Good Monday Morning!

I trust you all had a good weekend. Mine was nothing spectacular, but it was nice.

I spent two days on a modified juice fast - preparing my juice mostly from produce taken from our garden. I did fine both days from breakfast through the afternoon, juicing every three hours to keep my metabolism and my blood sugar steady. I was not at all hungry or even tempted to eat, however, I found I could not go into the evening without solid food in my stomach. The first day I juiced for supper, then gave in and had a snack later that evening, the next day I decided it would be better to eat a light supper and maybe juice again in the evening, so I ate some vegetable stir fry and found I was not hungry for anything later. I learned a couple of things by doing this. I learned that if I eat good, healthy, nutrient dense foods I don't need to eat as much and I also learned what it was like to feel genuine hunger and not just the desire to eat. I've read this and heard it from others', but you have to do it yourself to fully understand. I also noticed by the second day how energetic I had become  - I almost felt like I had taken a drug to wind myself up! Not only was I energetic, but I had the desire to do things I hadn't felt like doing all summer and I also felt a surge of creativity - my brain was awake and able to do things that, quite frankly have been "fuzzy" for lack of a better word. These are all things I found very interesting and I hope I will remember them when I need. I lost two pounds in two days which was nice and I went back to normal (healthy, non-processed) food on Sunday and did fine and I weighed in this morning and the two pounds have not returned.

Saturday I attended my card class, it was fun, but nothing spectacular. I came home with a couple of nice cards and some good ideas. One thing the demonstrator did was give everyone a packet of pre-cut pieces of twp-sided, printed card stock in two Christmas prints. She told us to do our own design with the the given materials and the one person who comes closest to her design (which she wouldn't show us until we were done) would receive a $5.00 gift certificate to the store. I didn't win. :(

Hubby returned safely from his race with Daughter #2 on the tandem. They had no problems and did well but not well enough to place. It's all for the fun for them anyway.

This week I want to get my house clean - son will be arriving sometime Friday to ride the bike race on Saturday. I will miss the riders coming in to the finish line because I have an ATC trade and meeting that day.

Yesterday I was able to write my cousin a long letter - she's the only one of the family that keeps in regular contact with me since my mom passed. She writes lovely letters which are bitters sweet as  I always get homesick when I read them. I was also able to straighten up the studio and put away some things that had been cluttering my desk - it's now ready for students to come.

The birds have been gorging themselves at my feeders, especially the hummingbirds. I truly believe we are in for an early fall and winter.

No pictures today, my to-do list is long and I'm short on time. I will return this evening to see what you all have been up to lately.