logged in to this blog to link to my little sister's new blog and saw what state the ol' RWS is in.

Pitiful.

For 2.5 seconds I felt okay about the fact that I haven't posted ONE TIME all year because I know I've been posting to my Tumblr. But then I looked at that real quick and it's been four months.

Pitiful.

Here are some random facts about RIGHT NOW, August 17th, 2010:

1. My grandpa has a tumor choking his liver. It's inoperable.
2. My godson swallowed a quarter "trying to clean it," and had to go to the ER. He lives!
3. My garden (which I absolutely LOVE growing) has approxiately 50 green tomatoes in it that absolutely refuse to turn red.
4. My favorite dancer won SYTYCD this season. That's never happened before.
5. My standards for "happy" are at an all-time low, I think.

That last one is a doozy and it just sort of came out. A Buddhist would read that and think, "Good for you!" but I don't actually mean it in a very Zen way at all.


Still. 2010 beats 2008 and 2009 all to hell so far!

I'll sign off with a photo of my grandpa proudly displaying a beautiful watermelon grown in his garden, which is eerily similar to my last post.