i am a crazy list-maker

And yes, I often create a pros + cons list for every significant decision I make.  It works for me.  Especially when I am flooded with ideas on a particular subject matter, I need to get everything down on paper and out of my brain before I suffer an aneurysm.  So, when the idea struck me to adopt Alicia's the kind diet, I grabbed a notepad and began scribbling.  Here's what I filled the page with before returning to the day's duties.

Super-lucky for me, I can cross off that first listed potential roadblock.  Gabe is just as excited as I am to embark on this vegan voyage!  Last night I took him to a local veg restaurant, Andy Nguyen's, and "presented" my plan to him over an incredibly delicious meal.  We swapped ideas, supportive words, and agreed this was not an overnight transformation, all while devouring Andy's Ultimate Buddha Nature and Awakening Mind Chow Fun dishes, sipping two pots of hot tea, then finishing with the Banana Mochi dessert.  Oh yeah. I could eat like this every day.

We discussed the best immediate plan of action for dealing with the foods we currently have in our fridge and pantry.  We knew there was no meat/poultry in our fridge or freezer, so already we were off to a great start.  We do, however, have butter, eggs, milk, half + half, milk chocolate, flour tortillas, honey, white sugar, white pasta, white flour, and a few more things with which we still need to deal.  After dinner, it was too late to do any grocery shopping, so when we got home we surveyed our stock and decided for breakfast we would have oatmeal made with water and seasoned only with cinnamon.  

This morning, he handed me a warm bowl with a mound of steaming oatmeal bronzed by the ground cinnamon, and we dug in.  Hmm. Kinda bland, we thought.  So, Gabe checked our pantry again and found a pouch of dried wild blueberries. They added the perfect natural sweetness and texture the oatmeal had been lacking.  It was now yummy.  We did, admittedly, have half + half in our coffee because, well, we didn't want the rest of the carton to go to waste.  This is going to be a transition that will take patience and flexibility.  

Let the journey begin!