NealEnJoy Exploring and Encouraging a Healthy Life Marked with Joy

How COULD it be Friday so quickly again?  Goodness.  (Why do we say “goodness” when something surprises us?)

Anyhoo [coincidentally, I was in Panera on Thursday (tomato soup) with grandson Daniel (PB&J), and we overheard a girl with blue hair emphatically tell her boyfriend, “I HATE the word ‘anyhoo’!”  Of course, Daniel kept saying the word over and over throughout the meal], anyhoo, here are five reasons Neal Saye is happy:

1.  Yet another Great Summer Salad, this time with mixed lettuces and spinach, cherry tomatoes, yellow squash, Vidalia onions, red grapes, garbanzo beans, pecans, cashews, flax seeds and pineapple salsa.  Fresh corn on the side.  Yum.  Btw, I am on the Eat to Live eating plan.  Week Four.  I’ve lost 12 pounds and feel great.  (But I miss Lays regular potato chips.)  (Desperately.)  (Would somebody mind coming and forcing me to eat a big bag?)

2.  Grandtwin Matthew and I at a Starcastle Entertainment Center birthday party.

3.  The fact that my summer is lasting a little longer this year–I’m teaching in SCAD‘s summer quarter, and we don’t finish summer school for two more weeks, then two MORE weeks off before fall quarter begins.  (I love tricks that fool me into believing summer really is endless.  I do the same thing with Christmas break.  There’s no way I’m taking down the tree till the Wise Men see it.  And that’s like in January.)

4.  Hummus.

5.  Whole Foods Market is finally in Savannah! 

Listen, tell me, seriously, do I need a life?  Why?  Well because I am THRILLED beyond measure that Savannah has finally gotten a Whole Foods.  I went on a sneak preview tour last week.  (Okay, maybe I wasn’t supposed to be allowed in because all the tours were already booked when I called.  But I’ve discovered a Great Truth in life:  If you just show up, look both interested and a little dumb–so easy!–folks most often dust off the welcome mat for you.)  Here are a few tour pics.  They were still stocking the store.

(Unless we’re talking about the lyrics to Abba songs because once I start singing, I can’t stop.  Sometimes I lose entire days at a time with The Winner Takes It All.)

Here I am with the tour guide:

And here I am with my friend Robert who also toured:

And here’s some pineapple salsa free samples:

What gets on my nerves about free samples is that they are SO SMALL!  If you want me to buy something, GIVE ME A WHOLE LOT of it to start with.  (Do you hear me, Jen, and River Street Sweets?!)  I remember when I was a kid and went trick-or-treating.  This one old couple gave each of us TWO HOMEMADE POPCORN BALLS!  (Jen, could you start giving out TWO PRALINES whenever people, I mean I, walk in?)

And here I am, ecstatic, because I saw a sign about my school:

I got a little behind the rest of the tour because of that pic.

But I made up for it a little later when the guide paused in produce, and asked, “Does anybody know the most nutrient-dense vegetable?”  And I yelled, “KALE!”  I may have stolen her thunder a bit there, but I was so proud!  I think a lady took my picture after I answered correctly.  Really.

(I was trying to look smart and bookish in the above pic.  But that woman to my right kept texting, which also got on my nerves and made me wonder what was going on in her life that upped WHOLE FOODS.  I never found out.  Although I kept right beside her for the rest of the tour.)

Then last Tuesday … the Grand Opening!

I arrived an hour early.  Here I am with a Savannah Derby Devils roller derby girl (who had just given me a raffle ticket for gift card prizes).

Look, a band, making the event street carnival-ish:

The mayor spoke …

… and bread was broken …

Isn’t that weirdly cool!

Next we all rushed inside.

Such fun.

There was only one huge mistake:  I didn’t win the $500 Gift Card.  Here’s what I did win:

A fan, a coffee cup and a water bottle.

But, look, the handy coffee travel mug has EnJoy on it!  Just like my blog’s name!

EnJoy your weekend!