a long post

Have I mentioned Everyday Food? It's a Martha Stewart affiliate which means it's full of good things. Lots of great recipes with normal ingredients that are easy to make.

I'm proud of myself today because even though I really really was craving a bacon cheeseburger from sonic, I resisted. This week I'm eating vegetarian only. Obviously with the burger and the bacon this doesn't work. Also, 770 calories and 47 grams of fat is really a turn off.

So instead, I made a veggie burger:

Gardenburger Portabella Burger: 90 cals, 2 g fat
Morningstar Farms Bacon Slices: 60 cals, 2 g fat
Kraft 2% cheddar cheese slice: 70 cals, 5 g fat
O'Charley's Honey Mustard 1 tbsp: 85 cals, 8 g fat
Ketchup, 1 packet: 10 cals, 0 g fat
Weight Watchers Bagel: 150 cals, .05 g fat

So for 465 cals and 18 g fat I had a bacon cheeseburger. It wasn't as good as the real thing, but it was pretty good. It had a lot more fiber, and the important thing is I don't feel guilty now.
I wish I'd had some pickles though. That would have made all the difference!

I have to keep reminding myself that if I just stay with it, I can lose this weight. It's just gonna be a long process and I can't get impatient and give up.

In other news, I bought some borax the other day and used it in my laundry today. It really does help get odors (like dog smell) out of your clothes and sheets. If you follow the link, you'll see you can also use it for drying flowers. It has a multitude of purposes, but not as many, it seems, as my all time favorite household product: good ol' baking soda.

If we've never discussed baking soda, please let me know. Let me enlighten you. Here's 60 Uses just to get you started.

So my life has gotten pretty boring lately I guess. Like, if someone asks me, "what's new?" should I say "borax and veggie burgers"? Is that an acceptable answer? or should I just say "not much" and move right along....?

In real news, I have "new teacher orientation" starting tomorrow. Even though this is my second year, I missed this part last year so I'm excited to see if it clears up any of my confusion about paperwork and bureaucracy.

Tillie had a bath today. I decided to try to wash off the flea preventative I put on her because I'm convinced it's extremely toxic and could be a contributor to her illness. Why? Well, after I put it on her, she shook and little droplets of the stuff got on my laptop and my phone. In a matter of seconds the spots on my computer were bleached out and the spots on the phone made the plastic coating bubble up. So what is it doing to the dog's skin then??? Well I'm not the only one who thinks this is bad. For natural options, check out this article from Mother Earth News, which casually mentions that some of the chemicals we use for flea control were originally developed for chemical warfare. Awesome. Terrifying. I'm not putting that stuff on her ever again.