Hi All –

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend…. it sure was great to see the SUN here in Boston!  It was sunny this morning when I woke up at 8 o’clock and it was sunny most of the afternoon… I’m hearing thunder in the distance right now, so I think some storms are on the way.  😦

I had a busy but fun Saturday.  I woke up earlier than I normally do on the weekends because I had to be ready to go by 9 o’clock this morning.  My friend Sarah picked me up and we went into downtown Boston to spend our morning and early afternoon volunteering at the National Braille Press. It was a really wonderful experience, we were collating children’s books that had both text and braille so families could read together. In a few hours we had put together nearly 500 books!

The National Braille Press is a wonderful organization – and they are a non-profit so they are always looking for volunteers and / or donations. What a wonderful cause – I highly recommend contacting the organization to see how you can help them!

Before Sarah got to my house, I had time for a quick breakfast:

I just love Peanut Butter Puffins!! They could be my favorite cold cereal – and they go well with so many other things, too (especially Greek yogurt and some PB2!)
With this bowl I also had light vanilla soy milk and half of a banana – a marvelous combo.

In my coffee I also used light vanilla soy milk. Perfection!

Sarah and I got to the NBP by 9:20 and the project started at 9:30 with a quick orientation. Sarah and I have both volunteered at NBP before, so we were a little ahead of the game 🙂  But 12 o’clock we stopped for lunch. Sarah treated me to pizza – thanks Sarah!! I had a piece of awesome veggie pizza and a piece of pepperoni. After being on my feet for a couple of hours and working, the pizza tasted fantastic!

The veggie pizza was so good. I loved the combo of green peppers, tomato, and broccoli. So many times when I order veggie pizza if I get too many toppings the pizza can get soggy. This pizza was perfect!! No sign of sogginess at all.

By two o’clock we were done with our project – we had put together almost 500 books!  After we were finished, we had a quick de-briefing meeting with the other volunteers and enjoyed chocolate chip cookies that our team leader had made for us – what a treat! I had one chocolate chip cookie – it was wonderful 🙂

I was home by 2:30 or a little after. I had to go straight to work, and by that I mean cleaning the house. I vacuumed the living room and bed room, and picked up my things and tried to straighten up. My friend Ann is coming over for dinner tonight.  After cleaning, I walked to the grocery store to get some things for dinner. I talked with Ann before I went, and we have decided to have big salads for dinner (and probably something else too, but we have not quite figured out what yet!)  I am really excited for a nice salad… at the store I got a few things to get us started:

For our salads tonight I bought lettuce, chic peas, organic sun flower seeds, broccoli, red peppers, a cucumber, a tomato, fake bacon bits (I know, I shouldn’t – but I like them a lot!), and I already have carrots, croutons and tuna for protein. I am looking forward to some nice salad tonight! I am also excited to try the Ben & Jerry’s frozen yogurt I found at the store – Half Baked. It is a combo of chocolate and vanilla low fat yogurts with bits of brownies and chocolate chip cookie dough.  This could be heavenly! 🙂

As I am writing this blog post I am enjoying a great drink of iced coffee, soy milk and a scoop of protein powder with a few ice cubes. It is so good and refreshing!

I am going to sign off for now. Hope you are all enjoying a great Saturday!