Cleanse: Day 1 of pre-cleanse

91) Do a cleanse purchased 4/24/08, began 6/20/08

Today I begin a 30 day long cleanse with the main objective being to clear up my acne. It starts with a 3 day pre-cleanse during which you wean yourself off solid food. Then you go on an all liquid fast for 5 days, all the while taking herbs and a toxin absorbing supplement. That's the Colon Cleanse. I'll follow it with a 22 day Internal Cleanse during which I can opt to continue with liquids only, or start to introduce a strict diet.

My food intake today has been 1 apple, a berry odwalla, some cucumber salad, brown rice, and two strips of eggplant. I feel kinda high. Like on pain killers. I've been drinking a ton of water so I haven't felt hunger pains.

Day 301

8) Eliminate acne Nature's Gate Organics Acne Treatment System purchased 5/3/07; Zinc supplement arrived 6/22/07; started Bikram yoga 6/23/07; started accupuncture 11/9/07; having more fun as of X-mas break 1/29/08
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39) Receive acupuncture 11/09/07, 11/21/07, 12/07/07, 12/21/07

During my last acupuncture appt. Robert asked whether I was having enough fun. My immediate response was, "Probably not." And this made me think, "Why not?". And I realized how much stress I'd self imposed on myself with the yoga 5 days a week, and this list. Not that I want to stop either, but I've really suffered from this feeling that I'm just not doing enough. I felt almost like I didn't deserve to have fun. I think Robert had every intention of leading me to this realization. I haven't been back since and I ran out of pills, but my face has steadily been improving. I think I've really started to stop worrying, to just let go.
Another possible reason is Zack and I ran into Rhys and his girlfriend while in line for an advanced screening of There Will Be Blood. We all ended up hanging out in line and then watching it together, and though it was awkward (as I hadn't seen Rhys in two years) it gave me a clear sense of closure. He's happy. I'm happy. It's all good.


10) Master 10 dinner recipes (0/10) Baked Chicken Breast with Honey Mustard Sauce (6); Stir Fried Chicken & Asparagus w/Seaweed Rice (1); 15 Minute Salmon with Mint Salsa and Minted Carrots with Pumpkin Seeds (1); Homemade Chili (1); Shrimp, Cherry Tomatoes & Feta with Quinoa (1)

This past Saturday I made Zack and I a dish I found on the internet and have made twice before. It features Shrimp with Cherry Tomatoes & Feta. I decided to serve it with Quinoa, which worked out well. I'd even be confident in saying I've mastered this one, but I'll cook it a couple more times.

Day 253

5) Write Raphael at least 4 letters while he’s in Honduras (3/4) 4/21/07, 8/26/07, 12/01/07

Letter #3 to Raph was stamped and mailed December 1st. Interestingly enough, John Lamming tapped me on the shoulder as I was writing it. He was with his entire family and our conversation was extremely brief, though.

8) Eliminate acne Nature's Gate Organics Acne Treatment System purchased 5/3/07; Zinc supplement arrived 6/22/07; started Bikram yoga 6/23/07; started acupuncture 11/9/07
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39) Receive acupuncture 11/09/07, 11/21/07, 12/07/07

It's working. I'm taking 32 herbal pills a day, but my face is clearing. Pimples still are breaking out, but only one to two at a time vs. five or six, and it's only been a month. Hopefully I haven't spoke too soon...

17) Take Acting for Camera class enrolled 7/4/07; 8/16/07 - 12/13/07

The class ended last night with a potluck (to which 5 people brought chips and/or salsa) and viewings of our last scenes. The scene I was in, from Midsummer Night's Dream, was a complete disaster. I was the only one of the four people in my scene w/o a script in my hand, though I had a good third of the lines. It's funny though. I have it, as well as everything else I did in the class, on DVD. I am so relieved to be done with the whole affair though. In the end, I was getting very little out of it.

34) Have a game night every other week for 3 months (1/6) 10/13/07, 10/27/07, 11/11/07 - interrupted; 12/01/07

A couple weeks ago I brought Serene and Zack over to Mag and Ran's to play games. We played a brief round of Scene It and then The Gift of Enlightenment, in which you test how in tune your chakras are. Maggie won.

79) Determine what key clothing pieces you’re missing from your wardrobe and make or purchase them Pencil Skirt 12/9/07

I went out looking for a dress to wear to my company party and fell in-love with a versatile pencil skirt. It's charcoal gray with pin stripes, and everyone at the party loved it, though they were more taken with the red heels I had on.

Day 238

34) Have a game night every other week for 3 months (0/6) 10/13/07, 10/27/07, 11/11/07 - interrupted

I failed to have a game night this past weekend, probably due to both Trin and Zack being out of town. I want to start having more variety to those who attend too. Maybe invite people from my acting class and from yoga. It might be better to wait until the holidays have passed though...

