And with the end of March comes freedom · Mar 27, 10:58 PM by Amberlee
Tax time is over for me in just a few hours. My work, and that of the CPA, is finished for our personal and business returns for 2005. Believe it or not, the IRS owes us for once. Thanks for small favors.
In addition to this yearly experience, I also spent March being poked and prodded by doctors. I have been diagnosed with a condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom which is apparently short for: you’ve got cysts on your ovaries for reasons that we’re not quite sure about so we’re going to give you some horse pills to take and insist you go on an Atkins-style no-carb diet for at least six months and see if it just corrects itself and if it doesn’t then we’ll want to open you up and hack something.
Lovely.
I spent three weeks waiting for test results and the last week or so reading the ADA website, checking for decent cook books, and trying to understand this whole carb-craze thing now that it’s totally out of fashion. For the record, I am not a person that does “diets.” This is probably why I’ve needed to take some weight off for a while. But, frankly, I love food. I’m also a really great cook. I’d already decided before the turn of the year that I was going to get to a point where I was eating mostly veggies in six months and had picked up a load of cookbooks to that end, but now a lot of my new recipes are toast thanks to the fact that they have too many carbs.
I’m not much for pimping things but I have to say that this book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0848730534/002-5630235-5574463?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155
is by far the best thing I’ve found. As a cook of more than some experience I could tell the recipes were sound and somewhat flavorfull. The introductory text is understandable and readable. To top it off, it had one of the major things I was looking for: a cheat sheet for the grocery so I could easily know what fruits and veggies were best for a low-carb plan and stick to those without having to do mental mathmatics every time I went to the store.
I can’t say that doing without rice, potatoes, and chocolate is making me much fun to be around but hey. I’d rather take pills for a while and be stuck to some diet modifications than have them yank out my ovaries. Not that I’d miss my ovaries, mind you, it’s just the whole cutting and recovery thing that I’m totally uninterested in.
Last, but not least, I can finally say a little about a big project. I’ve been working with a friend in Japan on an idea I had for an illustrated children’s book. Some connections and words here and there have the project moving forward and in the hands of an experienced editor. I’m still keeping details under wraps as there are more meetings and hoops to jump through, but right now the magic 8 ball says “all signs point to yes” for my story (and my friend’s fantastic artwork) to be published in Japan. It may even come out in a magazine!
To say I am excited is an understatement. Still, the situation is a little nerve wracking. I’ve got a lot of story work and tightening to do and my friend has a lot of drawing ahead of her. Still, to know some of my little characters may find a life and an audience in Japan (and perhaps elsewhere along the way) is a wonderful thing.
So there’s your March for you. I’m largely glad it’s over since plenty of my time will now free up so I can focus on my writing and vegetable garden. Please keep in mind that things in various directories of the website continue to get deleted as I pare down, archive on external drive, and get ready to finish the re-org here. I know. Maybe I’ll never get it done but at least I keep moving forward bit by bit.
Ja!
