Pumpkin and Spice

The severe altitude change has been rough on me- I've gone from Florida, which is basically sea level, to Park City, which is about 8100ft above sea level. I've been achy all over, my head hurts, my eyes are dry, my sinuses are like the Sahara, my nose has been bleeding... not to mention that I get winded walking up a single flight of stairs. Everyone says it takes a few weeks to get used to the altitude and thin air.

I didn't sleep too well last night, so I slept in this morning. Sissy and I relaxed, watched Family Feud, and ate breakfast. Breakfast this morning was the same as yesterday, basically. Cinnamon Life cereal with soy milk, fruit (a honeycrisp apple today), and a cup of coffee. Yesterday when I was out I bought some fresh coffee from Park City Coffee Roasters. The coffee we had been using was not very good, and the coffee from the Park City Coffee Roasters was a marked improvement. I got the Park City Blend, a nice, dark coffee. Tomorrow I'll try the Dutch Chocolate.

We mostly lazed around the rest of the morning, watching game shows and reading magazines until lunchtime rolled around. Lunch was a seafood salad (from the deli) sandwich on Orowheat (aka Arnold's) double fiber bread. I also had a salad (gotta eat those veggies!), a handful of Garden of Eatin's Nacho chips and a packet of raspberry Emergen-C mixed in my water bottle. This is the first time I've found Orowheat's double fiber bread (I've had the double protien before). I thought it was good- very "wheaty", though I always eat whole wheat bread, so I was expecting that, and very filling. It also kept me full all afternoon! The Emergen-C I've been drinking in lieu of a multi-vitamin. Vitamins usually make me sick to my stomach (I've thrown up my fair share) so I don't like taking them. I don't have a problem with the Emergen-C making me sick, plus I like the taste. I brought the raspberry from home- at home I can only find raspberry and tangerine- but at the grocery here, they had all kinds of flavors, including mixed berry, lemonade and acai! I can't wait to try them!

After lunch, we headed out to Wal-Mart and Whole Foods. It was a bit of a trek- though it may not seem like it ought to be. They're about 5 or 6 miles outside of town, but since we don't have a car we have to use the bus system. Park City has a very nice, clean, free transit system. To get that far, though, takes a while, as the bus doesn't take the most direct route and makes several stops.

I didn't really need anything from Wal-Mart, but I saw they had an AC/DC poster, which was exactly what our room needed. I love AC/DC, and they're me and Sissy's "good luck charm". During school, we would go out to dinner before our final practicals for each class. It just so happened that we would always hear an AC/DC song on the radio before our test. So, it became our good luck omen- if we heard an AC/DC song, we knew our tests were going to go alright. We knew we needed an AC/DC poster in our room, but had been unable to find one. So, when I saw this one, I had to buy it!

After Wal-Mart, we walked to Whole Foods. I loooove Whole Foods- I probably bought more than I needed, but it's hard to control myself! Here's my haul-

• Amy's frozen meals- one cheese enchilada verde and one vegetarian salisbury steak.
• Natural mini-marshmallows
• Hot cocoa mix
• Soy milk
• Portobello mushroom soup
• Newman-O's (Hint o' Mint)
• A hat
• Annie's P'sghetti Loops and Cheese Ravioli (but I just realized that I have no can opener...)
• Voskos Non-fat greek yogurt in Honey Vanilla Bean and Fig
• Cliff Bars in Cool Mint Chocolate, Apricot and Maple Nut. (I'm not active enough to eat these as a snack- too many calories, but they'll make a good breakfast for mornings I'm in a rush.)
• Luna Tea Cakes in Pomegranete and Mint Chocolate (hmm... I seem to be on a mint-choc kick...)

Dinner tonight was my Amy's vegetarian salisbury steak, an herb and spring mix salad and about 6oz red wine (yeah, in a coffee mug. Super classy, right?) The salisbury steak looked a little... unappetizing. Not as pretty as the box. However, it was really pretty good. The "steak" was nutty and moist, and the gravy was very nice. The potatoes were a perfect portion for me, though I would have liked more green beans. To boost my veggie serving, I had a salad. The salad mix I bought has cilantro and dill mixed in, which I really like- it adds some intrest to the salad.

After dinner, Kyle and I "watched" TV together via webcam. Two of our favorite shows, House and Fringe are on tonight, so Kyle DVR'd them and waited to watch them with me (because of the time difference, they're on later here). We turned on our webcam and watched and chatted about the shows. It was nice. Not as nice as curling up on the sofa with Kyle to watch them, but it was close.

I had a very decadent, chocolatey dessert- a cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows and two mint Newman-O's cookies. It was a perfect dessert, and it reminded me of being little and coming in from the snow to thaw out with a cup of cocoa.

After dessert, Sissy and I decided to go for a walk. I need the exercise, plus my theory is that the more I force my lungs to use the thin, cold mountain air, the quicker they'll get used to it. Right now, my lungs are giving out before my legs tire out (though the hills are a challenge!) It doesn't take long before the cold burns my throat and I'm wheezing from the thin air. I may not be a marathoner, but I don't get winded like this in Florida, so I know it's the air here. Soon, hopefully, I will adapt.

Tomorrow is my first day in the kitchens at work. I'm a little nervous, but very excited, too. I don't know what the policy/sentiment is towards taking pictures in the kitchen, so I don't know if I'll have pictures of what I make, but I'll be sure to tell you all about it! Wish me luck!