Life of a bachelor - Day 1

Today will be day one of my week as a bachelor while Mychelle and the kids visit family in SC. Today was also my first day carrying a weapon out in public. I openly carried my Grendel P-10 .380 pistol on my hip as I ran errands today.

When I moved to Virginia my brother-in law suggested that he and I get our concealed weapons permits. I've always wanted to get mine. I grew up in house where my step father and I dedicated a whole room to guns. I have always felt comfortable around them.

Growing up I saw some of my friends get their concealed weapons permit, and I told myself I would get one once I could afford and buy a pistol. But I never got a pistol, and I never got my permit.

When I signed up with the Army National Guard and spent months sitting, walking, eating, and sleeping with a weapon I determined to get my permit when I got back home. But I never could justify the expense of a handgun and never got a permit.

I was given a .357 revolver from my step-father for a self defense weapon. I couldn't shoot anything with it, and gave it back (my wife is a deadlier shot with a handgun then me). I got a Hungarian F.E.G. .32 ACP from him instead. I call it the Hungarian plinker as it does a better job plinking soda cans then protecting my family.

When my brother-in-law offered to do it with me I decided to actually get it done this time. I had hunter's safety and military training, so all I needed to do was pay the fees and get a pistol. A coworker had just gotten his at the time and kept encouraging me to do it.

I filled out the application, but the day I was going to take it in, I had second thoughts. With the government trying to crack down on guns, I figured any money I put into them would just get lost. I decided to skip all the gun stuff and just get a good quality bow and some arrows for when the crap hits the fan.

Then one day while helping someone move I was gifted the Grendel pistol. It is a perfect concealed weapon, which left me without excuse for not getting permit.

I will admit that when I paid the $50 bucks I felt like I was throwing away money. But afterwards I felt very patriotic to not only exercising my second amendment right, but for volunteering to be part of the militia. In Virginia's constitution it says that during the times of peace that the military is to be subservient to a well regulated militia of the people. I know now that I can be there to respond in a moment of crises.

I was a bit apprehensive about open carrying while waiting for my permit to process. I thought people would scream "that man has a gun!" or think it was illegal carry and call the cops on me. The place that scared me the most was going into the library. I though for sure a mother would fear that I was endangering her children and get me in trouble. But nobody seemed to even notice my weapon. It was a relief to know that the general populace here won't freak out at the site of a gun. It wasn't even dangerous since I decided to not load it my first time out.

It has been a patriotic experience to learn more about concealed weapon laws, stand your ground, deadly & lethal force, and castle doctrine. I feel if you are going to exercise this important right that you shouldn't just be another guy with a gun. You should be a learned and well informed citizen who know very well the laws of the land in which you reside. It is a lot of reading, but it makes me feel more qualified to carry a weapon wherever I go. It is,of course, impossible to take my weapon to work, since they are not allowed there, but I bout a nano gun case and keep a pistol at my bedside.

I don't feel like holding a gun makes me patriotic, but I think the quote I heard is right, "a right not exercised is a right lost". This is one right I don't want us to lose.

Aside from that I set up our new wireless dog fence (an entire post alone could be written on our dog issues), ate half a veggie pizza after consuming only veggie/fruit juice all day, and watched M.I. - Ghost Protocol (it wasn't amazing, but it wasn't the crappy movie I was expecting it to be).

I miss my kids and wife, but it is nice having some time to relax.

