Full of Surprises

Hope y'all had a wonderful Fourth of July!

We had a great week, full of fun and surprises.

First up, my son enjoyed the fireworks. Like, a lot. 

You parents understand why this might be surprising.

18 months old and he barely flinched.

At first he wasn't so sure about the loud ones, but quickly took to the fanfare and started imitating the pyrotechnics, going, "Boom! Boom!"

Then, we decided to surprise my family and go to Rhode Island to visit. 

It was great and (always) well worth it.  

We came, we saw, we ate many things... salads, smoothies and SEAFOOD.

But before anyone goes on a glorious Vitamin B12 tangent . . .

...take a look at this. 

This is a fried Seafood Platter at Champlin's, a harbor side restaurant in Galilee, RI.  

All high raw, vegans and omnivores... I implore you to make pilgrimage at least once in your life to this Galileen coast to grub. You won't regret it. 

Well, you will afterward, especially if you eat the whole thing by yourself.

Shrimp, Clams, Scallops, Haddock and French Fries.

And let's not forget cole slaw, tartar and cocktail sauce.

Anyone drooling? Or wreching?

Anyway, I believe this is 2% Raw, as we asked for extra lemons. 

My hubby and I shared this because, um, look at it.

You surprised? 

Well, folks, life is too short. You gotta indulge once in a while. 

But believe me, life will be shorter if you give into these too often.

And I wonder how often I really can, since my joints and waistline suffered a bit for it. And digestion.

Sooo, I took one for the team?

Either way, it was delicious and I'm getting back on track, as you will see in minute.

Charissa and I posed for the camera. 

Anyone surprised that we're sisters? 

She's 5'3''. I'm 5'11''. She's dark. I'm blue. She looks exotic. I look like a polar bear.

But yup. Same parents.

What's ironic is her hair has always been curlier than mine. But after a freak accident with a curling iron, hers has gone straight for the last few weeks. No joke. (Even though it is kinda funny.)

But now I'm the curly haired sister?

I dunno, just doesn't seem right.

Also, in a strange turn of events, we purchased a new used car (erm, vehicular beast) two weeks ago.

We are proud owners of a '98 Suburban!

Our trip to and from Rhode Island was glorious. I felt like I was riding Air Force One there's so much space!

I joined Knox in the back seat for a little break. He's loving the room, too. 

I dunno, I feel a little more American now that we hog the road and get nods from fellow eight-cylinder owners. Sorta brings joyous tears to my eyes.

To all my green (as in economical) friends, don't be surprised. 

I love my Toyotas, believe you me.

Or, I love how Toyotas are at the gas station and on my pocketbook. 

Point is, I don't care if they invent hybrid GMC's or ones that run on water and/or compost.  I don't think I'll ever want anything smaller for our family.

Well, upon our return home, we were pleasantly surprised to see our garden had yielded some veggies.

Beets, zucchini, chard, kale and carrots.

Unfortunately our broccoli bolted and there's nothing to harvest this year.

But we're pulling that up and replanting to see if we can get some cantaloup. 

One of the last surprises is that I just completed a 36 hour water-only fast this morning. 

This helped detox from a glorious week of gluttony and to reboot my health.

My joints and digestive tract are very thankful.

Water fasting is more aggressive, as you can imagine, than a smoothie or juice fast.  

As I've been reading, it's best to be supervised by a doctor (like inpatient care) if you are going for 4 days or more.  It is a goal of mine to do something like that in the future. 

What surprised me is the growing number of physicians who are promoting this for many health conditions.

 I stumbled upon the True North Clinic website and few Youtube videos, and Dr. Fuhrman's book, Fasting and Eating for Health.  I'm pretty excited that these treatments are gaining momentum in the mainstream.  It gives me hope that I'll be able to visit my medical doctor with books and articles in hand without being viewed as if I have a third eye.  

And then I bought this book: The Miracle of Fasting by the Braggs (The same folks who make Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar, Liquid Aminos, etc.) 

I haven't started it yet, but it looks like it will have a lot of good insights, along with some garbled theology.  But I look forward to reading it and perhaps, erm, eating my words?  

As always, we recommend you read up and talk with your doctor before embarking on any dramatic dietary changes. Not that eating better should be considered dramatic, but it can have various reactions that your physician should be privy to, especially if you are any medications.  I dunno, that's what I'm supposed to say, right? :)