39) Receive acupuncture 11/09/07, 11/21/07

I had my second round of acupuncture last Wednesday and got a whole new mixture of herbs to take. With the herbs in my system I have little tolerance for sugary foods which presented digestive problems on Thanksgiving and my B-day (which went wonderfully BTW). I really enjoy the peace and relaxation that the acupuncture itself provides but any effects on my acne have yet to be seen.

Day 228

10) Master 10 dinner recipes (0/10) Baked Chicken Breast with Honey Mustard Sauce (4); Stir Fried Chicken & Asparagus w/Seaweed Rice (1); 15 Minute Salmon with Mint Salsa and Minted Carrots with Pumpkin Seeds (1); Homemade Chili (1)

On Halloween I made a batch of chili from scratch... though the beans were canned... but they were organic. Trin and Zack had some and loved it, so I consider it a success.

17) Take Acting for Camera class enrolled 7/4/07

I've been getting all A's in this class, but it's scared me away from ever trying to act professionally. It really requires you to go for it heart and soul and it's impossible to give it real effort and keep a steady job, so you'd need someone supporting you at the start or have saved enough to support yourself.

34) Have a game night every other week for 3 months (3/6) 10/13/07, 10/27/07, 11/11/07

Sunday the 11th, after much conversation and story reading, Serena, Zack and I sat down for a game of scrabble. I didn't have a chance against these two, and was very sleepy, so I left the game early for bed while the two of 'em battled it out. Serena eventually won, though Zack claims it's because he got tired.

39) Receive acupuncture 11/09/07

Friday the 9th I received acupuncture for the first time, the focus being on curing me of acne. Needles were stuck in various parts of my body and I lay there with them for a half hour. I did feel random tingles and itches and my right hand went through something brief but painful. All and all it was relaxing, particularly the massage that followed. I was given some herbs and made another appt. for this Wed. Cross your fingers for my cause I really don't want to take Accutane.

53) Volunteer 50hrs (26/50) Food Bank 4/18/07, Homeless Children (2) 5/2/07, 6/20/07, Sprucing up the Botanical Garden 5/19/07, Breakfast for Abused Children 6/2/07, Fixin' Feral Kitties in Oakland 9/16/07, SF Green Festival 11/10 & 11/11/07

The weekend of the 10th and 11th I volunteered at the Green Festival. On Saturday I helped with the Numi tea stand and was given a bunch of free tea. Very good tea, might I add, being organic, plus fair trade certified. On Sunday my job was to get people to "register" by filling out a form asking for their name, phone #, e-mail, and mailing address. Clearly this was for marketing purposes so I felt awkward, particularly because they had to fill one out in order to get a ticket. Around 4pm (my shift was from 2-630p) they moved me to a little room to scan and pack donated books. I made out like a bandit with all the freebies for volunteers, the most mentionable being organic cotton shirts and organic chocolate.

Day 207

I have to admit I'm just not as enthusiastic about life without Phineas in it. I'm also depressed because there are so many issues surrounding the prospect of me adopting another cat; Zack having asthma, me having allergies, a dog in the house, me finding a cat friendly place when I move out, Mom and Roger being all uptight about the issue, I want to travel...*sigh*
None of this changes the gaping hole I feel without feline companionship. I've thought about volunteering at the SPCA, but what if it just makes me want a pet more?

34) Have a game night every other week for 3 months (2/6) 10/13/07, 10/27/07

The turn out for the second game night was small but intimate being Trinity, Zack, Serena and I. We first went for sushi, and finally (after much conversation) got around to a game of Pictionary. Although Zack and I had a good lead in the beginning, we quickly lost ground to Trin and Serene due to a series of puny rolls, and they beat us in the end.

Day 193

4) Paint your room 10/05/07

So, Zack called me on the 21st of September inquiring if I still had a vacant room in my apartment. "Why, did you break up with Nicole?" I asked. And low and behold, he had. Two weeks later he was moved in, and I had painted my room a lovely spring green... with random chunks of blue grey, because I ran out of the green and the guys at Home Depot just couldn't recreate it. It's not terribly noticeable as the room is dark. I'm going to be painting cherry blossom branches on the wall too, which should further deter from the two tones.

34) Have a game night every other week for 3 months (1/6)

This past Saturday Trin's friend Tommy and his girlfriend Binky were in town, so the three of them, along with Serena, Zack and I, gathered at the apartment for a game of Therapy. It was a very long game since we kept getting side tracked by conversation, but we had a great time, laughing and drinking tea. Trinity won.