i lasted two whole days.  two whole days of fruits, vegetables, and today a whole wheat tortilla with lentils and brown rice.  but when i arrived back home to a small tray of cookies with the words “To Louissa, From Lisa” written on them, i felt conflicted to the very core of my being.  should i eat them?  i couldn’t let them just sit there, but i could hardly give them away to other family members.  they were my cookies!  i decided that exceptions must be made and this seemed like an opportune moment for just that.

and here is the tale of the cookie eating:

one evening i felt a wee bit special.  someone heard i was craving cookies, made some, saved a few for me, and dropped them off at my house!

the only proper way to consume a cookie is with a glass of milk for dunking and i made sure i had a big one.

all this made me happy!  white flour, refined sugar, and chocolate!

unfortunately, this doesn’t end altogether that well.  i quickly learned that feasting on too many cookies and a large glass of milk might make your tummy feel a little funny — especially when consumed in mere minutes and at 10:30pm.

i think i shall let the others finish the rest.  tomorrow i shall eat my fruits and veggies.

i fell asleep last night remembering her smell, laugh, and wonderfully goofy grin.  i wondered where she is and who she’s with.  i wondered why-oh-why we had to let her go.  and i wondered why there must be such heartbreak in life.

you’re not supposed to have favorites but she was mine.

i’m too tired to narrate much so just two pictures.  be happy.

1) dream come true.  you better believe that’s me on a zamboni, baby.

2)  some of the people in the world that i love.  i’m not sure there will ever be one picture that holds everyone i love.

today was spent around the house.  well, okay — so i was gone from 9:00-3:30 — but it felt like i was home for a good long while!  i’m tired and hot and very glad to put pajamas on at 9:15pm and think that the day is almost over.

want to see some of what i did this afternoon & evening?

i spent a lot of time in the kitchen.  i cut up fruit for a salad the family shall eat tomorrow.

i made a berry cobbler of sorts (also for tomorrow).  it’s the kind where you take whatever fruit you might have on hand and toss it into a baking dish and then you try to estimate how much topping you’ll need for however much fruit you just threw in.  to say that the cobbler i pulled out of the oven could use some more of that topping would be an understatement.  i guess i’m one of those who has to stick to the recipe.

i spent some quality time with brushes and rollers and a gallon of paint.

this is the second saturday in a row (wow, my weekends are starting to look alike) i’ve spent a bit of time in my parents bedroom trying to help the transformation the mums has been working on for a over a month.  we’re trying to cover her khaki and brick red walls with the lightest pistachio you can imagine.

there were boring chores that required me to use cleaning products like these:

and i am that sister.  these are my brother’s clothes that i folded:

i found myself feeling rather beat and wanted to do nothing else but relax in front of an X Files episode.  guilt from not running once in an entire month hit me though and i decided i had to go out and do just that.  i’m not sure i’ve ever had such little faith in my entire life.

this is my little faith face (and yes, i look that tired because i am that tired):

a whopping one mile later i made it back home as red faced and breathing as hard as i did one month ago when i ran a 5k.  why in such rough shape?  it could have something to do with what i ate today.  if i told you what that is exactly, you’re arteries would surely clog immediately and diabetes would instantly plague your body.  i am a very unhealthy person.

go big or go home.  so i’m going big at attempting to right my dreadful lifestyle.  refined sugars and white flour only on sundays until i learn some self-control.  hold me to it, folks.  hold me to it.

sometimes habits just fall into place without you noticing.  for the second weekend in a row we found ourselves sitting around a table too late at night playing a game that involves dominoes, trains and well, with my rowdy group of friends — a whole lot of talking, random outbursts of song, and much laughter.  i’m not sure if two times in a row qualifies as a tradition and i can’t say what we’ll be up to next weekend, but this train game is certainly one of our favorites.

we played tonight in the midst of celebrating a birthday.  the birthday boy bought steak for all of us (completely wrong, right?), i made a cake, and we called it a party.

i may have a smoothie with cinnamon-and-pudding-filled bread for dinner because i:
a.)  have a sweet tooth
b.)  find it a waste of time to prepare a “real” meal for just one person
c.)  enjoy simpler foods now and then
d.)  all of the above

if i’ve learned anything this summer, it’s how special my friends are.

meet bubs the snubs (or snubs the bubs or snubby dubby bubby or bubsie or just plain old ben):

(sorry for the blurriness.  cell phone doesn’t always equal the best quality photos.)

basically everyone thinks the world of him.  he plays the violin like no other, can build or fix or do any handy work you might need, will act and sing and write his own rhyme in gangsta style when asked, and oh, he makes movies too.  pretty much it goes like this: anyone who meets him becomes his fan.

we friends are were his biggest fans.  and then he walked into a gathering tonight with these on his feet:

hmm.  we aren’t so sure about socks like that on hairy man feet.  yeah, about that…

sometimes i find things in these small towns i’m surrounded by that just amuse.  my discovery today was mr. robot:

huh.  not the usual graffiti one might find.

mr. robot wanted a picture taken with me.  don’t mind my not-so-joyous expression.  i was pondering the phrase and considering whether i might be more robotic than human.

a long day was worked by many.  a quiet dinner was had of cornbread and salad.  a kitchen was cleaned.  an evening walk beside fields of corn was taken.  and i kept thinking of this written bit that spoke to this quiet soul today:

“Love of my heart, my stream runs dry;
O Fountain of the heavenly hills,
Love, blessed Love, to Thee I cry,
Fill all my secret hidden rills.
Water of Love, O pour through me;
I must have Love; I must have Thee”
Amy Carmichael