New Challenges #3 and #4

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been adjusting to full time employment. It is wonderful, but I have not forgotten my challenges I proposed back in August - New Challenges For This Twenty-Two Year Old. My first two new challenges involved trying to drive manual and learning how to golf. This time my two, new things I learned how to do are: eat pomegranates and get my truck towed. Obviously, one was far more intended than the other, but it was a learning experience nonetheless!

I've never eaten pomegranates before and I recently tried it at a friend's house. She had frozen the seeds and used them as a great snack item! I love finding new ways to eat better, so I had to give it a try once I returned home. I was lucky that they happened to be on sale!

If you've never handled a pomegranate before their skin is pretty hard. I was unsure how to open it and I suggest you do it with caution. The Correct Way to Eat a Pomegranate is great video tutorial on how to open a pomegranate. Of all the ones I looked at, I found this to be the best way. 

The juices in this fruit can stain. I cut them open on a large, dark cutting board. You may want to wear an apron, just in case some juice squirts out. The seeds are surrounded by thin membranes and you need to peel these away to eat the seeds. I suppose you could eat the membrane, but I read that it is bitter. The seeds, however, are sweet and tart. They are surrounded by a soft shell which encases the juice around a seed. They may have little, hard seeds inside. I eat them, but spitting them out is acceptable.

While I did enjoy them fresh, I still loved the idea of keeping them frozen and ready for a quick snack. Two pomegranates filled these bowls so you do not need to buy many fruits to reap a great harvest. If you are looking for a better at-home snack in your life, I would suggest adding pomegranates to your grocery list. I wish I would have known about them sooner!

The other new challenge happened a couple days ago. I have been having truck trouble over the past week due to the cold temperatures now slipping down from Canada. I replaced my battery on Thursday and thankfully it lasted through work Friday, which happened to be the day of my first event. My event finished and as I tried to start my truck to go home for the weekend, it did not start. It was turning over, but it never caught. I had figured in addition to the old battery, there was something else wrong. I will not know till sometime Monday, but I am thinking I have a loose belt or the alternator needs to be fixed. I would be in love if it just happens to be a spark plug!

Anyways, my co-worker came to the rescue and she called AAA for me. Then we waited . . . and waited . . . and waited. She ended up calling four times over the course of almost two hours. Needless to say, she was quite unhappy with the quality of service from AAA and I felt awful that she was there waiting with me. The towing guy did not help the situation. He had no idea where we were and we had to direct him on how to find us. He even drove by once. When he did finally get to us, he seems to be a novice at the profession and I watched carefully as he loaded my giant Yukon XL onto a flat bed.

I asked him if he had the address information for where I requested to drop the truck off. His response was, "Yeah, it's somewhere on my phone." I don't know about you, but this was not a good response for me. I did not want him on his phone driving a flat bed with MY large vehicle on the back. When he had "finished" loading, my co-worker drove to the side of his truck and reconfirmed he knew where he was going. I noticed he still had chains hanging off the rear end. I told him he had chains hanging to which he replied, "Oh crap. Yeah, I got to get those."

As he jumped down from his tow truck, I looked at my co-worker in disbelief and was sincerely horrified at his lack of concern for my vehicle, doing his job correctly, and overall safety in escorting my vehicle.

Thankfully, my truck is now safely out of his hands and resting at a mechanic shop till Monday. I cannot wait to get my baby back!

Learning how to eat a pomegranate will not drastically change my life, and dealing with one bad towing experience won't make me cynical. However, I do believe it is these little moments that make up an individual. Sure, big things happen that can twist your course, but the smaller ones develop your mind, heart, and soul.

I have a couple larger challenges prepped for December and I can't wait to let you see what I'm planning! In the meantime, I want you to try something new today! If you do, be sure to leave a comment!