Monday, December 3, 2012

SWEET DIRT

    Today is day three of our juice fast.  It's also the last day...woohoo!!! How do I feel today?  I'm not hungry at all, just had my cup of tea, and haven't even had my juice yet.  Again, I slept through the night.  The trips to the bathroom yesterday were greatly reduced.  And, I lost 2.5 pounds in two days!
    My hubby was mildly ill most of the day yesterday.  Not sure if he had a bug or if his body was objecting to no coffee, no cookies, and no bread...well, basically no food.  
     As I mentioned yesterday, the morning grape drink was very tasty, but way too sweet.  I ate a handful of walnuts to cut the sugar.  For lunch we juiced sweet potatoes (bet you didn't know they had juice in them), carrots, bell peppers, apples, and beets---4 large beets.  
     The color was amazing---a cross between hot pink and red.  The foam being hot pink.  It was thick like most of the other juices of the weekend.  If you've ever had a desire to be a vampire this is the drink for you.  It resembled blood being poured into a glass.  We should've used a gold chalice or some other ornate container and chanted a few words before drinking it.  But, we said a few words after the first sip.  "Do you taste dirt?" I asked. "Yup" was the response.  
     Neither of us like beets, so what did we expect.  The beet flavor took over and since they were juiced with the skins on, the dirt flavor was strong.  The drink was quite sweet.  Diluting it with water and pouring it over ice, made it go down much, much easier.  At first one might think he/she could drink this one more often, but as the sips continued it went into the never make again category.  
    By dinner we were finished with their recipes.  We decided why juice something that you would never eat so we created our own. Apples, carrots, spinach, and grapes---heavy on the spinach.  It was quite good and we had no problem drinking it.  
     Did we succeed in our attempt?  Probably not.  I had a small turkey burrito both days.  My hubby had one yesterday.  But the majority of our weekend was nothing but juice and, of course, Nancy Drew.  
     I'm not craving fried chicken, or Chinese food like I was the first day.  I'm actually not craving anything.  
    Will we continue?  Yes.  We plan to have at least one glass of highly concentrated juice every day.  We will follow the instructions to make the juice with 80% vegetables and 20% fruit. And since we almost never eat red meat that part will be easy to eliminate.  We plan to increase our vegetable servings at our meals and replace one meal per day with juice while sipping the juice during our other two meals.
     The concept is good, the recipes they provided I believe would set you up for failure.  So no more large amounts of spicy ginger, or raw onions, or tart lemons with the peels on and especially no more sweet dirt drinks.  Thanks for sharing our experiment.   
             
 

