Day 1: Choosing to Love Myself and Own My Life Day 16. Tuesday, December 22nd. Just about anything that could go “wrong” today, went wrong. And that was just the beginning. So… it was a great exercise in patience, self-forgiveness, and gratitude. I woke up to the smell of something burning. It was a batch of chicken broth that I had cooking on the stove. Apparently “low” on the larger front burners is much different than “low” on the smaller back burners, and it had reduced all the way to being gone overnight. Now the contents were burning to the bottom of the pan. Lovely. I needed this for the jambalaya I was planning on making that evening (which would turn into its own adventure). On a positive note, we did sleep for over 9 hours, for the second straight night. The first time I’d done so in as long as I can remember. It’s amazing how much easier (or possible) it is for me to sleep in a little bit beyond the normal 6:30 (or 7:00 at the latest) when I’m not going to be working that day, don’t have a zillion tasks to do, etc… [caption id="attachment_4537" align="alignleft" width="169"] Marley likes bacon![/caption] We had some delicious tea after waking up, and made a breakfast of Sonrise Ranch bacon, sweet spiced friend plantains, persimmons, and mandarin oranges. After finishing, we took Marley for his morning walk. It was rainy, cloudy, and cool – and remained that way for the whole day. We had plans to possibly go for a hike, but decided on a movie instead. We were going to see Creed, the new Rocky movie. I now know, in retrospect, that there are two large malls next to each other, each with their own theater. Previous to yesterday, I didn’t understand/notice this, and thought both theaters (listed online) were the same thing. They generally had the same movies, same movie times, etc… so it was confusing to me. Well… this time, I picked the wrong one, and we missed the movie time. Driving/parking near the malls is insane, and so this was quite frustrating. I did let it bother me for a little while, but Mira nor Michael seemed too upset about it, so I tried to let it go. From there, after battling our way out of the mall area, we went to Whole Foods to replace the chicken bones that I’d ruined in the broth mishap. They sell chicken backs/necks, as well as turkey backs/necks – both are perfect for making soups/broth/stock. Parking at Whole Foods was a total battle royal of craziness. Inside it was a zoo. Everything was madness. We got in, got what we needed, and got out. Wow… I think the entire state of California takes off work the entire week of Christmas. After returning home, I had a Nick’s Sticks and persimmon for a snack. We had gone out and bought a game the previous night, so we busted that out and gave it a whirl. Not bad! It’s called Blokus, and I would explain it as competitive Tetris on a board. We played a couple rounds and then took Mira to her Acupuncture appointment. While there, we ran into some friends (James Gregory – founder of FastPaleo.com and his girlfriend, Melissa) – stopped and had a little tea at Mad Monk Tea Shop (same location), and talked about our mutual love of Asian foods! [caption id="attachment_4538" align="alignright" width="169"] Blokus![/caption] Michael and I went to the local co-op to get the remaining ingredients (or so I thought) for our jambalaya experiment, and then cruised back over to pick up Mira. After we got home, Michael helped me start making the jambalaya. We used Chef Paul Prudhomme’s recipe from his classic cookbook. (basically the bible of Louisiana cooking) Unfortunately we were out of a couple spices that we needed, so I had to go back to the co-op again. Ugh. Frustration. Breathing. Got back, started working on the recipe again, and noticed two more ingredients/spices that we didn’t have. Again. Frustration. Went back to the co-op again. (It’s quite close-by, but this was still very frustrating). I didn’t prepare properly, didn’t make sure properly that we had everything, and therefore had to make multiple trips back to the store. An exercise in breathing and letting things go, including disappointment and frustration with myself. After using (I think) every single pan or dish in the house, our creation was finally ready to eat, and it was delicious! It was fun cooking with Michael (he’s quite the young chef!) and we all sat down for dinner and watched a few episodes of a great Netflix series called “Chef’s Table”, which features some of the world’s most innovative and unique chefs. I highly recommend it to anyone who is into cooking, eating, or food! DISCLAIMER: I did have a few organic red hot multi-grain chips (Late July brand) while working on dinner (snack from the co-op), and there was a little bit of butter (used pastured/cultured grass-fed butter) in the jambalaya recipe. Not 100% compliance with my set agenda, so I wanted to be transparent on that. By the time we watched a few episodes of Chef’s Table, it was time to wind down and head to bed. I could have let the burned broth, movie mishap, mall chaos, Whole Foods chaos, multiple trips to the store, etc… etc… etc… totally ruin my day (and the days of those around me), but tried to just focus on the positive end of things. I don’t like the Christmas season, am not religious, and the rabid consumerism is kinda’ repulsive to me. Luckily, I live in a neighborhood which doesn’t get crazy around the holidays, and one wouldn’t even notice it’s “the season” by walking around or shopping locally. My life allows me to stay in the neighborhood about 90% of the time – and so I’m not exposed to the craziness “out there” or music or decorations or angry people or any of it… that is definitely something to be grateful for. In regards to the food mishaps and multiple store trips – I tried to focus on being grateful that I have such easy access to high quality foods, money to buy those foods, skills to cook those foods, and a son who is also interested in cooking with whom I can prepare a delicious meal!  I’m also thankful for Cajun and Creole foods, in general! (My favorite) [caption id="attachment_4539" align="alignleft" width="300"] Jambalaya! Thanks, Chef Paul![/caption] Aside from a bunch of walking, I didn’t do too much in the “self-care” department today. I did eat a couple things that aren’t on my 100% superhuman list, and spent a lot of time in the car/in the kitchen, etc… On the bright side, we had a fun day despite all the frustrating circumstances, and knocked the jambalaya out of the park! (One of my favorite foods) Also, my sleep has been better/longer/better quality the last few nights than it has been in as long as I can remember and my shoulder didn’t have any residual pain or anything from doing some kettlebells the previous day!]]>