“Good day sunshine…good day sunshine…”
Yes, it’s a good day. I went to the doc (Dr. Michael “The” Mann – best orthopedic doc anywhere) and the MRI shows a tear to the meniscus. But I can continue with my life, as it appears my knee has ended its mutinous ways and is working with me. Swelling is down, movement is back and I am able to resume with my yoga and aerobic classes and elliptical machines. The Mann said he was proud of me, which is awesome to hear. Makes me want to send him a basket or something. I have a clean car. My finger has deflated to “just a bit” swollen. After spending all day yesterday, no exaggeration, trying to figure out why I could not get online, I finally got it this morning. I am having a delightful tofurky hickory smoked turkey, cheez (yeah, this vegan cheese is actually edible), lettuce, carrot and honey mustard sandwich . And for dessert…vegan chocolate chip cookies! Woohoo! And they taste like c.c. cookies! Not like something that would come out of Barbie’s dream house kitchen. I found the Cherrybrook Kitchen Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix box (my personal favorite way to cook) at HEB yesterday. Even the boys ate them. Now, don’t scoff. Young teen boys do not entertain graciousness when it comes to taste. Should something meet with their disapproval, there is nothing in their chemical makeup that warrants further consumption. On the contrary, they think nothing of expelling said morsel back into the hand that fed them, grimace arsenically, flash a look of utter disbelief that anyone would consider consuming anything so heinous, and exclaim “ohmigawd what the eff is that??” while making retching noises. It’s not pretty. So when they consume something not normally on the menu, in fact, they sneak handfuls to their room, you know that we have a winner. I love sweets. I have had a very difficult time with the whole vegan thing only because of my personal reliance on chocolate. Milk chocolate (salivate) has always been my passion. But I have found replacements, and slowly but surely I am finding better and better ones. Cherrybrook Kitchen is now on the top of that list.
I am reading three books. Oh, I sound so very literarily (yes! That’s a word….now.) inclined. So very keen on absorbing more information, expanding my knowledge. Yeah. Right. More like, I am so very ADD, I can’t remember where I left the first book I was reading. I start reading another and find the first. Then I am at the doctor’s office and the book that I have put in my bag is, of course, book number three. So very scatterbrained and unorganized, but oh well, they are all very good.
The first – Dominion by Matthew Scully (former speechwriter for bush) – this is the one I have misplaced for the third time. I think it might actually be purposeful. It is about the power of men, the suffering of animals and a call for mercy. I have seen a lot of animal rights stuff – videos, books, pictures, etc. I think it is important to view these things, as painful and gut wrenching as it is, because it becomes a part of who you are when you “witness”. And witnessing creates passion. I am fueled by many of the images that will be with me forever. I don’t like to see living beings in pain or being hurt or living in miserable conditions, but if I don’t look, I don’t make it a part of what I do. Anyway, I find Dominion deeply upsetting. Scully is an excellent writer and his knowledge and research are exhaustive. I can only take it in small doses as it deals with the full range of our assault on animals.
The next is the one I took to the doctor’s office. I was seen within five minutes of arriving (shocking really) so I only read a few pages, but I can tell I’m going to love it. Crimes Against Nature by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is about how bush is the worst environmental president ever as he has essentially opened up ever natural resource for corporate consumption – like an All You Can Eat Buffet. Did you know that the energy industry gave bush and his party 48 million dollars for the 2000 campaign and 58 million dollars since? That’s a staggering amount of money, really. Hard to not see the strings attached to that kind of cash. That’s just in the introduction, so it looks like a real tell all. I love Robert. He says that he has talked to ultra conservatives, republicans and democrats alike and all of them want the same thing. A robust, healthy environment, strong controls and strict enforcement. He is a passionate guy. He has totally devoted his life to the environment. I dig him.
My great friend, Lori gave me both these books to read. It’s awesome when you have a friend who not only cares about the stuff you care about but also reads and researches so that she knows what’s going on. She’s my vegan guru. I dig her. She had to go out of town this weekend and I was given the honor of checking on her mammals. She has three ferrets and three cats. I have never been around ferrets but they are incredible little creatures. Josh was in amazement in their “Matrix” moves, deflecting off the couch, running up his arm to get to a squeaky toy, which they promptly run and put under the bed. Man, her house was clean. My house looks like a bomb has hit it (mom’s expression usually when opening the door to my bedroom growing up). Nice to see I’ve changed so much since then. Sigh.
The last book is Republican Like Me by Harmon Leon. My sister and her partner gave it to me for Christmas. When I got it, I was a little confused. Had she turned? My gay, San Francisco living, labor relations “working for the worker”, left leaning sistas had become (gulp, rubbing eyes with fists) republicans?
Noooooooooo! Arrrrggghh!
Turns out, no. This guy is hysterically funny, and I do so mean “laugh out loud while riding the stationary bike at the gym so that everyone looks at you” funny. He meets with white supremacists at Denny's, goes to gun shows, works for Arnold S. for governor, basically infiltrating the bastions of the right wing and it is absolutely hilarious. It’s one of the best books I read in a long time. Usually I race through books that I love but I’ve been trying to go slow with this one, as to savor it. I keep finding it in Josh’s room which might explain why I intermittently lose track of it. What a great Christmas present.
So, unlike most Mondays, today has been a great day. Even if my house is a mess, life is good.