Sunday, December 2, 2012

FAST IS SLOW

    Well we made it through the first day and I'm still alive.  This is how it played out.  We managed the first drink of the day, but I needed water because the ginger was too hot.  The second drink, our two quarts of "snack", was a nice green slime.  This time the strong lemon flavor hit me hard.  I managed about 6 ounces of my one quart and my hubby finished it all off.  He's such a good sport.  
     To keep our minds off food we locked ourselves in our family room and played a Nancy Drew mystery computer game.  Yeah, yeah, I know, Nancy Drew.  But let me explain.  We started playing these with the grandkids a few years ago and well, we well, oh how do I say this...we got hooked.  So far I haven't found any recovery programs for Nancy Drew addicts and we do limit ourselves to only a couple of games each year.  And we only play them on weekends and they last for several weekends if we play them on senior detective level.  So I think our addiction is controllable.  
    Our friends are all so supportive.  One, invited my husband over for BBQ ribs.  Detective Karst (from my mystery novels) and his wife stopped by and told us about their lunch in townAnother friend called and asked if that meant no more Hostess cupcakes, and my brother, of all people, who should be offering us the most support wrote to tell me he was having a chocolate carmel ice-cream bar after he finishes his all meat pizza!!!  Really, where's the support, oh and my daughter who started all of this by giving us the documentary is still laughing.  
     By lunch time I was mighty hungry.  The bottles of water weren't doing it for me....let me confess right here and now....I ate a grape.  
     At twelve sharp, I was watching the clock, I suggested we make our next recipe.  It smelled tasty.  It had parsley, red onion, red bell pepper, a lime, celery, cucumber, and tomatoes.  Yum the fragrance of Mexican food was in the air.  I sipped it and it was all I could do to swallow it.  I thought maybe I would warm it just a little, not hot, didn't want to destroy the nutrients.  I thought as a soup it might go down better.  Nope, every swallow wanted to come up as quickly as it went down.  My hubby chugged his down without coming up for air, he says it's better that way.  My went down the drain.  
    He had a migraine appear, (not uncommon) so he could do no more for the evening.  I made this morning's breakfast last night so it could chill by morning.  
    By dinner time, my hypoglycemia had kicked in and I started to tremble.  I had to throw in the towel and eat.  I knew I couldn't go through the night without food.  So I had a homemade burrito.  They're small, with a little turkey, and beans in them.  That was just enough to hold me over until this morning.
    This morning's drink is quite good--apples, blackberries and grapes...lots and lots of grapes, six cups to be exact of these wonderful black grapes.  It went down easily, but then the sugar buzz hit.  I don't eat or drink sugar in the morning.  I can't do the donut or cold cereal 100 percent sugar loaded breakfast.  So to cut the sugar, I'm eating a half cup of walnuts. 
    Am I failure....maybe....how do I feel...great.  I lost one and a half pounds yesterday.  I had more energy. I stayed up later than is typical for me and I slept soundly through the night.  Are we going to continue today?  Yes.  But we are going to adjust the recipes for our tastes.  
    If anyone else is going to follow this program I might suggest a couple things that should be included in your shopping list.  Make sure to buy a couple cases of toilet paper.  I think it was liquid in-liquid out all day.  Every twenty minutes we paused the game to run to the bathroom.  I'm certain that's where my weight loss came from.  Or....if you are wanting to save on TP you can always have a catheter put in.... stay tuned for more episodes.....    
    

Saturday, December 1, 2012

TWISTED, CURIOUS & POSSIBLY DEAD

     Okay, I'll admit I'm a bit twisted, but what mystery/thriller writer isn't.  Curious, of course, if one's not curious about things how can you research and learn enough to write about them.  Possibly dead is where I might be by the end of this weekend.   I could be killed by my husband before the weekend is over.  You've read it here first.  
     If things are bad enough he may turn into a serial killer like the characters in my novels.  You know, the nice guy you just had over to dinner, the one you would trust with your life, then he turns out to be responsible for all the homicides in my books.  You will know if he goes on a killing rampage when you read in the headlines that the produce men, Mark and Al from the Safeway store in Ogallala, NE are found...well we don't really want to go there now.  
     So what am I planning to do to my husband that will make him a raging lunatic by the end of the weekend?  First off, no coffee.  That's right.  We turned off his coffee pot.  I don't drink the nasty stuff so it won't bother me.  
     We love food, we love to cook.  We prepare most of our meals from scratch staying away from most processed foods.  That way we don't feel as guilty when we have to have that Ben and Jerry's ice-cream at bedtime.  Or when we devour a couple pounds of caramel corn...but hey we make our own from scratch so there are no artificial flavors or preservatives.  We won't discuss the sugar content.   Then there's the chocolate chip cookies, and move over and hand me a fork when there's a homemade chocolate cake on the table.  
     OMG just writing this blog today is a huge mistake.  My mouth is watering.  If anyone is out there reading this please sneak in a package of Keebler fudge sticks, I can scarf down an entire package in less than thirty minutes.  
     So, you're still wondering what we're up to.  We watched a documentary called, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.   It was a huge eye-opener as to how we're killing ourselves with food.  The man who made the documentary went on a 60 day juicing fast.  Sounds crazy, but he looked great at the end of it.  He lost tons of weight, no longer took his prescription drugs and changed his outlook on life and food.  
     I know what you're thinking, and no, we are not going on a 60 day juice fast.  But, we're going to try it for 3 days.   We pulled the recipes from the Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead website.  I facebooked my friend Mark from the produce department and he filled the order for me.  I almost needed a truck to bring home 3 days worth of fruits and vegetables to juice.  
     We researched and found what we think is a great juicer and today is day one.
     For breakfast we had a cup of tea, a big glass of water...wait I have to go to the bathroom again....okay I'm back.  Then we chopped carrots, apples and ginger root and tossed them into this wonderful new machine.  The juice looked okay, an orange drink for breakfast, not too unusual, but whew, that fresh ginger gave it some burn.  I'll bet the root is related to horseradish.  Imagine that first thing in the morning.  You should know I don't even like mild picante sauce.  But I was a good sport and sipped my 8 ounces until it was gone, of course I used a water chaser with each sip.   The flavor was actually quite good, but the heat slowed me down a bit.  
    When my hubby went out to do my chores I prepared our snack.  SNACK!!!  It's a damn two quart pitcher, when we share it that means one quart each.  It is a very disgusting looking lime green.  It has cucumbers, celery, apples, kale and of course more ginger root.  It's chilling in the fridge as I write this.  Hang on,  I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back.
     So as I was saying, it's in the fridge chilling and we have to get that down before we juice our lunch.....stay tuned for more comments about our weekend.           

