Dream, Dream, Dream

First Day of School. August 18. Oh my. I had my first First Day of School nightmare last night. It went something like this:

I arrived at my classroom approximately 45 minutes before the students were supposed to arrive. I had never seen my classroom before. My classroom was in my old Junior high building, Home Ec Room. Why? No stinking clue. Anyways, I walked into my room and there was already a class in there so I had to work quietly to move boxes and organize books. I also hadn't taken a shower so I did THAT at school (who knew schools had showers...not me). Somehow my dream-self thought I could save time if I didn't rinse the shampoo out of my hair...so I didn't. HA! I continued working in my room (shampoo still in hair) until I decided I needed to leave to get an important something or other. So I drove a bajillion miles an hour and got back to school. I finished washing the shampoo out of my hair and then...I woke up. Womp womp waaaaa.

The most awful part of this dream was that I didn't have ANY lessons planned. I certainly hope this nightmare does NOT become reality.

T-minus 4 weeks until the first day of school. Ahhhh!

I have my moments.

When my perfect little pug Bubba passed away, I never thought that I would still be struggling with it three months later. Well, I have my moments. Anyways, I was looking for pug rescue organizations online because I think my next pug will come from a rescue/foster situation. It is truly amazing and sickening what some people will do to their dogs...the stories are heartwrenching. I would love to be able to give all my money to these organizations because they do all this with only donated funds. The dogs come to them with no vet experience and many of them need special care which means money, money, money. Some of the dogs they get are very old, which means they are harder to adopt because everyone wants a puppy. I just hope that in a few months I will be ready (emotionally and financially) to adopt one of these precious little pug gems. There is no better breed of dog! Here are some links to pug rescue organizations in the Missouri and Midwest region:

http://www.midwestpugrescue.com/ (Make sure to look at the adoptable pugs page. But stay away from the Memorial page...unless you wanna "have a moment" like I did, which usually involves tears.)

http://www.ilmorescue.org/ (Again, look at the available animals section)

http://www.rescuepug.com/ (I'm not sure if this organization is actually in the Missouri area, but it's a great website!)

I only hope everyone can get half as much love and laughter out of their pug as I did out of mine. Love you Bubs!

Eat More Food.

Raw Foodie. This is a name that I have not been called. However...I would not mind being called it. This whole "Raw Food Movement" is very intriguing to me. I stumbled across a book review online the other night. I'm sure everyone has seen this book on shelves in their local Borders bookstore. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. I have not read the book...yet. The whole premise of the book is that Americans eat too much crap and not enough food, meaning the overprocessed "food" we eat is not really food at all.

Along the same lines as Michael Pollan's book is Alice Waters, so-called Mother of the Slow Food Movement. I watches a piece about her on 60 minutes several months back that sparked my interest on this topic. To learn more about the slow food movement and what it's all about visit their website at www.slowfood.com, or watch this video.

Basically, I am interested in this topic because I am interested in my health. Yes, I have a weight/body image/self esteem issue. Who doesn't? I may always have this issue. This sort of thing moves past that. It just seems so...DUH! Get rid of the diets. Get rid of the stupid shakes and drinks and bars and pills. Get rid of the processed "food" that we are sold at supermarkets all across the country. Go back to the way people ate 30 years ago. Fresh produce. Grass fed meats and poultry. Un-screwed around with dairy. I looked at my yogurt container this morning to find ingredients that I could not pronounce and lots of them. Its kind of disturbing to me to not know what is in the food I am eating. Who knows what kind of chemicals and other crap they throw in this stuff to make it last longer on shelves, to make it taste better, to make it look prettier. I'm not buying it. Literally.

Step 1: Purchase and read Michael Pollan's book.

Step 2: Stop eating CRAP.

Step 3: Be healthy!

Now, I am a realistic person. Do I think that I can completely stop eating food of convenience? No. A: it is much cheaper than the alternative. B: It is...CONVENIENT. However, I think by just making a conscious effort to eat less processed and packaged stuff I will feel better. If it comes in a bag, box, or shrinkwrapped...I don't want it in my body. I will keep you informed on this new endeavor. It will not happen overnight. Promise.