Earth Week and Sonic Boom

Tomorrow (4/22) is Earth Day! I have loved recognizing "Earth Day" ever since I was little.
I am not sure exactly how or why I became such an enthusiastic conservationist, but sometime around the end of elementary school, I decided to create a "scrap paper drawer" and ever since have extended my anti-wasting attitude towards many things ... including fruit and foods that most people argue should not be salvaged :) Before I forget to mention it-- in honor of Earth Week, ALL national parks are offering free entrance this week (4/17- 4/25) so, if you live near one, GO!!!

In addition to cutting down on waste, I also thought that, this month, I would try to do a little "cutting down" on some other vices. Kelvin and I were overseas in Asia in February and I kind of missed the Lent bandwagon this year in terms of "giving something up." I have also been, with travel and long hospital hours in March, not doing very well in the healthy eating department, finding myself overdoing it with sweets and sodas (I have become quite a little Diet Coke addict). So, with these various factors in mind, as of last week, I planned to give up both sweets and soda for at least a month. This probably doesn't help the earth in the slightest, but it is in the spirit of anti-indulgence that I thought it was somewhat relevant to this post.

I am also going to try something which some might find weird: giving up daily hair-washing. I don't know what most girls (or guys?) do, but I have been, for as long as I can remember, a daily-hair-washing person. I so envied my college roommate, Cathleen, who, despite working out daily with the track team, only washed her (always gorgeous-appearing) hair a couple of times per week. I truthfully am not sure I can get away with this due to my "hair type" because I always think it looks a bit weird and greasy after about a day, especially with attemped workouts in the mornings. However, I am going to give it a shot. I have located a very stylish shower cap from some hotel I stayed at once. I will still shower daily, but think I will save water by not washing the hair as much. Reducing the hair-washing frequency may make my hair healthier (?), but I wonder if I'm going to have to start straightening it or something to make it look presentable, which would kind of negate the environmental purpose and the health-purpose of such a stunt. I was told that my scalp will "get used" to the less-frequent washing, and reduce its grease production accordingly. Amy told me that there exists "dry shampoo" which might be worth trying. True stuff? I welcome any and all tips about surviving with q.o.d. hair-washing.

With all that "saving," it was about time that I did a little indulging, right? Well-- the indulgence was at a little fast food place called Sonic, which I have heard so much about (esp from my Florida friends), but which I had never tried. I didn't think that they existed out here, except in Fresno (about 2-3 hours south of Sacramento); however, Kelvin found out that there is one in Roseville, 20 miles from Sac and just down the street from the Urology office where I am currently rotating. The "jumbo" popcorn chicken was not so jumbo, but the jalapeno burger was awesome, and the drinks (cherry slush and a lime "chiller," which made me feel quite a bit guilty because it was kind of dessert-y and so tasty) definitely got gold stars. I will definitely head there again!!

Happy Earth Day, everyone! [Maybe you can celebrate at the Sonic by you :) ]