Juice Fast, Day 8: The Continental Club Challenge!

I think I spoke too soon about the allergies. Saturday, Day 6 of the juice fast,  was a loooong, miserable day. I tried to get myself busy with the myriad things that are always pending around the house, and managed to spend a good couple of hours cleaning the garden beds to plant the garden next weekend. We also got some needed shopping done, and went to pick up my juice. I had asked Matt if I could order my own special blend and he said yes. Vampiro is a popular juice blend available at  juice stands all over Mexico City, consisting of carrot, celery, beet, and sometimes orange. I wanted to take that a step further, adding garlic, lime, cilantro and jalapeño. Claudia’s Vampiro was born as the staff at JuiceLand happily obliged my request.

This stuff is so good it almost makes me forget I am not eating!

We came home in time to watch the Saints game, which was a painful, painful letdown. It was right about that time that the allergies kicked in, and I spent the rest of the afternoon sneezing. Of  course I also had to watch Will eat dinner and drink beer, which was frustrating to the point of tears. I took one of my Mexican anti-histamines and marched myself to bed by 8:00 pm just so that I could sleep it off.

Sunday, Day 7 of the juice fast, got off to a nasty start right off the bat. I was not only feeling miserable, but also sorry for myself, hungry, and frustrated. I cried most of the morning until I started watching football again, and then the stupid Texans lost. Will and I decided to get out of the house for a while, so after picking up my juice we headed to the Continental Club for the Bless Your Heart benefit for Houston Press music writer and former Chronicle colleague (and UT classmate) Chris Gray who, at 37 years old, suffered a massive heart attack, was technically dead and resuscitated by Houston Metro workers, then spent time in a medically-induced coma and months recuperating in the hospital. Hey, who can say no to rocking to our faves The Gourds, my pal James McMurtry, and the always entertaining Allen Oldies Band with my superawesome friend David Bebee for a good cause? And yes, I saw a lot of friends and rocked out like the best of them, all the while drinking nothing but green juice. I passed the frekking Continental Club test, learned to do CPR, and was happy to greet Chris, who looked great and smiled the whole time. I wish I had some photos but the Continental is so dark nothing came out.

Today is Day 8 of the juice fast, and I am happy that it is almost over. I am so ready to eat food it’s ridiculous. While it’s true that I was tweaking for a shot of Whiskey during James’ set, not drinking alcohol hasn’t really bothered me as much as not eating food. One of the things Matt wanted me to accomplish with this fast was “to learn to appreciate food so much more.”  Boy, he was not kidding. Tonight, I will “cook” alongside Willy. I have the last of the fall tomatoes sitting on a plate on the kitchen island, and I’ll be darned if I am not going to turn them into juice for dinner. Will has already been warned that he is taking me out to dinner on Thursday.