Friday, October 12, 2012

TODAY STINKS!!!!!

     We've all had those days, you know, when you drag yourself out of bed, and you just know the day is not going to start out wonderfully.  
     I slept through the night last night, a thrilling feat in itself.  No middle of the night tossing and turning, no potty break at 2 am.  Just sound restful sleep.  But I thought maybe because of it, because of that long peaceful sleep, I had morning mouth.  Not your typical morning mouth, but the kind that makes you wonder what crawled into your mouth during the night and died there. 
     I cupped my hands and breathed into them, I could smell nothing.  I tried a second time.  Whew, it wasn't me.  When I removed my hands from my mouth the smell was back.  Must be my hubby, he'd been ill the day before so it must be the residue from a bacterial infection.  Yep, that had to be it.  Poor guy.
    I slipped out of bed and went out into the hall and the smell was worse.  I looked back at him sleeping peacefully, his face toward the wall that leads toward the door, "Wow, he must really be breathing hard to send the smell all the way out to the hall," I thought.  
     I gently woke him for work but when he spoke the smell was not there.  I looked at him, looked toward the hall, sucked in a deep breath and it hit me.  The smell and the realization of what I was smelling. 
     I raced up the stairs, with each step the smell intensified.  I met the cat on the stairs racing down as quickly as her fat little legs would carry her.  She was running from the smell, and I was foolishly walking toward it.  
    At the top of the stairs, you know the spot where odors linger and heat rises, I wanted to turn back.  My eyes began to water, my stomach began to churn.  I needed to vomit, but I had to be certain.
     I looked for my three westies who generally greet me in the dining room each morning, begging for their morning cookies from the cookie jar in the kitchen.  They were missing.  My heart sank.  
     Should I run down and get my hubby to help, I knew deep in my ever-churning gut what must've happened to them during the night.  That peaceful, sleep through until morning, night. 
     As I wandered through the remainder of the house, my head swirled, my stomach churned, beads of sweat appeared on my forehead, I felt dizzy, and the urge to vomit mounted.  
    Finally, the dogs heard my footsteps, they burst into the house through the doggie door, first happy to see me, and then they dropped to the floor in front of me and scooted their faces all around the room.  They rolled and scooted on the carpet, wiping their faces as hard as they could.  My dogs are mud puppies, they were not trying to impress me by cleaning their faces before breakfast.
    The stench grew stronger,  I leaned onto the table for support, I needed to finish the search.  My eyes burned, my head ached.  I had to step outside, forty degrees or not, I had to search the darkness of our yard.  
    On went the yard lights, and by that time my hubby had appeared behind me with a flashlight.  He was on the trail as well.  A quick scan of the yard revealed no sign of an intruder, no sign except a faint odor.  
    Back inside the house, the smell was strong, the dogs were still wiping their faces all over the carpet.  
    Yep, for those of you who live in the country like us, you guessed it.  They found their first skunk!!  It had to be a young one who slipped into our fenced yard, and my three westies had to be certain it didn't stay.  
     We had to force ourselves to eat breakfast in the stench, then gather the dogs for a quick face trim and washing.  Fortunately, I was way behind schedule for grooming them and most of the hair I could cut away.  We shampooed their faces, and had the bottle of Skunk Off set out in case the trim and rinse didn't work.  
    They smell pretty good now.  You have to put your face into theirs to smell the remnants of the foul mist that landed on their coats.  But, my carpet!!!  Gag, choke, sputter, ewwww.....they managed to wipe the fresh skunk oil into the fibers of the carpet.  
     I quickly lit scented candles that are clashing with the incense burning throughout the room.  I had all the windows and doors open until I could no longer feel my fingers and toes.  
     I have to bundle up and step outside to get away from the pungent fragrance emanating from the carpet with each  step.  
As we all know, skunk oil is permanent in fabric.  But it's okay to toss out a pair of jeans, or a pair of shoes or even a complete outfit when the oil has clung to them, but two rooms of carpet???  I haven't forced myself to smell the dining room chairs yet.  I'm certain they probably climbed up onto them for naps during the night like they always do.  
    We had planned to take a two-week break from work.  Two weeks to sit back, watch movies and enjoy ourselves.  We had also planned to remove our carpet and put in hardwood floors in a couple of  years, I repeat in a couple of years.  Plans change, that's to be expected.  
    We vowed to give it twenty-four hours to see if the smell dissipates on its own.  To be certain, we'll have to invite someone over to smell our house.  The one thing about skunk smell is when you live with it for a few hours, it seems to disappear.  Well, it only disappears if your the one wearing it.  To everyone else you smell like a skunk!
     At the end of our twenty four hours, the first day of our vacation, we may be pulling up carpet and spending time putting in a new floor.  Wish us luck, and if you pass us on the street, don't be polite, let us know if you smelled us before you saw us, that's what friends are for.  

