OK, tonight was a throwback to a bleak and dark time.  I've fought with panic attacks on and off through my life, and they tend to be focused around driving.  So tonight, I was at Burbank airport and terrified to drive home.  I did... on surface streets.  Apparently 1-3/4 hours of driving are less painful than taking the freeway for half an hour?  By the time I got through Glendale I was a lot calmer, but at that point I was determined to make it home BY SURFACE STREET. (For the record: I take the freeway to work, but it's a road I've travelled a great deal, it's short, and, most importantly, there are no interchanges to freak out over.  )
I have to drive out there next week to pick up my husband from the airport.  Here are some ideas I've come up with for the drive:
1) get a friend to drive me/us
2) drive surface streets
3) TAKE THE DAMN FREEWAY AND PRAY HARD THE ENTIRE TIME

I'm hoping that #3 will seem like a good option by the time the drive rolls around. It will be light, which will help. Usually, I start with #3 and end up defaulting to #2 at some point.  (Note: I don't want to make my husband take a cab after he's been through two plane changes. I also don't want to tell him that I had problems driving home.  Except that there's this honesty thing somewhere in the yamas and niyamas, so maybe I should bite the bullet and be humiliated.)

DETOX!

I may or may not have mentioned 2011 was My Year of Medicine.  In January, I started allergy testing; in February, I started allergy shots.  In July, I was dignosed with cataracts in both eyes. In August, I stopped taking a few asthma medications because I didn't need them any more. In October and November, I had the cataracts removed.  And in December, I had veneers put on my upper teeth to fix the four broken ones.  And so we come to January of 2012, where I am in the process of weaning myself off the remainer of asthma meds that I no longer need. One of these meds is called "theophylline," which is a bronchio-dilator very similar to caffeine.  Cutting my dosage in half was not a problem.  Forgoing altogether was a different story.  Today it has been one week since my last theophylline tablet, and I have been dizzy, tired, and generally feeling like I've been hit by a truck -- sound anything like a java addict without a caffeine fix?

The point of this rabbit trail?  I've been taking bronchio-dilators (a.k.a. 'stimulants') for twenty-five years.  One of the issues with detoxing from these is the potential for weight gain.  Everyone together: OMGWTF?

Dinner, 1/3/12

On my trusty I-Phone, I have a lovely app called Epicurious, which collects recipes from different cooking magazines. Since my plans were derailed today by the 210 freeway (bunch of stuff flew off some construction vehicle, and four screws decided that they were in love with my four tires..... hence, I spent the afternoon at the Mini Cooper dealership instead of at the gym), I took a recipe from there and basically subjected it to the Trader Joe's test.  Here is my version:

One package of Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs
 butter lettuce
shredded carrots
lightly salted cashews
one red pepper chopped into little pieces

two limes
1/2 tsp fish sauce
shredded fresh cilantro
Sriracha sauce

Directions: Heat the meatballs for 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Set out the veggies and the nuts. (If you are fancy, this means put them in individual cups.  If you are me, this meant open the bags and get a dish for the chopped pepper.) Juice the limes, add the fish sauce.  Chop up enough cilantro to taste.  Add sriracha to taste.  Mix well. Use as dressing over the meatball salad.  Allow diners to assemble their own plates.

This actually turned out to be quick, easy, and good.  Here's to one dinner done!

New Year, New Beginning... oh, how original....

I just spent a weekend at my sister-in-law's house.  She looks amazing. She cooks amazing --usually three times a day.  She does yoga and walks.  She is an idol to keep me from being so idle. (Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.)

Me? I could stand to lose ten to twenty pounds.  Not a lot, except that I am four foot nine and three-eighth inches tall.  I go to the gym fairly regularly, but then I tend to wreck my efforts by the way I eat.  I have this amazing trainer who is always reviewing the basics of eating for fitness -- drink lots of water, eat often, stay away from sodium and fat bombs.  I listen and nod my head.  Then I get home. After a full day of teaching and of working out (or of teaching and going to appointments after work, but more on that later), I get home and go into Jewish American Princess mode: what does a J.A.P. make for dinner? Reservations.

It's a new year.  In April, I will be fifty.  I have always planned on being dynamic and active my entire life.  After last year's intensive doctor visits (cataract operation, dentist frenzy, allergy shots), I now have new eyes, new veneers, and recovering lungs. This year's intention is to stay focused, lose as much drama in my life as possible, and eat to improve my workouts rather than to make them more difficult. So, the resolution: this is the year I cook on a semi-regular basis.  My first goal: cooking twice a week through January.  Here we go.