Day 7 - Last Day

Today is a bitter sweet day. It has been fun to gain control of my cravings and to try something new. I think of all those countries, all those people who can eat food when they can get it. Who don't have the luxury of choosing what they want. They may only get one meal that whole day. To them, any food is a blessing and something to be thankful for. They eat in order to live. I think about how my life has been. I would be upset at a restaurant if my steak wasn't cooked just right. I look into the fridge where food is and say "there is nothing to eat" because nothing in there looks good. I have been so selfish with "needing" to have food. I don't need it. I shouldn't demand it. If a small amount of nourishment that may not taste as good as a Pizza Hut pizza does not satisfy me, then I am living it all wrong. Our God has said that we have herbs, fruits, and animals to eat with wisdom and thanksgiving. I can say that I have not been doing either. I hope that after today I am more thankful, more wise, and less picky about what I eat each day. I hope I do not forget the importance and connection that the physical has with the spiritual. To overindulge one in bad things is to hinder the other. I will be so happy and thankful to be able to eat meat, grains, and even the full fruit and vegetable tomorrow. I know that men was not meant to live on a liquid diet. But I will be sad to leave this introspective state that I have put myself in. I hope it doesn't fade. My breakfast and lunch were made with produce that I used up so as to not have them go bad, not really caring about the taste. Breakfast was good, but had quite the zing to it (I'm nor sure why, unless it was the parsnips). It had pineapple, kale, celery, ginger, red cabbage, parsnip, orange, and mango. What I made for lunch tasted good when I made it last night, but when I drank it today it was very gross. It had sweet potato, radishes, carrots, lime, and a pear. I was planning on having my sweet red kale drink for dinner and some pine needle tea, but I fell asleep when I got home from work and have no desire to juice now that I'm up. I think it is because I'm in the mindset of eating food tomorrow. Day 7 down, onward I go.

DAY 6 Alright!

If you are wondering why there is no day 5, it is not because I quietly gave up and went to McDonalds, suffering from a heart attack soon after. There was no day 5 because I didn't think much of my diet at all. I wouldn't say that I got a boost of energy like everyone talks about, but I think my body has finally begun to adapt to the diet. I don't feel lethargic and tied anymore. I don't feel super hungry all the time. I do still crave things but have not given in at all (not even to quickly munch a small piece of pineapple that looks so good before it gets blended). It is weird to think tomorrow will be the last day. I don't know what to do for meals now. I know some people choose to extend their diets after the first several days because it gets easier and they begin seeing the benefits, but even though I feel I could (and I have plenty of produce for it) I will be ending it tomorrow still. It has been a great experience for me. Today I made a pre-workout drink recipe I found on healthyblending.com. It had beets, celery, orange, lemon, Swiss chard, and celery. For lunch I made my own concoction. It had pineapple, papaya, carrots, Swiss chard, and red cabbage. Both weren't bad. The workout drink tasted too much of celery, and my concoction (though good) was not that sweet. Dinner was really good. It had kale, Swiss chard, oranges, apples, and carrots. I made a second batch for the kids. It is so nice not feeling weak and tired all the time. I still get hunger pains and cravings though. And so ends another day of my juice fast. Six days down, one more to go.

Day 4 - Where's the boost?

I heard that after the third day you start getting more energy. Maybe I haven't been drinking as much as I should, because I still feel weak. I am hitting the 1,200-1,800 calorie intake that they recommend, but I still feel weak. Symptoms of this fast have been: lethargy, weakness, dry mouth, tiredness, and diarrhea. Benefits have been: no more morning stomach aches, hydrated system, no stuffed feeling, self control, more enjoyable food prep and discovery, family involvement in meals, overall healthier feeling, and some weight loss. I don't have any idea how people do it for 30-60 days, but I still believe a week long juice is a fun, challenging, and worthwhile goal. This mornings breakfast was not tasty, but I made it that way so I could get some less desirable but healthy veggies into me without diluting it with a lot of fruit. It had 3 1/2 cups of beet greens, 1 tomato, 2 1/2 cups of spinach, 1/2 lemon, 3 cups of kale, and 3/4 cup of mustard greens. It was a lot of veggies, but it didn't make a lot and was pretty low in calories. I made that and a sweet one last night and was planning on saving the gross one for lunch. I am glad I had the gross one for breakfast because my taste buds weren't really awake, so it wasn't so bad, and now I get to look forward to lunch, instead of of dreading it. It was much easier to down that as a nasty juice then to spend twenty minutes munching on all of it. To make my concoctions taste better, and to not keep running out of key ingredients, I have made a meal plan for the rest of the week. I will go to the store and get what I need for those meals and actually know what I will be having each day. Later - I went to the store and realized that they are missing simple things like wheat grass or pomegranates. Oh well. Dinner wasn't that tasty, and neither will be the breakfast and lunch I made. It is amazing how much adding fruit adds flavor to your drink. Dinner gave me enough energy, even if it wasn't that good. I found a nice grocery store today that has a lot of good produce, so I will get to have a lot more variety. Day four down, three more to go.