Unbreak my heart

Here is a picture of my basil plant on our two week anniversary.

Why do I even try to love plants?
I'm reminded of the Sandra Bullock movie "28 Days" where at the end of a alcoholism recovery program, the sobriety guru says buy a plant and keep it a live for a year to show that you are responsible and capable before starting a serious relationship. I think the way I treat my plants is a reflection of how I live my life--with lots of passion and feeling and lots and lots of good desires, and a livable amount of knowledge, but not quite enough action. This is a cycle that I will break.

Another crummy thing about my life: the back of my legs (including the ever-tender back of my knees) are horribly sunburned. I'm happy to announce that the crisis portion of the sunburn has past, and thanks to some serious Advil use, it was bearable throughout. But it (the sunburn) is still reminding me that it's there.

Now, for some very happy things in my life.

1. It turns out that my friend Lillie uses "agra-therapy" with the troubled teens she works with (AKA she grows herbs with them). As a direct result, it turns out that she is a literal FOUNT OF KNOWLEDGE when it comes to how to keep basil alive. I am now armed with the knowledge necessary to save my poor little plant. Thank you Lillie!

2. I got to go to the beach!! Sure, it turned out cold and windy, but I went! And friends came with me! And it was fun! I've got the sunburned calves to prove it!

3. Today, at long last, I found nutritional yeast! It occurs to me that this point, that I have not yet announced by new flexi-vegan status to my blog following. So now, let me just tell you all that I've decided to adopt a mostly-vegan diet and so far (10ish days) I am loving it! I am not being super uptight about it (I ate a cookie a co-worker brought yesterday and had about .25 of a ounce of pastrami at Katz's).

In continuation of my good news regarding nutritional yeast (valued by vegans for it's high levels of B12 and it's nutty, cheesy flavor)-- I also decided to buy some soy hot dogs!

I'm excited because hot dogs are the thing I was most sad to give up. I'm optimistic that these will be tasty since it's mostly the spices in hot dogs that make them yummy and as my co-worker says "It's not like there's much actual meat in hot dogs anyway."

and then I got to work and YIPEE!! my first vegan cookbook had arrived!!! I did a lot of research and choose that one and one that focuses on quickness and budget (which has not arrived yet). I'm so excited!
I have been stocking up my vegan pantry (flax seeds, soy margarine, egg substitute, etc) and I am ready to go! Well I do still need a few more things before I"m fully equipped, but I definitely have a good start!