The New Year begins today

Apologies for the long silence. Such an odd time, Christmas. Last week, for example, I "worked" Monday, Tuesday, and a couple of hours on Wednesday. I thought my time had to be entered Friday, so I came into work - only to find out it's due today at 5pm. One of the partners I work for asked if I wanted to join them for drinks (it was 2pm).

So even though Christmas was a week and a half ago, it's felt like some long foggy time of unproductivity. It also affected my blogging. I'll try to post some pictures tonight - but no promises.

CC gets back from NoDak today. We left on Friday, so it was a weird weekend. Both Maggie and I spent lots of time laying around, not talking much. Watching reruns (I watched Independence Day one and a half times last night) and infomercials. I had hoped to begin cooking some vegan staples (steel cut oats for breakfasts), but spent most of yesterday cleaning out the SmartRoom. It wasn't wasted time, but I am more stressed about tomorrow's vegan detox month beginning.

As I was digging through the freezer, etc. - I started wondering if I should just throw most things out. Tonight, for example, we're tossing all the meat and dairy from the fridge. But what about the frozen sausages in the freezer? And CC made a HUGE quantity of chicken stock before leaving for NoDak...

It wouldn't be a huge issue except that I'm very much hoping to return to the George Bush Diet after January (fish=ok; meat/poultry=not ok)(i.e., eat nothing smarter than George Bush). So I think the sausages should go. But that seems wasteful. I'll check with CC.

We also need to purge a bunch of booze. I'll be too tempted by any clear booze (tequilla or vodka), so those have to go.

Vegan Month starts tomorrow. I'm nervous for some reason. I'm not too worried about cheating. I'm not afraid that I'll feel hungry all the time. I would have missed beef, but I read this little article in the Wedge newsletter about cows that have triggered my guilt again (I think cows are the cutest of the meat animals). Additionally, I've decided that we need to keep perspective if things get difficult, if we're tempted to cheat/quit. For instance, the most important things are no booze, no caffeine, and eating vegan. If I break down and have a Boca burger during the first two weeks, that's better than having a martini. If we don't have homemade bread made, better to have a vegan sandwich on store bread than to feel defeated and wind up at McDonalds.

Maybe I'm worried about cheese. Many people I've discussed Vegan Month with keep returning to cheese. I'm a fan, certainly - but I've never thought about cheese as so essential. Until I start thinking about cheese-less pizza.

So tomorrow it begins. And in honor of the endeavor, I've crafted two special mottos:

I'd rather be thin than drunk.

I'd rather have abs than brie.