 

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Press release for PSYCHIC GENES


Order now from the author’s website, free shipping on two or more titles.  Stock up now on all the Elusive Clue titles as well as Bremmer’s children’s books.  www.patriciabremmer.com
 
Bestselling Nebraska author does it again! Patricia Bremmer has created a cross-over mystery leading teens into her Elusive Clue mystery series for adults. 

Bestselling Nebraska mystery author, Patricia Bremmer, has penned her first crossover leading teens into her adult mystery series.  PSYCHIC GENES has a highschool setting with adult problems.  A captivating read.  As an added bonus Bremmer is answering her readers request to learn more about her psychic character, Jennifer Parker, from the Elusive Clue Series.  Jennifer has captured the attention of all her readers. 
***Did you know Patricia Bremmer is now being read in over 55 countries? 


           In PSYCHIC GENES Bremmer finally shares more about her character, psychic Jennifer Parker, and her family history when Jennifer must help her young niece, Shayne.
Shayne Nicole Hartley woke, frightened by her recurring nightmare.  Why does she keep having these dreams and what do they mean? 
            Shayne’s mother knows exactly what’s been happening to her seventeen-year-old daughter.  Her worst fears have come true, her daughter inherited the family curse—she’s psychic.
            Delaware, a gothic classmate, bumps into Shayne in the hall, their eyes meet.  Shayne’s disturbed by her cold dull stare.  Delaware exits the school and is killed in a tragic accident.  Moments later, she appears to Shayne in the girl’s bathroom.  
            Shayne shares her secrets with her best friend, Simorn, who desperately needs her help when her father, Perry, is arrested for the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend, school counselor, Holly Weston.  
              The two girls, aided by Aunt Jennifer Parker, and the kind, rugged, Detective Glen Karst from the Elusive Clue Series work together to hone Shayne’s skills.   
            Through a series of dreams, visions, and help from several dead people, the truth is exposed and Shayne has a new outlook on life and her curse turned gift.


PSYCHIC GENES:                                                                                       AVAILABLE NOW ON KINDLE:  http://www.amazon.com/Psychic-Genes-ebook/dp/B008OBWI0M/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1344006947&sr=1-1&keywords=psychic+genes
ISBN# 978-0-9847607-7-0
Perfect Binding, Trade Paperback, 5.5 X 8.5                                 
354 Pages
Retail Price- 12.99
Available: September 1, 2012
Retail:  Order from Patricia Bremmer’s website for autographed copies

Patricia also writes middle-grade mysterious/adventures under the name P A  Bremmer.  Learn more about Patricia’s other fourteen titles  on her websites below.

www.patriciabremmer.com                                                    www.patriciabremmerblog.com
Contact: Martin Watkins, Windcall Publishing       martinwatkins@chase3000.com or call 303-243-1553