Environment and Social

Want to know the best way to start a Monday morning?

Greek yogurt, peaches, peanut butter and blackberry muffins with chocolate chips.

Absolutely awesome…at 6.30am!

We had a busy day of field work so I geared up for the Everglades Tromp by snacking on one of my favorite Odwalla bars:

I should have made it sit in the sun so the chocolate chips could be all melty.  Nom.

Today’s events entailed setting up islands with fake gators and birds to try and attract them to different areas we don’t find them in, but are in relative distance.

 

We’re best buds if you can’t tell.

(Ack!  Blurry photo!  Sorry)

And of course there were birds.  Lots and lots of birds.

We had to stomp around in these tree islands to put up all these decoys, all in trying to evade the real gators and all the guano…aka bird crap!

Remember those flamingos I had to work on for days, sanding and painting?  Yeah, they’re finally getting put to use.  Being tied to Willow branches in the sun!  Don’t we all wish we could live like that (as long as the tree isn’t too uncomfortable!)

In the midst of all the decoy madness we did stop for lunch.  I am on a chocolate kick hard core so of course it was incorporated into my lunch:

Banana and Chocolate and Regular Peanut Butter Sandwich

 

My natural peanut butter at the bottom of the jar is lacking the ability to spread so I mixed it with the chocolate kind; tasted great to have the two flavors in there and so prominent!

And of course there was more fruit on the side: Organic Pear.

   

And to boot, the weather was absolutely amazing!  There were only a few clouds in the sky and it was up in the high seventies!  I actually didn’t have to wear 10 layers of clothes to stay warm! Yay!!!

We drove home and I had a snack of celery, carrots and Publix hummus to keep me awake.  I was super tired…rolling over from the weekend and being out in the sun all day!

I had planned on running after getting home but needed some groceries after not going in over a week, so that took precedence, and I’m saving the workout for early tomorrow morning before even more field work with decoys!  I’m hard core baby!  It’s a speed workout, so hopefully it won’t take too long since I’ll be on a super tight time constraint!

As soon as we got home I started on dinner.  I had the ingredients for Eggplant Parmesan but made my own version:

I baked up some eggplant slices in Cajon seasoning, then heated up some chickpeas with sun dried tomato basil marinara sauce.  On the side I had some Italian seasoned bulgur wheat with some sautéed onions on top. 

BEST DINNER EVER.

For dessert my roomy offered up some chocolate eggs with candy coating that only come out at Easter…ate me a nice handful of those.  Tasty!

~~

[[Side Note: Social Situations

Again, I’m so happy to hear that everyone is enjoying my new Side Note Feature.  Remember that you can find links to all of them at my Side Notes Page located under the blog header of my pretty backyard purple flower (I took that in my dad’s garden a few years ago!).

Anyhow, I’m sure you’ve all seen my Key West: Take Two post of all the fun I had this weekend.  As it was a great time, there was still a lot of anxiety riding in there with it.

I’ve written about the difficulties I’ve had with social situations and drinking with my friends in several different posts (here and here and here) and sadly, it still lived up to it’s nature this weekend.  BUT, it was definitely not as prominent as it has been in the past and it’s enlightening to see how far I’ve come and how much my idea of going out has changed (goodness, I was a nervous wreck!  I def wasn’t this weekend!)

The mentality I’ve had engrained in my head for years has been the terror of first impressions, and they’re always based ON THE WAY YOU LOOK.  I mean, what’s the first thing guys seem to notice when you’re out at the bar with your girlfriends?  Not that you’re smart or have a great personality (since well, that’s not a look), but that you’re cute or hot, something along those lines.  So how am I supposed to feel good abut myself when I’m always worried about what they think I look like, and that’s what’s going to get them to talk to me?

I believe it’s a harsh standard that women have to live up to now a days.  We dress up like there is no tomorrow to go out with our friends, and if we’re single, sometimes hope that one might look our way. 

So, how am I supposed to feel relaxed when I’m set up with that kind of social pressure?  I simply have fun and enjoy myself.  Who cares if a boy is looking my way or not, I’m having fun with my friends.  I’m living it up with the people I enjoy.  I dance.  I sing.  I jump around!  We’re talking and having a few drinks, people watching and probably laughing at things unknown.  But we’re having fun.  That’s what counts the most.

I know many people, whether they have eating disorders or not, have struggled with going out and such.  What do you do to combat feeling uncomfortable while you’re out?  What kinds of things do you do to boost your confidence? ]]